Falcons (rugby team)

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Falcons
150px
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)
Team kit
Official website
www.valke.co.za
Rugby current event.svg 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

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

Falcons Currie Cup qualification squad

Props

Hookers

Locks

Loose Forwards

Scrum-halves

Fly-halves

Centres

Wingers

Fullbacks

(c) denotes team captain.

Notable players

References

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External links

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