Sydney University Football Club, founded in 1863 (this date was disputed by historian Tom Hickie who argues that it was 1865), is the oldest club now playing 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...

 in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, and as such is nicknamed "The Birthplace of Australian Rugby" or simply "The Birthplace".

The club are the current NSWRU Premiers.

The club was a member of the inaugural Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 club competition in 1874, along with Balmain

Balmain

Balmain can refer to:Places:* Balmain, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia* Electoral district of Balmain, an electoral division in New South Wales, Australia* Balmain East, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia...

, Newington College

Newington College

Newington College is an independent, Uniting Church, day and boarding school for boys, located in Stanmore, an inner-western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....

 and The King's School

The King's School, Sydney

The King's School is an independent Anglican, day and boarding school for boys in North Parramatta in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831, it is Australia's oldest school and forms one of the nine "Great Public Schools" of New South Wales. Situated within a site, Gowan Brae,...

.

The club currently competes in the NSWRU competition and has claimed the Tooheys New Cup

Tooheys New Cup

The Tooheys New Cup is a rugby union competition established by the New South Wales Rugby Union in 2002 as a stepping stone between the existing grade rugby and Super 14 competitions. Open to the existing 12 grade clubs, the TNC features Super 14 players not on international duty and the...

 and senior and colts club championships in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. They also compete in the Juniors NSWJRU State Championships. In 2007 they fielded teams in the Under 10s, 11s, 12s, 13s and 15s. The under 13s made history in 2007, being Sydney Uni Football Club's first junior team to win a championship.

Honours

• Premiership Titles - Shute Shield
  Shute Shield
  The Shute Shield is a rugby union competition in Sydney, New South Wales. It is the premier grade rugby trophy in NSW rugby. The Shute Shield is awarded at the end of the Sydney Club Rugby season to the team that wins the Grand Final...
  
  : (22) 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1937, 1939, 1945, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1961, 1962, 1968, 1970, 1972, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Australian Club Champions
  Australian club championship rugby union
  The Australian club championship is a rugby union challenge match between the Brisbane and Sydney club premiers. The fixture was played on a regular basis from 1982 to 1991 and again since 2007, and also on an ad-hoc basis in various other years...
  
  : (2) 2007, 2008

Club history

The club is officially known as "Sydney University Football Club" because it was the first club of any football code in NSW. The club also played Australian rules football in its early history, making it the first NSW club in that code as well.

Its nicknames have also included "Quizkids" and "Varsity". They are also often referred to as the "Students".

International representatives

Current Wallabies playing for the club include Phil Waugh

Phil Waugh

Phillip Waugh is an Australian rugby union player, widely regarded as one of the world's leading flankers.His career as a player began at the Shore School, Captaining the school's team in 1997...

 and Dean Mumm

Dean Mumm

Dean Mumm is an Australian Rugby player currently playing for the NSW Waratahs in the Super Rugby competition.-Amateur career:...

. In all, 103 Sydney University players have been selected to play for Australia. The first Australian representative was H.A. Marks in 1899 and the most recent was Ben McCalman (2010). The club's most famous Wallaby would probably be Nick Farr-Jones

Nick Farr-Jones

Nicholas Campbell Farr-Jones is a former Australian rugby union footballer. His position was scrum-half. He attended Newington College and St Andrew's College within the University of Sydney...

, who had a long representative career (including World Cup success).

Current Super 15 players

• Phil Waugh
  Phil Waugh
  Phillip Waugh is an Australian rugby union player, widely regarded as one of the world's leading flankers.His career as a player began at the Shore School, Captaining the school's team in 1997...
  
  
• Dan Vickerman
• Gareth Hardy
• Alex Kanaar
• Winston Mafi
• Will Caldwell
  Will Caldwell
  Will Caldwell is an Australian rugby union footballer who currently plays for the New South Wales Waratahs in the international Super 14 competition as a lock.-Career:...
  
  
• David Fitter
• Berrick Barnes
• Ben McCalman
• Luke Burgess
• Lenny Beckett
• Alister Campbell
• Digby Beaumont
• Tim Davidson
• Daniel Halangahu
  Daniel Halangahu
  Daniel Halangahu is a professional rugby union player for the New South Wales Waratahs in the Super Rugby competition. He plays primarily as a five eighth.-Personal life:Halangahu was born 6 March 1984 in Belmont, New South Wales. He is of Tongan descent....
  
  
• Alfi Mafi
• Dean Mumm
• Jake (Webers) Coverdale
• Matt Batishall
• Tom Carter
• Dan Kelly Jnr

External links

• Sydney University Football Club website