Griffons (rugby team)

Griffons

Full name

Griffons

Union

Griffons Rugby Union

Emblem(s)

Griffon

Founded

1968

Region

Part of the Free State Province, South Africa

Ground(s)

North West Stadium, Welkom (Capacity: 17,000)

Coach(es)

Oersond Gorgonzola

Captain(s)

Nicky Steyn

League(s)

Currie Cup

2015 Currie Cup First Division

2nd on log
(Lost in semi-finals)

Team kit

Official website

www.griffons-rugby.co.za

Current season

The Northern Free State Griffons (known as the Down Touch Griffons for sponsorship reasons) are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup and Vodacom Cup tournaments. They play out of Welkom at North West Stadium, and draw players from roughly the eastern third of Free State Province (the remainder of the province comprises the territory of the Free State Cheetahs).

Players from the Griffons are eligible for selection to the Vodacom Cheetahs Super Rugby team, along with players from the Free State Cheetahs and Griquas.

The team currently plays in the First Division of the Currie Cup, attracting crowds of around 4,000 to home games in at North West Stadium in Welkom. Their traditional rivals are the Free State Cheetahs and North West Province Leopards.

History

The Griffons rugby union was formed in 1968 when the late Dr Danie Craven, the president of SA rugby, had a vision to try and spread the game to rural areas in South Africa. The Griffons were one of four new provinces formed, originally known as Northern Free State (or Noord Vrystaat in Afrikaans).^[1]

In 1996, with the start of professional rugby, the then South African rugby football union, under Louis Luyt, decided to re-divide the unions to have only 14 provinces in South Africa, with Northern Free State being one. The Eastern Free State province was incorporated into Northern Free State. In 1999, Northern Free State changed their name to the Griffons.

Honours

The team's major tournament wins include the 1970 Paul Roos Trophy, 2001 Vodacom Shield, 2008 Currie Cup First Division and 2014 Currie Cup First Division.

Current squad

First team

The following players were included in the Griffons squad for the 2015 Currie Cup First Division tournament:^[2] ^{[note 1]}

Currie Cup squad
Props Gerard Baard Rudi Britz Heinrich Roelfse Danie van der Merwe Hookers Marco Klopper Kwezi Mkhafu Hennie Venter Locks Jan Breedt Chris Ehlers Marco Kruger Boela Serfontein Joe van der Hoogt Ockie van Zyl	Loose Forwards Dirk Grobbelaar Boetie Groenewald Vincent Maruping Pieter Matthews Frans Sisita Martin Sithole Nicky Steyn Scrum-halves Boela Abrahams Sino Nyoka Fly-halves Franna du Toit Coenie van Wyk	Centres Vuyo Mboto Japie Nel Wingers Enver Brandt Tertius Maarman Norman Nelson Fullbacks Wynand Pienaar Nico Scheepers

(c) denotes team captain. In addition to the players above, PW Botha, Alvin Brandt, Jackson Chabeli, Colin Herbert, Elandré Huggett, Armandt Koster, Erik le Roux, Bren Marais, Chase Morison, Freddy Ngoza, Ossie Nortjé, Mayizukiswe Ntshoko, Dewald Pretorius, Louis Strydom, Malcolm-Kerr Till and Elgar Watts were in the squad for the qualification tournament only, but either moved elsewhere since or not yet included in the First Division squad.

↑ The squad appears to be incomplete and only contains players so far named in match squads.

Vodacom Cup team

In addition, the following players made appearances for the Griffons in the 2015 Vodacom Cup:^[3]

Vodacom Cup players
Hookers Jacques Gnäde	Centres Shaun Nieuwenhuyzen	Wingers Sheldon Erasmus

References

↑ "Welcome to the Griffons Rugby Union". griffons-rugby.co.za. Retrieved 2012-01-19.
↑ "2015 Griffons Currie Cup First Division season". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
↑ "2015 Griffons Vodacom Cup season". Retrieved 18 March 2015.

External links

Official site

Currie Cup

Teams

Seasons

Board Trophy:	1889

Amateur era:	1892 1894 1895 1897 1898 1899 1904 1906 1908 1911 1914 1920 1922 1925 1927 1929 1932 1934 1936 1939 1946 1947 1950 1952 1954 1956 1957–59 1964 1966 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 Div A Div B Tphy A Tphy B 1989 Div A Div B Tphy A Tphy B 1990 Div A Div B Tphy 1991 CC Div A Div B Div C Div D 1992 CC Cen A Cen B Rur A/B Rur B 1993 1994 1995

Professional era:	1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Top 8 Bf Cup Qual 2001 Top 8 Bf Cup Qual 2002 2003 2004 Prem 1st 2005 Prem 1st 2006 Prem 1st 2007 Prem 1st 2008 Prem 1st 2009 Prem 1st 2010 Prem 1st 2011 Prem 1st 2012 Prem 1st 2013 Prem 1st 2014 Prem 1st Qual 2015 Prem 1st Qual 2016 Prem 1st Qual

Vodacom Cup

Teams	Blue Bulls Boland Cavaliers Border Bulldogs Eastern Province Kings Falcons Free State XV Golden Lions Griffons Griquas Leopards XV Limpopo Blue Bulls Pampas XV Pumas Sharks XV Simba XV SWD Eagles Welwitschias Western Province

Seasons	1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Rugby union in South Africa

Governing body

South African Rugby Union

National teams

Men's	Springboks Emerging Springboks 7's Amateurs U-21 U-20 U-19 Schoolboys

Women's	Women's 7's

Competitions

International	South Africa at the Rugby World Cup World Rugby Sevens Series South Africa Sevens World Rugby Under 20 Championship Super Rugby

Provincial	Currie Cup Vodacom Cup

Club	SARU Gold Cup Varsity Rugby

Youth rugby	Craven Week

Griffons provisional squad

Forwards	Gavin Annandale Zingisa April PW Botha Jan Breedt Samora Fihlani Dirk Grobbelaar Boetie Groenewald Kwezi Mkhafu Heinrich Roelfse Frans Sisita Martin Sithole Danie van der Merwe Hennie Venter

Backs	Boela Abrahams Selvyn Davids Franna du Toit Curtis Kleinhans Lohan Lubbe Tertius Maarman Vuyo Mboto Japie Nel Norman Nelson Ossie Nortjé Wynand Pienaar Duan Pretorius Sherwin Slater Warren Williams

Coach	Oersond Gorgonzola

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