Rugby in Australia
Rugby is one of the most popular sports played in Australia. It is a popular winter sport and has a rich history dating back to 1864. In Australia rugby is played by over 80,000 individuals and is enjoyed in both professional and recreational capacity by both children and adults.
The national Australian Rugby team is called the Australian Wallabies and they have won the Rugby World Cup twice once in 1991 and then in 1999. The Australian team plays in its traditional sporting colours of gold and green and they are considered to be one of the top rugby teams especially due to their success at the World Cup and also because of their consistent high world rankings.
The main competition in the Australian rugby circuit is the Super Rugby which is also called the Super 12, then Super 14 and now Super 15 from 2011. This is a multiregional competition that is held across the southern hemisphere. Australia will this time round enter five regional entries-
- The Reds of Queensland
- The Waratahs of New South Wales
- The Brumbies of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT)
- The Force of Western Australia
- And the latest addition the Melbourne Rebels of Victoria.
The Rugby Union in Australia is administered by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) formed in 1949 which is also a member of the International Rugby Board (IRB). There are domestic unions as well in the constituent states and territories amongst which the New South Wales Rugby Union and the Queensland Rugby Union are the dominant members. Though every territory and state in Australia has its representative union and in the recent years the Southern NSW Rugby Union and the Australian Capital Territory Rugby Union have achieved a status equal to Queensland and NSW. Before the ARU the NSWRU governed the Australian teams.
Tournaments Played
National Competitions:
- The Rugby World Cup
- Tri Nations Cup
- Pacific Nations Cups
- Rugby World Cup Sevens
- IRB Sevens World Series
- Adelaide Sevens
Club Competitions:
- Super Rugby
- Australian Rugby Championship
- Tooheys New Cup
- ACTRU Premier Division
- Queensland Premier Rugby
Other Rugby Teams:
- Sevens
- Australia A
- Wallaroos which is their Women’s National Rugby Team.
- And the Age Level Participations.