Varsity Rugby grows by three in 2017

Currently, eight teams forms part of the Cup competition, while five teams currently duke it out in the Shield. The three new teams will join the Shield competition, while one Shield team will be promoted to the Cup competition, joining the eight existing teams.

"When Varsity Cup began in 2008, eight universities were competing. Then in 2011, the Varsity Shield was added and it grew by five. Next year [2017] there will be 16 universities taking part in Varsity Rugby.

"The competition is becoming more and more inclusive and to have increased the university participation by 100 percent in under 10 years is phenomenal," Varsity Cup chairman Jurie Roux said.

The Varsity Cup and Shield competition are managed by a board of members who will hold a meeting in May 2016 to decide on the qualification process, whereafter the three additional universities will be announced.

"We are extremely excited about this next chapter of Varsity Rugby. The inclusion of nine teams in the Varsity Cup will allow each team to play four home and four away matches. In addition to that, each team can look forward to one bye week in the competition – a luxury they were not afforded in the past," Varsity Cup CEO Duitser Bosman said.

Previously, the teams' seven matches were split between four home matches and three away or vice versa, alternating each year.

The inclusion of seven Shield teams in 2017 will allow each team to play six matches. Promotion and relegation matches will be played again in 2018, for the 2019 season.

The Varsity Shield competition kicks off on Monday, February 1 while the Cup competition gets underway a week later on February 8.