Pretoria Rugby Club (defunct?) (Pretoria)

South Africa / Gauteng / Pretoria / Totius Street, 75
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The Pretoria Cricket Club and Rugby Club was established in the 1870’s. These two kinds of sports were initially practised on Church Square. The Pretoria Cricket Club and the National Cricket Club were established in 1891 and reached great heights. Rugby, however, waned because of poor organisation and a lack of good coaches. The exceptional rugby player Robert LOFTUS Owen Versfeld (1862-1932) moved to Pretoria in 1888. He consolidated all the smaller clubs and established Pretoria as a centre of rugby excellence.

On 09 APRIL 2005 Anne Lehmkuhl reported: Pretoria's oldest rugby club, the Pretoria Rugby Club located in Totius Street, Groenkloof, could close down. According to Chris le Grange, chairperson of the Pretoria Sports Union (PSU), main organising body administering the rugby club, the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (CTMM) served an eviction order on them in October last year, ordering them to vacate the premises by 28 February 2005. PSU has since appealed this notice on the grounds that their rent has been paid up until December 2010, and according to the legal firm representing the CTMM in this affair, Roestoff, Venter & Kruse, this appeal is still pending in the High Court.

On 9 May 2008, Liezl van der Merwe (Inkatha Freedom Party parliamentary spokesperson reported:
The Inkatha Freedom Party's Chief Whip and the longest-serving Member of Parliament, Mr Koos van der Merwe MP, was today elected as one of the honorary Vice-Presidents of the Pretoria Rugby Club.

The club appears defunct and the grounds appear to be used as a parking space for music festivals and by the Liverpool Supporters Club Pretoria.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   25°46'8"S   28°13'13"E
This article was last modified 12 years ago