Falcons (rugby team)

Not to be confused with Newcastle Falcons.
Falcons
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
2016 Currie Cup First Division Semifinalist
4th on log
Team kit
Official website
www.valke.co.za
Current season

The Falcons – better known by their Afrikaans name the Valke and now 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 Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park, to which they have returned in 2009.[1][2] The Falcons have operated from 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 founded in 1947 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. It is one of only fourteen Provincial Unions in the country.

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:

Current squad

The following players were included in the Leopards squad for the 2016 Currie Cup First Division:[4]

Falcons Currie Cup First Division squad

Props

Hookers

Locks

Loose Forwards

Scrum-halves

Fly-halves

Centres

Wingers

  • South Africa Damian Engledoe
  • South Africa Charlie Mayeza
  • South Africa Etienne Taljaard

Fullbacks

(c) denotes team captain.

Notable players

References

  1. "Falcons migrate again". Rugby365.com. 2008-09-14.
  2. "We can upset the Sharks". www.iol.co.za. 2008-09-18.
  3. "Falcons soar over Wildebeest". iafrica.com. 21 May 2006.
  4. "SA Rugby Squad – Valke : 2016 Currie Cup First Division". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 11 August 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.