2015 Varsity Shield
The 2015 Varsity Shield was contested from 2 February to 6 April 2015. The tournament (also known as the "FNB Varsity Shield presented by Steinhoff International" for sponsorship reasons) was the fifth season of the Varsity Shield, an annual second-tier inter-university rugby union competition featuring five South African universities. The tournament was won by for the first time; they beat 29–24 in the final played on 6 April 2015. No team was promoted to the top-tier Varsity Cup competition for 2016. Competition rules and information. There were five participating universities in the 2015 Varsity  Shield. These teams played each other twice over the course of the season, once at home and once away. Teams received four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points were awarded to teams that scored four or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lost a match by seven points or less. Teams were ranked by log points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded). The top two teams qualified for the title play-offs. The team that finished first had home advantage against the team that finished second. There  was no promotion/relegation between the Varsity Cup and the Varsity Shield at the end of 2015. The 2015 Varsity Shield used a different scoring system than the common scoring system. Tries were worth five points as usual, but conversions were worth three points instead of two, while penalties and drop goals were only worth two points instead of three. Teams. The following teams took part in the 2015 Varsity Shield competition: Standings. The final league standings for the 2015 Varsity Shield were: Round-by-round. The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round , their cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets: Fixtures. The 2015 Varsity Shield fixtures were released as follows: Round One. The hooker and captain Hamish Herd scored two tries to help his side to a 21–16 victory over in Pretoria to initially end the round in second spot. However, this result was later expunged and the fixture was awarded as a win to , with a scoreline of 0–0. This meant that moved into topped the log after Round One. The moved into second spot on the log following a 16–5 victory over in Cape Town , with fly-half Inny Radebe scoring a try and two conversions for the away side, ahead of joint-third sides and newly relegated who had a bye in this round. were bottom of the log after the first round. Round Two. A hat-trick from centre Marcel Coetzee helped to a comprehensive 68–5 victory over to increase their lead at the top of the log to four points, with TUT dropping to bottom of the log. played their first match of the campaign and ran out comfortable 39–24 winners over , with braces by Ish Nkolo and Constant Beckerling for the  side from Johannesburg. Wits moved into second place on the log while UFH dropped down to third after suffering their first defeat of the season. had a bye this round and remained in fourth spot on the log. Round Three. Braces from Constant Beckerling and Tommy Damba helped emerge victorious from the top-two clash against , with a comprehensive 56–13 win – their second away win in a row – to move them to the top of the log and with a game in hand over UKZN. moved up to third on the log by beating bottom side 21–18 in Pretoria, with  a two-try haul from Damian Stevens proving decisive. UWC leap-frogged , who dropped to fourth spot after a bye in Round Three. Round Four. The top-versus-bottom match between and went according to form, with Wits running out 71–36 winners to extend their lead at the top to six points. They ran in ten tries, with Tommy Damba, Ferdinand Kelly and Luxolo Ntsepe getting a brace each, while fly-half Brandan Hewitt scored one of their tries and slotted seven conversions. In the other match, moved level on points with second-placed who had a bye round, securing  an eight-try victory over and running out 49–34 winners with James Verity-Amm grabbing a hat-trick of tries. Both of the losing sides, UFH Blues and TUT Vikings, picked up a bonus point for scoring five tries in their matches, but remained in fourth and fifth respectively. Round Five. League leaders dropped their first points of the season after they were held to a 37–all draw by third-placed in Johannesburg. Wits were leading 37–16 after 55 minutes, but UWC responded with three more tries late in the game to level things up, with winger James Verity -Amm scoring a second consecutive hat-trick after also getting one in Round Four against . took advantage of their main rivals drawing to secure a 21–13 victory over UFH, which saw them remain in second, but closed the gap to league leaders Wits to five points. UWC finished Round Five a further point behind UKZN, with UFH Blues remaining in fourth spot and , who did not play this round, staying in fifth at the halfway point of the regular season. Round Six. With top-placed side having a bye weekend, they saw their lead at the top reduced to just  a single point from , who ran out 21–5 winners over third-placed . secured their second victory of the season, beating 29–18 in Alice to also pick up a bonus point for scoring four tries. Their log positions remained unchanged, however, with UFH Blues still in fourth and TUT Vikings in last place with two log points. Round Seven. After their bye in Round Six, leaders returned to form in spectacular style, running in twelve tries in a 93–0 demolition of in Johannesburg. Luxolo Ntsepe scored a hat-trick, while Constant Beckerling and Josh Jarvis got two tries apiece and fly -half Brandan Hewitt scored one try and nine conversions for a personal points tally of 32 points. Second-placed kept the pressure on Wits however, scoring nine tries in their 66–41 victory over to remain just one point behind Wits on the log. Marius Louw grabbed a hat-trick in their victory and Spa Dube contributed 21 points with the boot. remained in third place in the league with their bye, while TUT's four-try bonus point wasn't enough to move them ahead of fourth-placed UFH Blues. Round Eight. Hosts emerged victorious in the match between the  top two teams in the league, beating 40–26 to extend their lead at the top of the log to four points. Both teams picked up a four-try bonus point in the match that was only settled with a last-minute Tommy Damba try. This result also meant that Wits secured their place in the final of the competition. kept up their attempt to clinch the other spot in the final by beating 63–10 in Cape Town. They ran in nine tries, with Quaid Langeveldt, James Verity-Amm and Gordon-Wayne Plaatjes getting a brace each. This result saw them  close the gap to second-placed UKZN to six points, with a game in hand. A bye round for saw them remain in fourth spot, well clear of bottom side TUT Vikings. Round Nine. With their sixth win of the season, ensured that they would finish the regular season top of the log, which meant that the final would be played in Johannesburg. They ran out 50–5 winners over with two tries apiece from Tommy Damba and Koch Marx. The identity of their opposition in the final was still unknown, since second-placed had a bye, which saw reduce the  gap to just one point. UWC ran out 58–8 winners over with James Verity-Amm getting his third hat-trick of the season and take his try tally up to eleven in just six appearances. That result also ensured that UFH Blues would finish the season in fourth spot with TUT Vikings guaranteed to finish bottom of the log. Round Ten. The final line-up was completed as joined already-qualified in the final. A hat-trick from centre Marius Louw secured a 42–0 victory for UKZN over fourth-placed in Durban to ensure the side finished second on the  log. Meanwhile, log leaders and third-placed played out their second draw of the season, with their match finishing 21–all in Cape Town after drawing 37–all in their Round Five match in Johannesburg. had a bye round and finished bottom of the log. Final. The 2015 Varsity Shield was won by , who won their first ever title after handing their first defeat of the season; a 29–24 defeat in the match played in Johannesburg. UKZN Impi took the lead fifteen minute in through captain Lwazi Ngcungama and didn't relinquish it for the remainder of the match. Fly -half Inny Radebe was the top scorer in the match with eleven points. Honours. The honour roll for the 2015 Varsity Shield was as follows: Players. Player statistics. The following table contain points which were scored in the 2015 Varsity Shield: Squad lists. The teams released the following squad lists: Discipline. The following table contains all the cards handed out during the tournament: Referees. The following referees officiated matches in the 2015 Varsity Shield: