Diggers Rugby Club players give their all in practice and friendlies

PRAEGVILLE – Players at Diggers Rugby Club are upping the ante in their training and friendly matches ahead of the new season.

The club at Randburg Sports Complex, Praegville, is becoming busier and busier the closer it gets to the new season’s kickoff. In training, friendlies against other clubs and even friendly matches between its own teams, Diggers is working harder than ever to perfect its game.

Diggers finds itself starting in the second pool of the Pirates Grand Challenge this year. The club’s first game in this tournament is at home against Wanderers on 6 April.

Club manager Andrew Collison said Diggers will be a force to be reckoned with in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, U21 and U19 divisions.

“A few older players have stepped away but we have attracted at least twice as many new players to the club,” he said. “We have strengthened our depth, especially in junior rugby. There are good sides in the tournament and it will be our toughest season in five years. But we are better prepared for it.”

Before the tournament kicks off, another warmup match will be played at home against Sasolburg Rugby Club on 16 March.

Diggers, which is one of the oldest rugby clubs in Joburg, celebrated its 125th birthday in June last year with a day full of matches from junior to senior level. The club boasts one of the fastest-growing junior sections in rugby clubs in Gauteng. Furthermore, Diggers is home to South Africa’s first gay and inclusive competitive rugby side, the Jozi Cats.

Since 1893, Diggers has produced 30 Springboks, including the former president of the Golden Lions Rugby Union Kevin de Klerk, three Springbok captains, two vice-captains and 200 players capped for Transvaal.

The club was based at Springfield until it moved to Randburg Sports Complex in 1992, and merged with the Randburg Rugby Club.

Details: Diggers Rugby Club

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Diggers Rugby Club celebrates its 125th birthday with a day of matches