The tournament (also known as the FNB Varsity Shield presented by Steinhoff International for sponsorship reasons) was the fourth season of the Varsity Shield, an annual second-tier inter-university rugby union competition featuring five South African universities.
CUT Ixias were automatically promoted to the top-tier Varsity Cup competition for 2015, but UKZN Impi lost their promotion play-off match against UJ to remain in the Varsity Shield for 2015.
Bottom side TUT Vikings won their relegation play-off match against challengers NWU Vaal Triangle to also remain in the Varsity Shield for 2015.
[2] The final league standings for the 2014 Varsity Shield were:[3] The top two teams will qualify to the final, with the higher-placed team having home advantage.The winner of the final will automatically be promoted, while the runner-up will qualify to the promotion play-off against the seventh-ranked Varsity Cup team.The bottom team will qualify to the relegation play-off against a team outside of the Varsity Rugby structure.
Forwards Backs Coach The following referees officiated matches in the 2014 Varsity Shield: