Falcons (rugby team)

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)
Director of Rugby Rudy Joubert
Coach(es) Rudy Joubert
Captain(s) Shane Kirkwood
League(s) Currie Cup First Division
2017 Semifinalist
2nd 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:

  • 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

The following players were named in the squad for the 2018 Currie Cup First Division:[4]

Falcons Currie Cup squad

Props

Hookers

  • South Africa Jan Enslin
  • South Africa Marco Klopper
  • South Africa Eckhard van der Westhuizen

Locks

Loose Forwards

Scrum-halves

Fly-halves

  • South Africa Errol Jaggers
  • South Africa Warren Potgieter

Centres

Wingers

  • South Africa Lorenzo Gordon
  • South Africa Don Mlondobozi
  • South Africa Hardus Pretorius
  • South Africa Etienne Taljaard
  • South Africa Nazeem Wood

Fullbacks

(c) Denotes team captain.

References

  1. ↑ "Falcons migrate again". Rugby365.com. 14 September 2008. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011.
  2. ↑ "We can upset the Sharks". www.iol.co.za. 2008-09-18.
  3. ↑ "Falcons soar over Wildebeest". iafrica.com. 21 May 2006.
  4. ↑ "Squad: Valke". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  • "Official site". Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  • "Falcons page on SuperSport.com". Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  • "Falcons page on iAfrica.com". Retrieved 5 March 2014.
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