# 2017 Rugby Africa season

The 2017 Rugby Africa season contains a series of rugby union tournaments scheduled for 2017 and organised by the governing body of rugby union in Africa, Rugby Africa. The top-tier event is the Rugby Africa Gold Cup – formerly simply known as the Africa Cup – a six-team competition which was played on a round-robin basis from June to August 2017.

## Competitions

As in previous Africa Cup seasons, all participating teams were divided into multiple tiers. For 2017, a restructuring and subsequent rebranding occurred as follows:
* Gold Cup: the tier 1 event. The four teams from 2016's Division 1A – Kenya, Namibia, Uganda and Zimbabwe – were joined by the two pool winners from Division 1B, Senegal and Tunisia. This competition was played on a round-robin basis from 24 June to 5 August 2017.
* Silver Cup: the tier 2 event. The three highest-ranked non-finalists from Division 1B – Botswana, Ivory Coast and Madagascar – were joined by Division 1C champions Morocco for a tournament that was held between 5 and 8 July 2017.
* Bronze Cup: the tier 3 event. The Bronze Cup consisted of six teams, divided into a Group North and a Group South. The northern group took place from 17 to 26 March and contained Nigeria from 2016's Division 1C and Algeria and Cameroon, both returning after not competing in the competition in 2016. The southern group took place from 24 March to 2 April and was made up of Zambia, relegated from Division 1B, Mauritius from Division 1C and Rwanda, who recently attained full membership of World Rugby.
* Regional Challenge: the lowest tier of African rugby. The remaining twelve teams were divided into four groups of three teams; the Group West 1 tournament containing Benin, Ghana and Togo was played from 30 April to 6 May, the Group West 2 tournament containing Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger was played from 21 to 27 May, the Group Centre tournament containing Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon was played from 1 to 7 October, and the Group South tournament containing Lesotho, Malawi and Swaziland was played from 15 to 22 October.
In addition to the main fifteens tournaments, an Under-20 competition featuring eight teams was held in April and a rugby sevens tournament involving twelve teams was held in November. A women's rugby sevens tournament is also to be scheduled.

## Teams

The following teams will take part in the 2017 Rugby Africa season.
Rankings are taken from the start of each division
| Gold Cup | Gold Cup | Gold Cup | Silver Cup | Silver Cup | Silver Cup | Bronze Cup | Bronze Cup | Bronze Cup | Bronze Cup | Bronze Cup | Bronze Cup |
| Gold Cup | Gold Cup | Gold Cup | Silver Cup | Silver Cup | Silver Cup | North | North | North | South | South | South |
| Team | 2016 position | WR Rank | Team | 2016 position | WR Rank | Team | 2016 position | WR Rank | Team | 2016 position | WR Rank |
| Kenya | 2nd D1A | 25 | Botswana | 5th D1B | 64 | Algeria | N/A | N/A | Mauritius | 3rd D1C | 89 |
| Namibia | 1st D1A | 21 | Ivory Coast | 4th D1B | 53 | Cameroon | N/A | 90 | Rwanda | 2nd D2 East | 96 |
| Senegal | 1st D1B | 39 | Madagascar | 3rd D1B | 45 | Nigeria | 2nd D1C | 74 | Zambia | 6th D1B | 83 |
| Tunisia | 2nd D1B | 49 | Morocco | 1st D1C | 50 |
| Uganda | 3rd D1A | 45 |
| Zimbabwe | 4th D1A | 36 |
Regional Challenge :
| West 1 | West 1 | West 1 | West 2 | West 2 | West 2 | Centre | Centre | Centre | South | South | South |
| Team | 2016 position | WR Rank | Team | 2016 position | WR Rank | Team | 2016 position | WR Rank | Team | 2016 position | WR Rank |
| Benin | 5th D2 West | N/A | Burkina Faso | 6th D2 West | N/A | Burundi | 4th D2 East | N/A | Lesotho | 3rd D2 East | N/A |
| Ghana | 3rd D2 West | N/A | Mali | 1st D2 West | N/A | DR Congo | 1st D2 East | N/A | Malawi | N/A | N/A |
| Togo | 2nd D2 West | N/A | Niger | 4th D2 West | N/A | Gabon | N/A | N/A | Eswatini | N/A | 91 |

## Gold Cup

The 2017 Gold Cup doubles as qualification for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. The last place team will be relegated to the 2018 Silver Cup and eliminated from World Cup qualification.

