The 2016 Currie Cup qualification series was a South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which was played between 9 April and 23 July 2016. It featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus the from Namibia and served as a qualifying competition for the 2016 Currie Cup, the 78th edition of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition. Nine teams from this competition advanced to the 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division, while the remaining six teams progressed to the 2016 Currie Cup First Division.
Competition rules and information
All fifteen teams in the competition played against each other once over the course of the qualification competition, either at home or away. Teams received four points for a win and two points for a draw. Bonus points were awarded to teams that scored 4 or more tries in a game, as well as to teams that lost a match by 7 points or less. Teams were ranked by log points, then points difference (points scored less points conceded).
The six main teams affiliated to Super Rugby franchises – , , , , and – automatically qualified to the 2016 Currie Cup Premier Division, along with the three highest-ranked non-franchise teams. The remaining six teams qualified to the 2016 Currie Cup First Division. Points from the qualification stage were not carried over to the second stage.
Teams
The teams that competed in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification competition were:
Team Listing
2016 Currie Cup qualification teams Team Sponsored Name Stadium/s Sponsored Name Vodacom Blue Bulls Loftus Versfeld Boland Cavaliers Boland Stadium Border Bulldogs Buffalo City Stadium Eastern Province Kings Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium Hino Valke Barnard Stadium Toyota Free State XV Toyota Stadium Xerox Golden Lions XV Emirates Airline Park Down Touch Griffons HT Pelatona Projects Stadium Griquas Griqua Park Leopards Profert Olën Park Steval Pumas Mbombela Stadium Cell C Sharks XV Growthpoint Kings Park SWD Eagles Outeniqua Park Windhoek Draught Welwitschias Hage Geingob Stadium DHL Western Province DHL Newlands
Log The final log for the 2016 Currie Cup qualification tournament is:
Round-by-round
The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, each team's cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.
Team Progression – 2016 Currie Cup qualification Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 4 (5th) 4 (9th) 9 (6th) 14 (2nd) 14 (5th) 19 (4th) 23 (3rd) 27 (3rd) 32 (2nd) 32 (2nd) 37 (2nd) 42 (2nd) 47 (2nd) 51 (2nd) 56 (1st) 61 (1st) 5 (2nd) 10 (1st) 15 (1st) 20 (1st) 24 (1st) 29 (1st) 34 (1st) 35 (1st) 40 (1st) 41 (1st) 41 (1st) 46 (1st) 51 (1st) 56 (1st) 56 (2nd) 56 (2nd) 5 (4th) 10 (2nd) 11 (4th) 11 (6th) 16 (2nd) 21 (2nd) 25 (2nd) 30 (2nd) 30 (4th) 30 (4th) 35 (4th) 40 (4th) 45 (3rd) 45 (3rd) 49 (3rd) 54 (3rd) 1 (8th) 2 (11th) 6 (9th) 10 (8th) 15 (3rd) 20 (3rd) 21 (5th) 26 (4th) 31 (3rd) 31 (3rd) 36 (3rd) 41 (3rd) 41 (4th) 41 (5th) 46 (5th) 51 (4th) 1 (9th) 6 (5th) 11 (3rd) 12 (5th) 12 (9th) 12 (9th) 17 (7th) 20 (8th) 21 (8th) 26 (5th) 26 (6th) 31 (5th) 36 (5th) 41 (4th) 46 (4th) 47 (5th) 5 (3rd) 6 (6th) 8 (7th) 8 (9th) 13 (8th) 17 (5th) 22 (4th) 24 (6th) 25 (6th) 25 (7th) 29 (5th) 30 (7th) 35 (6th) 39 (6th) 40 (6th) 44 (6th) 0 (12th) 4 (10th) 4 (13th) 4 (14th) 5 (14th) 5 (14th) 7 (14th) 8 (14th) 13 (12th) 18 (13th) 23 (9th) 27 (8th) 28 (8th) 33 (7th) 38 (7th) 38 (7th) 0 (10th) 1 (13th) 5 (12th) 6 (12th) 7 (13th) 12 (11th) 17 (8th) 22 (7th) 23 (7th) 23 (8th) 23 (10th) 24 (10th) 25 (11th) 30 (9th) 32 (9th) 37 (8th) 0 (14th) 5 (7th) 5 (11th) 10 (7th) 14 (4th) 14 (7th) 19 (6th) 24 (5th) 25 (5th) 25 (6th) 25 (8th) 30 (6th) 30 (7th) 31 (8th) 36 (8th) 31 (9th) 0 (11th) 2 (12th) 7 (8th) 7 (10th) 11 (10th) 12 (10th) 12 (11th) 12 (12th) 17 (10th) 18 (12th) 18 (13th) 18 (13th) 23 (12th) 28 (10th) 28 (11th) 33 (10th) 5 (1st) 10 (3rd) 10 (5th) 14 (3rd) 14 (6th) 15 (6th) 15 (9th) 15 (10th) 15 (11th) 20 (9th) 25 (7th) 26 (9th) 26 (9th) 26 (11th) 28 (10th) 30 (11th) 4 (7th) 5 (8th) 6 (10th) 7 (11th) 7 (12th) 11 (12th) 12 (12th) 13 (11th) 13 (13th) 18 (11th) 18 (12th) 19 (12th) 20 (13th) 20 (13th) 25 (13th) 30 (12th) 4 (6th) 9 (4th) 14 (2nd) 14 (4th) 14 (7th) 14 (8th) 14 (10th) 19 (9th) 19 (9th) 20 (10th) 20 (11th) 20 (11th) 25 (10th) 25 (12th) 25 (12th) 26 (13th) 0 (15th) 0 (14th) 0 (14th) 5 (13th) 9 (11th) 9 (13th) 9 (13th) 12 (13th) 12 (14th) 12 (14th) 12 (14th) 12 (14th) 12 (14th) 12 (14th) 12 (14th) 13 (14th) 0 (13th) 0 (15th) 0 (15th) 0 (15th) 0 (15th) 1 (15th) 1 (15th) 1 (15th) 1 (15th) 1 (15th) 1 (15th) 1 (15th) 1 (15th) 1 (15th) 1 (15th) 1 (15th)Key: win draw loss bye
Matches
The following matches were played in the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series:
Round One
Round Two
Round Three
Round Four
Round Five
Round Six
Round Seven
Round Eight
Round Nine
Round Ten
Round Eleven
Round Twelve
Round Thirteen
Round Fourteen
Round Fifteen
Round Sixteen
Players
Player statistics
The top ten points scorers during the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series were:
Top Ten points scorers No Player Team T C P DG Pts 1 George Whitehead Griffons 3 50 15 2 166 2 Rhyno Smith Leopards 5 33 17 2 148 3 Nico Scheepers Boland Cavaliers 5 41 11 0 140 4 Justin van Staden Pumas 0 30 19 0 117 5 Clinton Swart Griquas 4 22 10 0 94 6 Shaun Reynolds Golden Lions XV 5 24 6 0 91 7 Karlo Aspeling Falcons 2 25 10 0 90 8 Masixole Banda Border Bulldogs 4 15 12 0 86 9 Marnitz Boshoff Golden Lions XV 1 29 6 0 81 10 Selvyn Davids Griffons 16 0 0 0 80