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.

Location of teams in the 2017 Rugby Africa Gold, Silver and Bronze Cups
Gold Cup
Silver Cup
Bronze Cup North
Bronze Cup South

2017 Rugby Africa seasons

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:[1]

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[3]

Gold Cup Silver Cup Bronze Cup
North South
Team 2016 position WR Rank Team 2016 position WR Rank Team 2016 position WR Rank Team 2016 position WR Rank
 Kenya2nd D1A25 Botswana5th D1B64 AlgeriaN/AN/A Mauritius3rd D1C89
 Namibia1st D1A21 Ivory Coast4th D1B53 CameroonN/A90 Rwanda2nd D2 East96
 Senegal1st D1B39 Madagascar3rd D1B45 Nigeria2nd D1C74 Zambia6th D1B83
 Tunisia2nd D1B49 Morocco1st D1C50
 Uganda3rd D1A45
 Zimbabwe4th D1A36
Regional Challenge
West 1 West 2 Centre South
Team 2016 position WR Rank Team 2016 position WR Rank Team 2016 position WR Rank Team 2016 position WR Rank
 Benin5th D2 WestN/A Burkina Faso6th D2 WestN/A Burundi4th D2 EastN/A Lesotho3rd D2 EastN/A
 Ghana3rd D2 WestN/A Mali1st D2 WestN/A DR Congo1st D2 EastN/A MalawiN/AN/A
 Togo2nd D2 WestN/A Niger4th D2 WestN/A GabonN/AN/A EswatiniN/A91

Gold Cup

2017 Rugby Africa Gold Cup
CountriesKenya
Namibia
Senegal
Tunisia
Uganda
Zimbabwe
Date24 June – 5 August 2017

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.[4]

Standings

The final standings[5] 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 Namibia550027264+208525
2 Kenya5311226135+91418
3 Uganda5311190126+64216
4 Tunisia520391272−18108
5 Zimbabwe5104111157−4626
6 Senegal500575211−13611
* 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:[1]

Round One

Bye/s: Namibia, Tunisia

Round Two

Bye/s: Kenya, Zimbabwe

Round Three

Bye/s: Uganda, Zimbabwe

Round Four

Round Five

Bye/s: Senegal, Tunisia

Round Six

Bye/s: Senegal, Uganda

Round Seven

Bye/s: Kenya, Namibia

Silver Cup

2017 Rugby Africa Silver Cup
CountriesBotswana
Ivory Coast
Madagascar
Morocco
Date5 – 8 July 2017

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.[4]

Bracket

 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
5 July 2017
 
 
 Botswana25
 
8 July 2017
 
 Ivory Coast58
 
 Ivory Coast 3
 
5 July 2017
 
 Morocco 8
 
 Morocco57
 
 
 Madagascar33
 
Third place play-off
 
 
8 July 2017
 
 
 Botswana19
 
 
 Madagascar 47

Matches

Bronze Cup

2017 Rugby Africa Bronze Cup
CountriesGroup North:
Algeria
Cameroon (suspended)
Nigeria (withdrew)
Group South:
Mauritius
Rwanda
Zambia
Date23 April – 13 May 2017

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 Algeria000000000
2 Nigeria (withdrew)000000000
* 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.[6] 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.

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 Zambia22001616+155210
2 Rwanda210127104−7715
3 Mauritius20021593−7800
* 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 were held at Lusaka Rugby Club Show Grounds, Lusaka, Zambia.

Final Winner North vs Winner South

Match at Mufulira, Zambia.

Regional Challenge

2017 Rugby Africa Regional Challenge
CountriesGroup West 1:
Benin
Ghana
Togo
Group West 2:
Burkina Faso
Mali
Niger
Group Centre:
Burundi
Democratic Republic of Congo
Gabon
Group South:
Lesotho
Malawi
Swaziland
Date30 April – 22 October 2017
Location of teams in the 2017 Rugby Africa Regional Challenge
Group West 1
Group West 2
Group Centre
Group South

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 Ghana2200565+519
2 Benin21011958−394
3 Togo20021224−121
* 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.[7]

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 Faso21102418+66
3 Mali21012619+75
2 Niger20111528−132
* 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 has withdrawn.[8] 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, they are declared forfeit and face the possibility of suspension.[9]

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 Lesotho2200127811910
2 Eswatini21013071−415
3 Malawi20021492−780
* 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.

See also

References

  1. "Schedule of the competitions 2017" (Press release). Rugby Africa. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  2. "Rwanda welcomed as full member union of World Rugby" (Press release). World Rugby. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  3. http://www.worldrugby.org/rankings/mru#!
  4. "The road to RWC 2019 – the global qualifying process". Rugby World Cup. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2017.
  5. Rugby union bonus points system
  6. "Pas de Coupe d'Afrique pour un rugby camerounais en crise". rfi.fr (in French). 25 May 2017. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  7. http://www.rugbyafrique.com/africa-rugby-announces-ghana-international-tournament-detail/
  8. "Rugby: Le Gabon se désiste" (in French). L'Union. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  9. "Rugby, Ayant loupé la CAN à Bujumbura au Burundi: La RDC s'attend à une lourde amande et à une suspension de 3 ans" (in French). L'Avenir. 8 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
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