Rugby league in South Africa
Encyclopedia
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
is a team
Team
A team comprises a group of people or animals linked in a common purpose. Teams are especially appropriate for conducting tasks that are high in complexity and have many interdependent subtasks.A group in itself does not necessarily constitute a team...
sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
played in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. There has been three dynasties of rugby league in South Africa that attempted to establish a thriving rugby league. Not all attempts were in the interest of South Africans; rather an interest in financial windfall. Others took to the townships and promoted the league at the grass roots, which saw some of the most successful periods of rugby league in South Africa. The game has changed over 50 years of involvement in South Africa and today is played by a small number of teams in the Tom van Vollenhoven Cup which is administered by the South African Rugby League.
The National Team
The South African national rugby league team is called the Rhinos. In addition to the national team, a representative team of South Africans living in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
was formed in 2004 called the Wild Dogs.
History
Rugby league in South Africa has a long and turbulent history, consisting of no less than three administrations over 40 years that attempted to establish the game of rugby leagueRugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. Neither, certainly the earlier attempts were very successful.
The first attempted expansion of the code into South Africa was primarily put together by the English and encouraged by the French for the purpose of expanding the game into new nations, that would inevitably bring more tests to the English and French shores, ensuring a lucrative future. At least, that was the plan; however it was not to be, the South African public did not take to the sport and the expansion plans were stopped prematurely causing a 3rd scheduled match in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to not be played.
The second attempted expansion was a strange double act in the 1960s consisting of two separate factions, known as the National Rugby League and South African Rugby League. Each fought for their own survival until the RLIF laid down the law that saw the NRL effectively shut down and its clubs moved to the SARL. All was looking good for SARL until a South African representative team toured Australia and were embarrassingly beaten.
In 1991 the South African Rugby Football League was established to promote amateur rugby league.
1998's World Club Challenge
World Club Challenge
The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league football match held between the champions of the Australasian National Rugby League and the European Super League competitions to determine the world's best rugby league club...
between the British and Australian champions was mooted as a showpiece fixture at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. However this didn't eventuate.
In 2009 there are currently three South Africans playing in Australia, Jarrod Saffy
Jarrod Saffy
Jarrod Saffy is an Australian professional rugby union player. He played league for St George Illawarra Dragons , before switching to rugby to the train with the Melbourne Rebels in preparation for the 2011 Super Rugby season.-Early career:Saffy moved to Australia as a 15-year-old and continued...
who plays for the St. George Illawarra Dragons, Allan Heldsinger
Allan Heldsinger
Allan Heldsinger is a rugby league player for the Redcliffe Dolphins in the QLD Cup. His position is at fullback or wing. He was part of the Sydney Roosters Toyota Cup team in 2008.- References :...
who plays for the Redcliffe Dolphins
Redcliffe Dolphins
The Redcliffe Dolphins are a rugby league team from the city of Redcliffe in Queensland, Australia. The Redcliffe Dolphins were founded in 1947, accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership in 1960, and since 1996 have played in the Queensland Cup....
and Daine Laurie
Daine Laurie
Daine Laurie is an Indigenous Australian professional rugby league footballer currently playing for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL. Laurie primarily plays as a prop and can operate in the second-row....
who plays with the Wests Tigers
Wests Tigers
The Wests Tigers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's mid-western suburbs. They have competed in the National Rugby League since they were formed at the end of the 1999 season as a joint-venture club between the Balmain Tigers and the Western Suburbs...
. In 2010 the Sydney Roosters
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...
have signed South African rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
junior JP Du Plessis
JP du Plessis
JP du Plessis is a South African dual-code Rugby player currently signed to the Melbourne Rebels in the Super Rugby competition.He prevoiusly played rugby league for the Sydney Roosters- Career :...
. The NRL
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...
plan to sign more South Africans in the future.
So far the Sydney Roosters
Sydney Roosters
The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League and is one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Australian rugby league history, having won twelve New South Wales Rugby League...
have signed four South African rugby union players and Peter O'Sullivan stated he will bring them all on a bus back to Bondi
Bondi
Bondi could refer to:-Places in Australia:* Bondi Beach, New South Wales, a beach and suburb in Sydney, Australia* Bondi Junction, New South Wales, a suburb and commercial centre in Sydney, Australia* Bondi, New South Wales, a suburb in Sydney, Australia...
the Melbourne Storm
Melbourne Storm
The Melbourne Storm are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the city of Melbourne. They are the first fully professional rugby league team based in the Australian rules football-dominated state of Victoria....
have also recruited players from the country.
Tom van Vollenhoven Cup
The Tom van Vollenhoven Cup is South African league's premier competition. The 2005/06 competition consisted of four teams: Eastern Eagles, Northern Bulls, Mpumalanga Panthers, Vaal Buffaloes.Three emerging teams aimed to enter the Tom van Vollenhoven Cup for the next season. They were Drakensberg Wings, Central Manes, KZN Tigersharks.
In the 2007/08 season South African rugby league is made up five provincial teams: Eastern Eagles, Northern Bulls, Mpumalanga Panthers, Vaal Buffaloes, Central Manes. A total of 19 clubs then play in five provinces under these respective teams.
Central Manes and Northern Bulls:
- NG Bulls
- Armagera Bulls
- Silverbacks
- Centurian Lions
- Wanderes Scorpians
- Randburg Rams
Eastern Eagles:
- ERP Falcons
- Kempton Wolves
- Springs Vultures
- Brakpan Bears
- Germiston Tigers
- Boksburg Hooters
Mpumalanga Panthers:
- Ermelo Cheetahs
- Witbank Knights
- Middelburg Tigers
- Loskop Leopards
Vaal Buffaloes:
- Vaal Mambas
- Vaal University of Technology (V.U.T)
- Heidelberg Buffalo Spears
- North - West University Vaal (N.W.U)
Teams are arranged in order of where they finished in their respective competitions. The teams Randburg Rams and Centurion Cups in the Central Manes/Northern Bulls province and Heidelberg in the Vaal Buffaloes province were forced to withdraw.