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Rugby union in Australia
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Rugby union is a popular team sport played in Australia, with its history dating back to 1864. Rugby union in Australia is mainly played at a professional and recreational level.
The principal competition in Australian rugby union is the Super 14, which is a multi-regional competition across the southern hemisphere. Australia enters four regional franchises in the competition, the Reds of Queensland, the Waratahs of New South Wales, the Brumbies of the Australian Capital Territory and the Force of Western Australia. The Australian Rugby Championship was introduced as the next level below the Super 14 in 2007, before its demise the same year due to lack of interest. Traditional capital city competitions, such as the Shute Shield of Sydney and the Queensland Premier Rugby of Brisbane are currently the highest level of domestic competition.
The national team are the Wallabies, who have won the Rugby World Cup twice, in 1991 and in 1999. The Wallabies play in Australia's traditional sporting colours of green and gold. They are considered one of the top rugby nations in the world, due to their success at the World Cup, and consistently high world ranking.
OrganisationRugby union in Australia is governed by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) which is a member of the International Rugby Board (IRB). There are constituent state unions with the New South Wales Rugby Union and Queensland Rugby Union traditionally being the dominant members, reflecting the games higher status in these states. However, every state and territory in Australia is represented by their respective union, and in recent years, the ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union has elevated itself to equality with NSW and Queensland. The ARU was formed in 1949 and before this time the NSWRU was responsible for international fixtures for Australian teams.
ParticipationIn 2000, there were just over 42,100 adult rugby union players in Australia, of which the states of New South Wales and Queensland account for 82.3% of all senior players. The highest participation rate is 0.8% in the Australian Capital Territory.
CompetitionsSuper 14Super 14 is a multi-regional rugby union competition that involves 14 teams from three nations across the southern hemisphere; Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Australia has four sides in the competition; Queensland Reds, New South Wales Waratahs, Brumbies Rugby and the Western Force. Prior to the Super 12/14, there were a number of other Oceania-African competitions that featured representative teams from both Queensland and New South Wales, such as the Super 10 competition, which Queensland actually won twice. Before that there was the Super Sixes competition. State teams have been playing each other since the late 1800s, when Queensland took on New South Wales in Sydney. The Brumbies have managed to win it, and both the Reds and Waratahs have made the finals. The Australian Provincial Championship (APC) was also played in 2006, featuring the Australian Super 14 teams.
Australian Rugby ChampionshipIn 2007 the Australian Rugby Championship (ARC) was introduced. It includes three teams in NSW, two in QLD and teams in Canberra, Melbourne and Perth. The aim of the eight team comp is to bridge the gap between Super 14 and club rugby. The competition is scheduled to run from August finishing in October with the final.
The Australian Rugby Union decided to scrap the competition for the 2008 season due to the union suffering a A$4.7 million loss.
ClubEach major city and many country areas support club rugby competitions. Of this group, the club competitions in Sydney and Brisbane are the oldest and most prestigious. The NSWRU runs the Shute Shield, the highest level in New South Wales. QRU runs Queensland Premier Rugby competition which is the top Brisbane club competition. The New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union features six divisions, more than 55 clubs and over 7500 players.
WallabiesThe Wallabies are Australia's national rugby union team. Australia has won the World Cup on two occasions, in 1991 against England at Twickenham, and then again in 1999 in Wales against France. The team plays in green and gold, which have traditionally been Australia's sporting colours. Australia has been playing internationals since 1899, when they played the visiting British Isles team on June 24. They won their first outing, defeating the British team 13 to 3. The rivalry with the New Zealand All Blacks is considered the only real marquee rivalry for the game of Rugby Union in Australia and the teams contest the Bledisloe Cup on an annual basis. The biggest crowd for a Bledisloe match was 109,874 in Sydney. The Wallabies play the Springboks from South Africa on an annual basis as they are the other team in the Tri Nations tournament. Other rivalries that Australia once held such as games against England, Wales and France are now considered less relevant, agrivated by under strength northern hemisphere teams touring Australia during Rugby World Cup years. This practice of sending grossly under strength national sides on tour during the lead up to a Rugby World Cup was addressed by the IRB during the 2007 Rugby World Cup following formal complaints from the three major Unions from the southern hemisphere including the ARU.
The Australian national rugby union team receives excellent support, on par with the national football team the Socceroos.
Other representative teams Australia also has a successful sevens side which competes in the IRB Sevens World Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games. They have won the Hong Kong Sevens event on five occasions. Australia A also plays matches, and compete in the Pacific Nations Cup. The women's team, the Wallaroos have been playing international rugby since 1994, and have competed at three Women's Rugby World Cups. Australia also has an under 21 side, a under 19 side and a schoolboys team.
Television coverageFree-to-air
External links- - NSW Suburban Rugby Union
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