The Gold Coast and District Rugby Union, or GCDRU, is the local

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

for the sport of

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

on Australia's

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

. The GCRU runs a club rugby competition for men's teams with three senior grades, as well as a junior club competition that caters for teams grouped by age from under 6 to under 18 and Girls/Women's 7's on a Friday night. Gold Coast representative teams play under the name "Cyclones" in a range of rugby competitions for senior and junior players. The

Bond University Rugby Club The Bond University Rugby Club is an Australian rugby union football club that competes in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition. The club is based at the Bond University campus on Queensland's Gold Coast. Bond University entered into a par ...

plays in the

Queensland Premier Rugby Queensland Premier Rugby is a semi professional club rugby union competition in Queensland, Australia. Nine clubs play in the competition, eight of which are from Brisbane with one club from the Gold Coast. The premiership has been contested ...

competition.

History

The foundation club for rugby union on the Gold Coast was the

Gold Coast Eagles The Gold Coast Eagles Rugby Union Football Club is an Australian rugby union football club that competes in the Gold Coast and District Rugby Union competition. The club is based in Southport, Queensland, Southport on Queensland's Gold Coast, Q ...

. The club was registered with the

Queensland Rugby Union The Queensland Rugby Union, or QRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within the state of Queensland in Australia. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia. The QRU was founded in Brisbane in 1883 as the ''Northern ...

(QRU) after a positive response at the initial foundation meeting in late 1964. The Gold Coast team's first season of rugby was in the 1965 Queensland Subbies competition, playing out of Rudd Park in Burleigh Heads. Coached by Paul Perrin and Bob Sinclair, the team went on to win the competition in 1965 and 1966, and finished second in 1967. In 1968, the QRU directed the Gold Coast to play in the Brisbane first grade competition. The team managed to defeat the eventual premiers

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

on their home ground but did not win any other matches for the season. This bad run of results and the logistics of traveling to Brisbane resulted in the Gold Coast team dropping out of all rugby competition in 1969. The club was reformed and rejoined Subbies in 1970. In 1973, Col Macdonald and Barry Moon proposed the establishment of a second club on the Gold Coast, and the Surfers Paradise Dolphins club was founded in 1974. Coached by ex-Wallaby Alan Ware, the Surfers Paradise club played their first home games on the grounds of

The Southport School , motto_translation = Let him who deserves the palm of victory bear it. , established = , type = Independent early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school , denomination = Anglican , headmaster = Andrew Hawkins , fou ...

. In 1978 the Gold Coast and District Rugby Union affiliated with the

Queensland Country Rugby Union The Queensland Country Rugby Union, or QCRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within most of the state of Queensland in Australia. It is affiliated with the Queensland Rugby Union. The Queensland Country Rugby Union administe ...

Clubs

competes in

. Gold Coast clubs that play in the GCDRU senior grade competitions, as of 2014, are: *

Bond Pirates Rugby Club The Bond Pirates Rugby Club is an Australian rugby union football club that competes in the Gold Coast and District Rugby Union competition. The club is based in Miami on Queensland's Gold Coast The clubs motto is 'Integrity is optional'. His ...

* Coolangatta Tweed Barbarians * Coomera Crushers RUC *

Griffith Uni Colleges Knights Rugby Union Club Griffith may refer to: People * Griffith (name) * Griffith (surname) * Griffith (given name) Places Antarctica * Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency * Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Ridge ...

* Helensvale Hogs RUC *

Hinterland Celtics Rugby Club Hinterland is a German word meaning "the land behind" (a city, a port, or similar). Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated ...

Nerang Bulls RUC The Nerang Bulls Rugby Union Football Club is an Australian rugby union football club that competes in the Gold Coast and District Rugby Union competition. The club is based in Nerang, Queensland on Queensland's Gold Coast. History In 1983, t ...

Palm Beach Currumbin Alleygators RUC The Palm Beach Currumbin Alleygators Rugby Union Football Club, alternatively shortened to PBC Alleygators, or PBCRUC, is an Australian rugby union football club that competes in the Gold Coast and District Rugby Union competition. The club is ba ...

Surfers Paradise Dolphins The Surfers Paradise Dolphins Rugby Football Club is an Australian rugby union football club that competes in the Gold Coast and District Rugby Union competition. The club is based in Broadbeach Waters, Queensland on Queensland's Gold Coast. ...

Additional clubs with junior teams that play in the Gold Coast age-group competitions include: *Beaudesert Warriors RUFC – also has a senior team in the Queensland Suburban Normanby Cup. *Casuarina Beach Rugby Club – junior club with links to Hinterland Celtics. *Tamborine Mountain Rugby Club *Yatala Rams Junior Rugby Union Club

Representative teams

The GCDRU selects representative teams each year which play under the name "Cyclones". The senior men's team and junior age-group teams compete in the annual

Queensland Country Championships The Queensland Country Championships, also known as the Graincorp Country Championship, is a rugby union competition for teams from regions of Queensland outside of Brisbane. The Queensland Country Rugby Union administers the competitions at Se ...

References

Sources

* *

History

Clubs

Representative teams

See also

References

Sources

External links

Archives