Australian Rugby Shield
Encyclopedia
The Australian Rugby Shield is a national Rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 competition intended to unearth new talent and foster rugby union development outside the traditional Rugby states New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 and Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

.

It aims to provide regional teams and developing unions with a regular schedule to compete against each other at a higher level of competition than would normally be possible in their individual states or territories. Conducted under the Super 14 style rules and regulations, the competition aims to assist players, coaches, managers and referees in their professional development. It gives them the opportunity to achieve a pathway to full representative level including education in coaching, selecting and refereeing.

The tournament was also an important step in the development of rugby union in Australia and provides an opportunity for the ARU to identify and unearth talented players nationally.

History

The tournament was first played in 2000, and is played as a single round robin over five weekends with a first-past-the-post system in place for the first time in 2004.

The competition for 2006 is composed of eight teams with ACT & Southern NSW and Tasmania entering teams for the first time. The competition will be played in two pools with a cross pool final series.
The ARU has determined that the competition is to exclude contracted and academy players.

In 2007 the tournament reverted to a 6 team Home & Away Round Robin Tournament with the exclusion of Perth Gold & ACT & Southern NSW Vikings. These two teams were excluded as the ARU
Aru
Aru and ARU may refer to:Aru* Name of Lady in India* Aru Islands, a group of islands in the Moluccas* Sultanate of Deli , an early Islamic polity in northeast Sumatra* Aru, Democratic Republic of Congo, a town in Ituri province...

 determined the local competitions suitable enough to foster talent for the new Australian Rugby Championship
Australian Rugby Championship
The Australian Rugby Championship, often abbreviated to the ARC , was a domestic Rugby union football club competition in Australia which ran for only one season in August–October 2007...

 (Perth Spirit
Perth Spirit
The Perth Spirit was an Australian rugby union football club based in Perth, Western Australia. Perth Spirit was one of eight clubs that competed in the Australian Rugby Championship which ran in 2007. Perth Spirit played at the Members Equity Stadium. The players in the squad adopted an...

 & Canberra Vikings
Canberra Vikings
The Canberra Vikings were an Australian rugby union football club that played in the now-defunct Australian Rugby Championship. The Vikings were formed as the only club from the Australian Capital Territory that participated in the inaugural season of the championship, which started in August 2007...

)

At the end of 2008 the ARU declared they would suspend the 2009 Australian Rugby Shield.

Coverage

The competition is covered on national television by the digital channel ABC2
ABC2
ABC2 is a national public television channel in Australia. Launched on 7 March 2005, it is the responsibility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television division, and is available nationally to digital television viewers in Australia...

. It showcases two of the Australian Rugby Shield matches each round.

Participating teams

  • ACT
    Australian Capital Territory
    The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...

     & Southern NSW Vikings
  • Adelaide
    Adelaide
    Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

     Black Falcons
  • Darwin
    Darwin, Northern Territory
    Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...

     Mosquitoes
  • Melbourne
    Melbourne
    Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

     Axemen
  • New South Wales
    New South Wales
    New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

     Country Cockatoos
  • Perth
    Perth, Western Australia
    Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

     Gold
  • Queensland Country Heelers
    Queensland Country Heelers
    The Queensland Country Heelers are the team representing Queensland Country in the Australian Rugby Shield competition. As such, the team draws on players from clubs taking part in the Queensland Country Championship and Queensland Outback Championship....

  • Tasmania
    Tasmania
    Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

     Jack Jumpers

Champions

  • 2000 Queensland Country Heelers
    Queensland Country Heelers
    The Queensland Country Heelers are the team representing Queensland Country in the Australian Rugby Shield competition. As such, the team draws on players from clubs taking part in the Queensland Country Championship and Queensland Outback Championship....

  • 2001 New South Wales Country Cockatoos
  • 2002 New South Wales Country Cockatoos
  • 2003 Perth Gold
  • 2004 New South Wales Country Cockatoos
  • 2005 Perth Gold
  • 2006 ACT & Southern NSW Vikings
  • 2007 Melbourne Axemen
  • 2008 New South Wales Country Cockatoos
  • 2009 Not played

See also

  • Australia national rugby union team
    Australia national rugby union team
    The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...

  • Australian Provincial Championship
    Australian Provincial Championship
    The Australian Provincial Championship, often abbreviated to the APC, is a now defunct Australian national Rugby union tournament that commenced for just one season in 2006...

     (APC
    APC
    -Biology:* Adenomatous polyposis coli, a type of colon cancer caused by a defect APC-protein due to mutations in the APC-gene* Antigen-presenting cell in medicine/immunology* Activated protein C, an anti-coagulant and anti-inflammatory protein...

    ) (defunct)
  • Australian Rugby Championship
    Australian Rugby Championship
    The Australian Rugby Championship, often abbreviated to the ARC , was a domestic Rugby union football club competition in Australia which ran for only one season in August–October 2007...

     (ARC
    ARC
    ARC may refer to:- Business :* African Rainforest Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit* Airport Regions Conference, a European organization of major airports* Amalgamated Roadstone Corporation, a British stone quarrying company...

    ) (defunct)
  • Super Rugby
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