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.
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:
Gold Cup: the tier 1 event. The four teams from 2016's Division 1A –,, and – were joined by the two pool winners from Division 1B, and. This competition was played on a round-robin basis from 24 June to 5 August 2017.
[|Silver Cup]: the tier 2 event. The three highest-ranked non-finalists from Division 1B –, and – were joined by Division 1C champions for a tournament that was held between 5 and 8 July 2017.
[|Bronze Cup]: the tier 3 event. The Bronze Cup consisted of six teams, divided into a Group North and a Group South. The northern group took place from 17 to 26 March and contained from 2016's Division 1C and and, both returning after not competing in the competition in 2016. The southern group took place from 24 March to 2 April and was made up of, relegated from Division 1B, from Division 1C and, who recently attained full membership of World Rugby.
[|Regional Challenge]: the lowest tier of African rugby. The remaining twelve teams were divided into four groups of three teams; the Group West 1 tournament containing, and was played from 30 April to 6 May, the Group West 2 tournament containing, and was played from 21 to 27 May, the Group Centre tournament containing, and was played from 1 to 7 October, and the Group South tournament containing, and was played from 15 to 22 October.
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
The final standings in the 2017 Rugby Africa Gold Cup were:
Matches
The following matches were played in the 2017 Rugby Africa Gold Cup:
Round One
Round Two
Round Three
Round Four
Round Five
Round Six
Round Seven
Silver Cup
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.
Bracket
Matches
Bronze Cup
Group North
Standings
Cameroon were suspended and Nigeria withdrew. Algeria finished first.
The final standings in the 2017 Rugby Africa Bronze Cup Group North were:
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. 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.
Group South
Standings
The final standings in the 2017 Rugby Africa Bronze Cup Group South were:
Matches
All matches were held at Lusaka Rugby Club Show Grounds, Lusaka, Zambia.
The final standings in the 2017 Rugby Africa Regional Challenge Group West 2 were:
Matches
Group Centre
Gabon was originally intended to participate, but has withdrawn. 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.
Group South
Standings
The final standings in the 2017 Rugby Africa Regional Challenge Group South were:
Matches
The fixtures for the 2017 Rugby Africa Regional Challenge Group South will be played from 15–21 October in Mafeteng, Lesotho.
