The Border Bulldogs () is a South African professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

team based in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

that participates in the annual

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

competitions. They are governed by the Border Rugby Union (BRU).

History

The Border Rugby Football Union governs rugby in the eastern third of the Eastern Cape province, including two former homelands,

Transkei Transkei ( , meaning ''the area beyond Great Kei River, he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei (), was an list of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa f ...

and

Ciskei Ciskei ( , meaning ''on this side of Great Kei River, he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Ciskei (), was a Bantustan for the Xhosa people, located in the southeast of South Africa. It covered an area of , almost entirely surrounded b ...

. The team is based in East London and play at the Buffalo City Stadium. They form part of the Southern Kings

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

franchise. Border were one of the founding members of the Currie Cup, having been established in 1891, but have only won the prestigious competition twice, in 1932 and 1934. They also won the Vodacom Shield in 2003. In 1995, following the introduction professionalism in rugby, the team adopted the nickname the Bulldogs. The team have struggled since they were relegated to the Currie Cup First Division in 2000, never being promoted to the Premier Division. They average crowds of 3,500 to Currie Cup first division games, however they can attract much larger crowds when they take on their fiercest and closest rivals, the Eastern Province Elephants.

In-fighting and financial crisis

In 2013, a dispute arose between the Border Rugby Union and the Border Rugby (Pty) Ltd, the professional arm of the BRFU which administers the Bulldogs. The dispute was in relation to a perceived lack of transformation at the Bulldogs, who claimed local amateur black players were not good enough for the professional side. As a result, in June of that year, the BRFU refused to release any of their club players to play for the Bulldogs. In September and October, television broadcasting money paid by SARU to the BRFU was not given to the Bulldogs, resulting in players' salaries not being paid, coach Paul Flanagan leaving and the Border Academy being shut down. At the start of 2014, the BRFU announced that it was bankrupt. In March 2014, the

South African Rugby Union The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board ...

withdrew their financial support due to a lack of audited financial records. It culminated in the

taking control of the team's financial and administrative affairs in December 2014, with the intention of handing control back to BRFU officials once the situation has been normalised.

Honours

Vodacom Shield * champions 2003 Vodacom Shield Bankfin Nite Series * ''runner-up''

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

References

External links

Official website
{{Rugby union in South Africa Rugby union teams in South Africa East London, South Africa Sport in the Eastern Cape

History

In-fighting and financial crisis

Honours

See also

References

External links