### Standings

The final standings in the 2017 Rugby Africa Gold Cup were:
| 2017 Rugby Africa Gold Cup |
| Pos | Team | Pl | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts |
| 1 | Namibia | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 272 | 64 | +208 | 5 | 25 |
| 2 | Kenya | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 226 | 135 | +91 | 4 | 18 |
| 3 | Uganda | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 190 | 126 | +64 | 2 | 16 |
| 4 | Tunisia | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 91 | 272 | −181 | 0 | 8 |
| 5 | Zimbabwe | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 111 | 157 | −46 | 2 | 6 |
| 6 | Senegal | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 75 | 211 | −136 | 1 | 1 |
| * Legend: Pos = Position, Pl = Played, W = Won, D = Drawn, L = Lost, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, Pts = Log points. |

### Matches

The following matches were played in the 2017 Rugby Africa Gold Cup:

#### Round one

* Bye/s: Namibia, Tunisia

#### Round two

* Bye/s: Kenya, Zimbabwe

#### Round three

* Bye/s: Uganda, Zimbabwe

#### Round five

* Bye/s: Senegal, Tunisia

#### Round six

* Bye/s: Senegal, Uganda

#### Round seven

* Bye/s: Kenya, Namibia

## Silver Cup

The 2017 Silver Cup doubles as qualification for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Winner gets promoted to the 2018 Gold Cup, while all other teams will be eliminated from World Cup qualification.

### Bracket

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| 5 July 2017 | 5 July 2017 |
| Botswana | 25 |
| Botswana | 25 | 8 July 2017 | 8 July 2017 |
| Ivory Coast | 58 | 8 July 2017 | 8 July 2017 |
| Ivory Coast | 58 | Ivory Coast | 3 |
| 5 July 2017 | 5 July 2017 | | Ivory Coast | 3 |
| 5 July 2017 | 5 July 2017 | Morocco | 8 |
| Morocco | 57 | Morocco | 8 |
| Madagascar | 33 | | |
| Madagascar | 33 | Third place play-off | Third place play-off |
| | | 8 July 2017 | 8 July 2017 |
| | | Botswana | 19 |
| | | Madagascar | 47 |

### Matches
## Bronze Cup
### Group North
#### Standings

Cameroon were suspended and Nigeria withdrew. Algeria finished first. The final standings in the 2017 Rugby Africa Bronze Cup Group North were:
| 2017 Rugby Africa Bronze Cup Group North |
| Pos | Team | Pl | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts |
| 1 | Algeria | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Nigeria (withdrew) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| * Legend: Pos = Position, Pl = Played, W = Won, D = Drawn, L = Lost, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, Pts = Log points. |

#### Matches

The Bronze Cup North fixtures were originally to be played in Yaoundé in May 2017, with Cameroon also present, but had been postponed through lack of organization that Rugby Africa disqualified Cameroon and suspended the activity of the country's federation for three months. The matches will now be a home-and-home series between Algeria and Nigeria, with dates to be determined.
Nigeria also withdrew, so Algeria face Zambia in a one off fixture on 4 November.

### Group South
#### Standings

The final standings in the 2017 Rugby Africa Bronze Cup Group South were:
| 2017 Rugby Africa Bronze Cup Group South |
| Pos | Team | Pl | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts |
| 1 | Zambia | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 161 | 6 | +155 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | Rwanda | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 104 | −77 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Mauritius | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 93 | −78 | 0 | 0 |
| * Legend: Pos = Position, Pl = Played, W = Won, D = Drawn, L = Lost, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, Pts = Log points. |

#### Matches
### Final Winner North vs Winner South
## Regional Challenge
### Group West 1
#### Standings

The final standings in the 2017 Rugby Africa Regional Challenge Group West 1 were:
| 2017 Rugby Africa Regional Challenge Group West 1 |
| Pos | Team | Pl | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Ghana | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 5 | +51 | 9 |
| 2 | Benin | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 58 | −39 | 4 |
| 3 | Togo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 24 | −12 | 1 |
| * Legend: Pos = Position, Pl = Played, W = Won, D = Drawn, L = Lost, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, Pts = Log points. |

#### Matches

All matches will be held at Accra Sports Stadium, Accra, Ghana.

### Group West 2
#### Standings

The final standings in the 2017 Rugby Africa Regional Challenge Group West 2 were:
| 2017 Rugby Africa Regional Challenge Group West 2 |
| Pos | Team | Pl | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Burkina Faso | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 18 | +6 | 6 |
| 3 | Mali | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 19 | +7 | 5 |
| 2 | Niger | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 28 | −13 | 2 |
| * Legend: Pos = Position, Pl = Played, W = Won, D = Drawn, L = Lost, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, Pts = Log points. |

#### Matches
### Group Centre

Gabon was originally intended to participate, but withdrew. The match between Burundi and DR Congo was to be played on 7 October in Bujumbura, Burundi, but with DR Congo not showing up for the match, the match was declared forfeit and DR Congo faced the possibility of suspension.

### Group South
#### Standings

The final standings in the 2017 Rugby Africa Regional Challenge Group South were:
| 2017 Rugby Africa Regional Challenge Group South |
| Pos | Team | Pl | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Lesotho | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 127 | 8 | 119 | 10 |
| 2 | Eswatini | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 71 | −41 | 5 |
| 3 | Malawi | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 92 | −78 | 0 |
| * Legend: Pos = Position, Pl = Played, W = Won, D = Drawn, L = Lost, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, Pts = Log points. |

#### Matches

The fixtures for the 2017 Rugby Africa Regional Challenge Group South will be played from 15–21 October in Mafeteng, Lesotho.