The Falcons – better known by their

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

name the Valke and now known as the Hino Valke for sponsorship reasons – 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 ...

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 in

Gauteng province Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only 1. ...

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 ...

tournament. Their home ground is

Barnard Stadium Barnard Stadium is a sports stadium situated in Kempton Park, 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 alon ...

in Kempton Park, to which they have returned in 2009. The Falcons have operated from

Bosman Stadium Bosman Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Brakpan, South Africa. The Falcons Currie Cup team has historically used this ground as their home base. The stadium is currently used for football and rugby matches. In October 2015, the Stadium made his ...

Brakpan Brakpan is a mining town in the Gauteng province of South Africa. History The name Brakpan comes from a small pan on a farm called Weltevreden, which was filled with very brackish water and was probably referred to as the "brakpan," and it was nea ...

and Pam Brink Stadium in Springs. They occasionally still host matches at Bosman Stadium. The Falcons draw players from

Ekurhuleni The City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality is a Metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of the East Rand region of Gauteng. The municipality itself is a large suburban region east o ...

and other municipalities to the east and south of

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

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

, after which the Eastern Transvaal Rugby Football Union merged with the Vaal Triangle Rugby Union to form the

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

Falcons Rugby Union. It is one of only fourteen Provincial Unions in the country.

Honours

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

the Falcons were the

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 ...

champions, 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 Falcons 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

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Falcons (Rugby Team) South African rugby union teams Sport in Gauteng Kempton Park, Gauteng Rugby clubs established in 1947