Valke to celebrate a milestone
Ekurhuleni’s beloved professional rugby team, the Hino Valke, will soon be celebrating their 70th anniversary; this was announced at a media breakfast recently held at the club’s base, the Barnard Stadium in Kempton Park.
At the morning meeting three topics were the order of the day. Club CEO Jurie Coetzee briefed the media about plans to celebrate the club’s milestone, about the imminent election of the club’s new president following the departure of Vivian Lottering to SARU and about the club’s wish to tighten relations with the media.
Details of the celebrations of the club’s 70th anniversary and the naming of the club’s new president will be announced during the club’s AGM scheduled to take place on March 13 at the Barnard Stadium. Candidates for the presidential election are Jan Wigand (Vaal Area) and Harry Nieuwenhuis (Brakpan).
Regarding matters on the field, coach JP Immelman (a Benoni resident) announced that the squad has been bolstered by 11 new players as part of the total 33.
Fifteen of the 33 are local players.
The team will again compete in the new SuperSport Rugby Challenge, formerly and widely known as the Vodacom Cup.
Sunday rugby, triple-headers, regional championships and of course, the new competition name are all part of the makeover for the new provincial rugby season.
The SuperSport Rugby Challenge will kick off on the weekend of April 22-23 and will feature the country’s 14 provincial unions, together with Namibia’s Welwitschias in a refreshing 13-week tournament that is set to take South African rugby in a whole new direction.
The Rugby Challenge is made up of three pools, namely North, Central and South.
As part of their warm-up preparations ahead of the season kick-off, the Valke will face the Blue Bulls at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium on March 17, the Lions at Ellis Park on April 1 and the Griffons at home (the date for this fixture has yet to be confirmed).
The SuperSport Rugby Challenge pools:
North: Vodacom Blue Bulls, Xerox Golden Lions, Hino Valke, Steval Pumas, Namibia Welwitschias.
Central: Toyota Free State Cheetahs, Down Touch Griffons, Tafel Lager Griquas, Leopards, Cell C Sharks XV.
South: Boland Cavaliers, Border Bulldogs, EP Kings, SWD Eagles, DHL Western Province.
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