CLUB PROFILE: Stellenbosch Rugby Football Club
The Stellenbosch Rugby Football Club is the second oldest rugby club in South Africa and was founded in 1875. This means that the Club will be one hundred and thirty seven years old this year. In general the players of the club are referred to as Maties, in all probability derived from the Afrikaans word for tomatoes (“tamaties”), based on the maroon coloured jerseys in which the teams still play.
The headquarters of the Maties is The Danie Craven Stadium at Coetzenburg in Stellenbosch. Apart from the Craven Stadium which can accommodate 17 000 spectators, the club utilises thirteen additional rugby fields for training and matches.
With fifty-three teams and more than 1300 registered rugby players that participate in league matches, the Matie Club is most probably one of the biggest competitive rugby clubs in the world.
Through history the Matie Club has produced several rugby legends, such as Paul Roos, AF Markötter and Danie Craven. They have also produced 171 Springboks and 15 Springbok test captains. Current Springboks are Jean de Villiers, Schalk Burger, Gio Aplon, Juan de Jongh and Juandre Kruger.
Since the revival of the National Club Championship fifteen years ago, the Matie First team has qualified to compete in the Championship fourteen times. The Maties have already won the National Club Championship twelve times. The second-best club team could only win the title on three occasions.
The Maties 1st Team are currently sitting in second on the Super League A table.