Boland Rugby Union was founded in 1939 and is South Africa’s eleventh oldest rugby province. A wonderful rugby history and tradition has been nurtured in the Boland over the years and some of Boland’s stars in years gone by are household names today. Boland also enjoys the advantage of having strong school’s rugby active in the province and these schools have produced plenty of great provincial and Springbok players. Boland schools that stand out include Paarl Boys’ High, Paul Roos and Paarl Gim and all have respectively made a valuable contribution to Boland rugby. In fact, in can be argued that if these youngsters had to remain with the province, there is a strong possibility that Boland would have lofted the Currie Cup on more than one occasion.

One of Boland’s most famous and colourful of characters is surely Francois (Kaballie) Davids, who once famously told former Saru president, Ebrahim Patel, that he did not buy his Saru blazer from a chain store and therefore, despite Patel’s request, will not be handing it back. Evidently, Patel never pursued the matter further. Davids has also served as a Springbok selector and recently stepped in after Jackie Abrahams to take over the reins as president of the Boland Rugby Union. This businessman has never known any other province other than Boland. His passion for Boland rugby means that he will pay attention to his belief of solid structures to ensure the province is run smoothly.

Davids intends to make Boland financially strong and to enjoy good relations with his neighbouring unions, Western Province and South Western Districts. With Davids at the helm, Boland appears set for a bumper season.