After a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 7s rugby will form part of the Festival of Varsity Sports, set to take place at the University of Pretoria between 3 and 8 October.

Eight of South Africa’s top-rated 7s university teams will fight it out to be crowned the 2022 men’s and women’s champions. The Tuks stadium is where all the action will go down on the 7^th and 8^th of October.

The 2019 Varsity 7s tournament was hosted by Pirates Rugby Club in Johannesburg. It saw UJ get their 2^nd overall title, and the UP-Tuks women’s team win the inaugural women’s championship.

The Varsity 7s tournament has proven to be a great stepping stone to bigger and brighter things for aspiring rugby players. Several notable Varsity 7s players have climbed their way to the pinnacle and represented the Blitzboks. Among them is Kyle Brown (UCT), Timothy Agaba (Madibaz), Impi Visser (Tuks), Ronald Brown (UJ), Shaun Williams (UJ) and Kurt-Lee Arendse (UWC).

Here is what you need to know about the 2022 Varsity 7s.

Tournament format

Are you new to 7s rugby? Well, here is how it works.

7s rugby features two teams of 7 players who play on a full-size rugby pitch. A match is 14 minutes long, consisting of two halves of 7 minutes each.

Each team consists of three forwards and four backs, however, due to the demanding fitness levels of 7s rugby, teams tend to be flexible in their approach.

The points system remains the same as with traditional rugby with tries being 5 points, conversions 2 points and penalties and drop goals 3 points.

Participating teams

Men

University of Pretoria – Group A – Ranked 1^st  

University of Johannesburg – Group B – Ranked 2^nd

Stellenbosch University – Group B – Ranked 3^rd

University of Western Cape – Group A – Ranked 4^th

Nelson Mandela University – Group A – Ranked 5^th

University of Free State – Group B – Ranked 6^th

University of Witwatersrand – Group B – Ranked 7^th

North West University – Group A – Ranked 8^th

Women

University of Pretoria – Group A – Ranked 1st  

University of Fort Hare – Group B – Ranked 2^nd

University of Johannesburg – Group B – Ranked 3^rd

University of Limpopo – Group A – Ranked 4^th

Walter Sisulu University – Group A – Ranked 5^th

Nelson Mandela University – Group B – Ranked 6^th

Stellenbosch University – Group A – Ranked 7^th

Tshwane University of Technology – Ranked 8^th

Time and fixtures

The bumper-to-bumper tournament will start on Friday morning (7 October) and will end on Saturday afternoon (8 October).

Each team will play a round-robin format and once rankings are determined, teams will proceed to the quarterfinals. Winners of the quarterfinals will move on to the semi-finals and ultimately the final. Losers in the quarter-finals will play for the 7^th/8^th and 5^th/6^th places. Losers in the semi-finals will play for the 3^rd/4^th places.

Previous winners

Only four teams have won the Varsity 7s rugby title since its inception in 2012, with Maties leading the way.

Men

Maties – 2012 (Plettenberg Bay leg), 2013, 2016

UFS Kosvies – 2012 (Margate leg), 2015

UJ – 2017, 2019

UP-Tuks – 2018

Women

UP-Tuks – 2019

*All games will be broadcast live on SuperSport and tickets are available HERE.

by Nkosinathi Shazi