The South Western Districts Eagles are a
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
n
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
team that participates in the annual
Currie Cup
The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...
and
Vodacom Cup
The Vodacom Cup was an annual rugby union competition in South Africa. Annual Vodacom Cup competitions were played between its inaugural season in 1998 and 2015 and was contested between February and May each year. The Vodacom Cup was the succes ...
tournament. They represent the Southern Cape (Garden Route & Klein Karoo regions) and play out of
Outeniqua Park
Outeniqua Park is a multi-purpose stadium in George, South Africa. It is currently used mostly for rugby union matches and was the home stadium of the South African leg of the IRB Sevens World Series from 2001 through 2010, after which it move ...
in
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
.
History
The South Western Districts Rugby Football Union was established in 1899. Initially, home matches were held in
Mossel Bay
Mossel Bay ( af, Mosselbaai) is a harbour town of about 99,000 people on the Southern Cape (or Garden Route) of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the ...
,
Oudtshoorn
Oudtshoorn (, ), the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Two ostrich-feather booms, during 1865–1 ...
and George, but in 1996, the SWDRFU made
Outeniqua Park
Outeniqua Park is a multi-purpose stadium in George, South Africa. It is currently used mostly for rugby union matches and was the home stadium of the South African leg of the IRB Sevens World Series from 2001 through 2010, after which it move ...
in George its home base.
They have never won the
Currie Cup
The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier ...
, but they did win the Bankfin Cup in 2002 and the Currie Cup First Division in 2007 and
2018 Currie Cup First Division
The 2018 Currie Cup First Division was the second tier of the 2018 Currie Cup, the 80th edition of the annual South African rugby union competition organised by the South African Rugby Union. It was played between 24 August and 19 October 2018 ...
.
They also reached the semi-finals of the Currie Cup in their centenary season in 1999 under
Heyneke Meyer
Heyneke Meyer (born 6 October 1967) is a professional rugby union coach, best known for coaching the Springboks from 2012 until 2015. Prior to coaching the Springboks, he spent many years at the domestic level in South Africa before coaching Lei ...
.
Honors
* Three Currie Cup First Division titles: 2002, 2007, 2018
* Currie Cup First Division Runner-up: 2009, 2010, 2015
Sevens
The SWDRFU also hosted the
South Africa Sevens
The South Africa Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament that is held in South Africa. It is currently hosted in Cape Town and is part of the Sevens World Series run by World Rugby. A South African leg of the World series has been include ...
leg of the
IRB Sevens World Series
The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...
for several seasons at Outeniqua Park. In 2012, they also launched the
7s Premier League
The 7s Premier League (known as the NBM 7s Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union sevens competition in South Africa. It is organised by the South Western Districts Rugby Union and is contested in December at and is an ...
tournament in 2012 held at the same venue.
Current squad
The following players were included in the SWD Eagles squad for the
2022 Currie Cup First Division
The 2022 Currie Cup First Division was the 84th edition of the Currie Cup. As the second-tier of the competition, it ran alongside the 2022 Currie Cup Premier Division. It was sponsored by beer brand Carling Black Label and organised by the Sout ...
:
References
External links
*
sport.iafrica.com profile
South African rugby union teams
Rugby clubs established in 1899
1899 establishments in South Africa
Sport in the Western Cape
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