Malaysia Valke

The Malaysia Valke was a professional rugby union team based in Kuala Lumpur  that played in the Global Rapid Rugby competition.[1][2] The team was formed in 2019 as a joint venture between Malaysia Rugby and the Falcons Rugby Union of South Africa,[3][4] but was disbanded a year later after the incomplete 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]

Malaysia Valke

Union	Malaysia Rugby                                                 Falcons Rugby Union
Founded	2019
Disbanded	2020
Ground(s)	(87,411) National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur (6,000) Stadium TUDM, Subang
League(s)	Global Rapid Rugby

The team was scheduled to play three matches in 2020 at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur and two matches at Stadium TUDM on the Subang base of the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF or in Malay, TUDM: Tentera Udara Diraja Malaysia).[6][7] However, after season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic,[8] the team's home games were not able to be played.

The Malaysia Valke ultimately played only two matches before being disbanded. These were away games to the Western Force in Perth in 2019 and 2020.[9][10]

Personnel

The Malaysia Valke team was predominantly made up of South African players and staff but also included members of the Malaysia national team [11][12] and players from other nations.

Head coaches

• JP Immelman (2019) [13]
• Rudy Joubert (2020) [2]

Captains

• Shane Kirkwood (2019) [13]
• Andries Truter (2020)

Squads

Malaysia Valke – 2020 Global Rapid Rugby [upper-alpha 1]
Hooker Robey Leibrandt Tian van der Merwe Prop Qhama Hina Lux Koza Primo Ncube Heinrich Roelfse Lock Jacques Alberts Andrew Volschenk Backrow Cody Basson Thabo Mabuza Vince Maruping Friedle Olivier Dwayne Pienaar Conway Pretorius Samuel Rentap Meran Boela Venter	Scrum half Zee Empangeni Johan Pretotius Anrich Richter Fly half Amirul Aqil Divan Nel Centre Andries Truter (c) Andrew van Wyk Valentino Wellman Wing Ezrick Alexander Coert Cronje Roro Damons Anwarul Hafiz Ahmad Marc Lee Badrul Muktee Hardus Pretorius Fullback Errol Jaggers
Notes: The initial 32-man squad was named in March 2020.[upper-alpha 2] "Photos". Malaysia Valke. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
Bold denotes player is internationally capped. (c) Denotes team captain. ^1 denotes marquee player.

See also

• Rugby union in Malaysia

References

1. "Force back with new competition". Otago Daily Times. 14 March 2020. Archived from the original on 13 March 2020.
2. "Malaysia Valke". Rapid Rugby. Archived from the original on 14 March 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
3. "Badrul and Samuel picked for Global Rapid Rugby". The Star. Petaling Jaya. 8 August 2019. Archived from the original on 13 March 2020.
4. "Malaysia-based SA team included in Global Rapid Rugby". Rugby Rocks. 14 November 2019. Archived from the original on 13 March 2020.
5. "Valke Rugby Company to be liquidated". Sport 24. 4 August 2020. Archived from the original on 21 September 2020.
6. "All systems go for Global Rapid Rugby". Rapid Rugby. 25 February 2020. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020.
7. "Season One". amazon.aws. Rapid Rugby. 28 February 2020. Archived from the original on 29 February 2020.
8. "2020 season suspnded". Rapid Rugby. Archived from the original on 15 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
9. "Forceful finish a fitting finale". Rapid Rugby. 9 August 2019. Archived from the original on 16 August 2019.
10. "Western Force dominant in Rapid Rugby opener". Rapid Rugby. 14 March 2020. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020.
11. Meor Riduwan Meor Ahmad (13 November 2019). "Kelab Jerman 'tackle' Amin". My Metro (in Malay). Archived from the original on 13 March 2020.
12. "Malaysia Valke included in Global Rapid Rugby". SA Rugby Magazine. 14 November 2019. Archived from the original on 13 March 2020.
13. "Malaysian Valke set for 1st GRR game". Rugby Asia 24/7. 9 August 2019. Archived from the original on 13 March 2020.

External links

• Former Malaysia Valke page at Archive.today (archived 29 January 2021)