The Bond University Rugby Club is an Australian

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 its m ...

football club that competes 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. The club is based at the

Bond University Bond University is Australia's first private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its founding on 15 May 1989, Bond University has primarily been a teaching-focused higher ed ...

campus on

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

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 ...

. Bond University entered into a partnership in 2013 with the

Gold Coast Breakers 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, Queensland, Gold Coast. Bond Univer ...

team that had played in the Premier Rugby competition since 1997. After the Breakers disbanded following the 2013 season, a restructured club under the Bond University name was established for the 2014 season.

History

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 ...

, who became the founding club of the GCDRU, played one season in the Brisbane first grade premiership in 1968 before returning to the Queensland Sub-district competition. Almost three decades passed before a Gold Coast team played in the first grade premiership again.

Gold Coast Breakers

In the 1990s, a group of businessmen including Terry Jackman and former Wallaby

Greg Cornelsen Greg Cornelsen (born 29 August 1952 in Sydney) is a former Australian rugby union footballer, who was capped 25 times for the national team, the Wallabies from 1974 to 1982. His usual position was as flanker. Career Greg played Australian s ...

approached the QRU about forming a team on the Gold Coast to join the first grade premiership. The aim was to cater for the talented local players who were commuting to Brisbane to play in the stronger competition. The Gold Coast Breakers team was established in 1996 as an offshoot from the

Gold Coast District Rugby Union The Gold Coast and District Rugby Union, or GCDRU, is the local Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of rugby union on Australia's Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast. The GCRU runs a club rugby competition for men's teams with thr ...

. The Breakers joined the QRU first grade competition in 1997, and won the premiership in 2004 under the coaching guidance of

Alec Evans Alec Evans (born 1939) is an Australian former rugby union footballer and coach. Known as Alex Evans in the United Kingdom, he coached Wales at the 1995 Rugby World Cup. He was assistant coach of Australia on the 1984 Grand Slam tour. Evans was ...

. At the start of the 2013 season, the Breakers entered into a partnership with

, with access to the university’s high-performance sports facilities and sports fields. The club relocated to the Bond campus at

Varsity Lakes Varsity Lakes is a suburb in the City of Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. In the , Varsity Lakes had a population of 15,026 people. The suburb was originally known as ''Stephens'', but in 2002, Stephens, Andrews and a section of Robina we ...

in 2013.

Bond University

The Bond University Rugby Club was established in 2013. After a reduction in funding from the

Australian Rugby Union Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named the Australian Rugby Union Limited and Australian Rugby Football Union Limited, is an Australian company operating the premier rugby union competition in Australia and teams. It has its origins in 1949. It ...

to the premier clubs following the 2013 season, the Gold Coast Breakers were forced to disband. The team was reformed under the Bond University name, with about three-quarters of the players from the Breakers joining with Bond in a revamped structure for the 2014 Premier Rugby season.

Premiership finals results

''Gold Coast Breakers (1997–2013)'' :''Premiers'' (Hospital Challenge Cup) * 2004 Gold Coast 24-18 University :''Runners-Up'' (Vince Nicholls Memorial Trophy) * 2001 Canberra 32-10 Gold Coast * 2003 Canberra 29-16 Gold Coast * 2005 Sunnybank 41-17 Gold Coast * 2007 Sunnybank 85-19 Gold Coast

References

External links