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

2015 Currie Cup First Division

4th on log
(Lost in semi-finals)

Team kit

Official website

www.valke.co.za

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 Leopards squad for the 2016 Currie Cup qualification series:^[4]

Falcons Currie Cup qualification squad
Props Henri Boshoff Justin Pappin Andries Schutte Barend Steyn Jacobus Strauss Gihard Visagie Hookers Dean Muir Themba Thabethe Locks Jacques Alberts Isak Deetlefs Shane Kirkwood Marlyn Williams	Loose Forwards Vince Jobo Ernst Ladendorf Thabo Mamojele JP Mostert Reg Muller Friedle Olivier Dwight Pansegrouw Scrum-halves Sino Nyoka Johan Pretorius Fly-halves Karlo Aspeling Warren Potgieter Anrich Richter	Centres JP du Plessis Grant Janke Dries Truter Andrew van Wyk Wingers Coert Cronjé Damian Engledoe Etienne Taljaard Waylon Thompson Fullbacks Christo Coetzee Kyle Hendricks

(c) denotes team captain.

Notable players

References

↑ "Falcons migrate again". Rugby365.com. 2008-09-14.
↑ "We can upset the Sharks". www.iol.co.za. 2008-09-18.
↑ "Falcons soar over Wildebeest". iafrica.com. 21 May 2006.
↑ "2016 Valke Currie Cup season". South African Rugby Union. Archived from the original on 23 March 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.

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.

Currie Cup

Teams

Seasons

Board Trophy:	1889

Amateur era:	1892 1894 1895 1897 1898 1899 1904 1906 1908 1911 1914 1920 1922 1925 1927 1929 1932 1934 1936 1939 1946 1947 1950 1952 1954 1956 1957–59 1964 1966 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 Div A Div B Tphy A Tphy B 1989 Div A Div B Tphy A Tphy B 1990 Div A Div B Tphy 1991 CC Div A Div B Div C Div D 1992 CC Cen A Cen B Rur A/B Rur B 1993 1994 1995

Professional era:	1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Top 8 Bf Cup Qual 2001 Top 8 Bf Cup Qual 2002 2003 2004 Prem 1st 2005 Prem 1st 2006 Prem 1st 2007 Prem 1st 2008 Prem 1st 2009 Prem 1st 2010 Prem 1st 2011 Prem 1st 2012 Prem 1st 2013 Prem 1st 2014 Prem 1st Qual 2015 Prem 1st Qual 2016 Prem 1st Qual

Vodacom Cup

Teams	Blue Bulls Boland Cavaliers Border Bulldogs Eastern Province Kings Falcons Free State XV Golden Lions Griffons Griquas Leopards XV Limpopo Blue Bulls Pampas XV Pumas Sharks XV Simba XV SWD Eagles Welwitschias Western Province

Seasons	1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Rugby union in South Africa

Governing body

South African Rugby Union

National teams

Men's	Springboks Emerging Springboks 7's Amateurs U-21 U-20 U-19 Schoolboys

Women's	Women's 7's

Competitions

International	South Africa at the Rugby World Cup World Rugby Sevens Series South Africa Sevens World Rugby Under 20 Championship Super Rugby

Provincial	Currie Cup Vodacom Cup

Club	SARU Gold Cup Varsity Rugby

Youth rugby	Craven Week

Falcons squad – 2016

Forwards	Jacques Alberts Henri Boshoff Isak Deetlefs Vince Jobo Shane Kirkwood Ernst Ladendorf Thabo Mamojele JP Mostert Dean Muir Reg Muller Friedle Olivier Dwight Pansegrouw Justin Pappin Andries Schutte Barend Steyn Jacobus Strauss Themba Thabethe Gihard Visagie Marlyn Williams

Backs	Karlo Aspeling Christo Coetzee Coert Cronjé JP du Plessis Damian Engledoe Kyle Hendricks Grant Janke Sino Nyoka Warren Potgieter Johan Pretorius Anrich Richter Etienne Taljaard Waylon Thompson Dries Truter Andrew van Wyk

Coach	Rudy Joubert

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, April 30, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.