The stadium was named after rugby administrator and Springbok scrum half Danie Craven.

The stadium was built on a portion of the old Coetsenburg Estate which was founded by Dirk Coetsee in 1682 after a grant of land from the Dutch Governor of the Cape Colony Simon van der Stel.

The stadium played host to several games of the Varsity Cup, South Africa's premier inter-university rugby tournament since 2008.

In the first three years of the Varsity Cup (2008–2010) the final also took place at the stadium.

[2][3] In the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the stadium hosted the game between Australia and Romania on 3 June.