Falcons (rugby union)
| File:Falcons Rugby Logo 2006.jpg | ||
| Full name | Falcons / Valke | |
|---|---|---|
| Union | Falcons Rugby Union | |
| Emblem(s) | Falcon | |
| Founded | 1947 | |
| Region | Eastern Gauteng | |
| Ground(s) | Barnard Stadium, Kempton Park (Capacity: 7,000) | |
| Coach(es) | Rudy Joubert | |
| Captain(s) | JP Mostert | |
| League(s) | Currie Cup | |
| 2015 Currie Cup First Division | 4th on log (Lost in semi-finals) | |
| ||
| Official website | ||
| www | ||
 Current season | ||
The Falcons – better known by their Afrikaans name the Valke and currently known as the Hino Valke for sponsorship reasons – are a South African rugby union team in Gauteng province that participates in the annual Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup tournaments.
Their home ground is currently Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park, to which they have returned in 2009.[1][2] The Falcons have operated out of both Bosman Stadium in Brakpan and Pam Brink Stadium in Springs. They occasionally still host matches at Bosman Stadium. The Falcons draw players from Ekurhuleni and other municipalities to the east and south of Johannesburg.
History
The Falcons Rugby Union was originally founded in 1947, and was previously known as the Eastern Transvaal Rugby Football Union. After the 1995 World Cup, rugby was declared a professional sport in South Africa, after which the Eastern Transvaal Rugby Football Union merged with the Vaal Triangle Rugby Union to form the Gauteng Falcons Rugby Union and are one of only fourteen Provincial Unions in the country.
They have a proud history of rugby in Eastern Gauteng and have produced numerous quality players spanning a period of over 60 years.
Honours
In 2006 the Falcons were the Vodacom Cup champions,[3] the first cup won in the history of the union.
Falcons Professional Rugby
Falcons Rugby (Pty) Ltd is the arm responsible for the Falcons Brand and the operation of the Professional Rugby Team, which competes in two high profile competitions in South African Rugby:
Amateur Union
The Community Rugby arm, known historically as the Amateur Union, maintains the structure and development of the amateur Rugby set-up for the region, and includes:
- 18 Clubs (approximately 2,000 players)
- 54 High Schools
- 101 Primary Schools
- 80 registered referees
- and the structured development and transformation of Rugby in the region.
Current squad
First team
The following players were included in the Falcons squad for the 2015 Currie Cup First Division tournament:[4] [note 1]
| Currie Cup squad | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Props Hookers Locks |
Loose Forwards Scrum-halves Fly-halves |
Centres Wingers Fullbacks |
| (c) denotes team captain. In addition to the players above, Francois Fourie, Stephan Hartman, KK Kgame, Sibongile Njomba, Jaco Oosthuizen, Waylon Thompson, Andrew van Tonder and Chanley Williams were in the squad for the qualification tournament only, but either moved elsewhere since or not yet included in the First Division squad. |
- ^ The squad appears to be incomplete and only contains players so far named in match squads.
Vodacom Cup team
In addition, the following players made appearances for the Falcons in the 2015 Vodacom Cup:[5]
| Vodacom Cup players | |
|---|---|
|
Hookers |
Fly-halves |
Notable players
References
- ^ "Falcons migrate again". Rugby365.com. 14 September 2008.
- ^ "We can upset the Sharks". www.iol.co.za. 18 September 2008.
- ^ "Falcons soar over Wildebeest". iafrica.com. 21 May 2006.
- ^ "2015 Falcons Currie Cup First Division season". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
- ^ "2015 Falcons Vodacom Cup season". Retrieved 17 March 2015.
External links
- "Official site". Retrieved 5 March 2014.
- "Falcons page on SuperSport.com". Retrieved 5 March 2014.
- "Falcons page on iAfrica.com". Retrieved 5 March 2014.
- "Falcons page on SupaRugby.com". Retrieved 5 March 2014.