Rugby team
Hamilton RFC |
| Full name | Hamilton Rugby Football Club |
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| Union | Western Province Rugby Football Union |
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| Nickname(s) | Hammies |
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| Founded | 1875 |
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| Location | Sea Point, Cape Town, South Africa |
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| President | David Kagan |
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| Coach(es) | Niekkie Viljoen |
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| Captain(s) | Louis Nel |
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| League(s) | WP Super League A |
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| 2[1] |
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| www.hamiltonsrfc.co.za |
Hamilton Rugby Football Club was founded in March 1875 in Cape Town, and states that it is the oldest rugby union club in South Africa. Hamilton RFC played in the first official match at Newlands Stadium on 31 May 1890.
Origins
The club's inception occurred when a Mr. W. Nightingale called together a meeting of football enthusiasts at the offices of Messrs. Hamilton Ross & Co.[2] The meeting took the name of their club from a Hamilton Football Club (est. 1868) in Scotland of which Nightingale had been a member. The club merged with Sea Point Rugby Football Club in 1910 and in 1914 adopted its current jersey colours of three wide bands of red, black and yellow.[3]
Notable members
- Loftus Versfeld – played for Hamiltons "for five or six years"; won the inaugural Western Province Grand Challenge Cup with Hamilton RFC (1883); founder member, Eastern Province Rugby Union; won Eastern Province Grand Challenge Cup with Union RFC (1888); founder, Pretoria Rugby Club; won Transvaal Grand Challenge Cup with Pretoria RFC (1889); played for a Country XV against W.E. McLagan's touring British side (1891); founder member, Pretoria Rugby Subunion (1908) which in 1938 became Northern Transvaal; established Pretoria rugby headquarters at Eastern Sports Grounds; introduced grass playing fields to the Transvaal[10]
- W.V. ('Billy') Simkins – first president of Hamiltons; first referee to supervise a match at Newlands Stadium (31 May 1890); chairperson of the South African Rugby Board; chairperson of the Western Province Rugby Union; chairperson of the Western Province Cricket Union.[11]
- Bennie Osler, captain of Hamiltons (1927–1928 & 1930), Springbok (17 tests, 46 points); captain on tour to British Isles & Ireland (1931–32); joint record-holder, most consecutive test appearances at flyhalf (17).[12]
Springboks
Several players represented South Africa while members of Hamiltons but did not necessarily make their debut for South Africa as such. The following players made their test debut for the Springboks while being members of Hamiltons.[13]
