The tournament (also known as the FNB Varsity Cup presented by Steinhoff International for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of the Varsity Cup, an annual inter-university rugby union competition featuring eight South African universities.

The tournament was won by NWU Pukke, who beat Maties 7–6 in the final played on 11 April 2016.

If the try-scoring move originated between the halfway line and the opponents' 22, two bonus points were awarded for a seven-point try.

The Varsity Cup also retained the White Card system introduced in 2015, but only for the semi-finals and the final.

[7][8] There were also some changes to the quota system: the number of players of colour that had to be included in a matchday 23 was increased from six to seven, with three of those in the starting line-up.

Three additional first-year students could be fielded with no racial quotas, provided they were in Grade 12 at high school in 2015.

For each round, their cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets: The following matches were played in the 2016 Varsity Cup:[15][note 3]