The Tasmanian Rugby Union, or TRU, is the

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 ge ...

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 its m ...

within the state of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The TRU was established in 1933. It is a member and founding union of

Rugby Australia 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 ...

. Currently, the Tasmanian Rugby Union holds a variety of competitions for male and female players, in several age groups and divisions. The headquarters for the Tasmanian Rugby Union are at Rugby Park,

Cornelian Bay, Tasmania Cornelian Bay is a small suburb in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It lies just north of the urban parkland, the Queens Domain. The bay itself is a safe anchorage for yacht owners. History Tasmanian Aboriginal people of the Mouheneenner band liv ...

Affiliated Clubs

As at the end of 2019, there are 13 clubs which make up the TRU. Ten of these clubs field senior men's sides, eight field senior women's sides, and five field junior sides. There is also a "golden oldies" club for players aged 35+. The Tasmanian Rugby Union Referee's Association is also directly affiliated with the TRU.

Defunct clubs

* Associates **The club was formed in 1964 as the University Associates Rugby Football Club. The club won six First Grade Southern and State Premierships in 1965, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1984. The club also won 3 Reserve Grade Premierships in 1965, 1981 and 1982. * West Coast * Georgetown * Wellington * Port Dalrymple * Glen Dhu **Combined with the Riverview Club in 1998 to become the Launceston Rugby Union Club * Riverview **Combined with the Glen Dhu Club in 1998 to become the Launceston Rugby Union Club * Williamsford *Australian Maritime College Vikings *Army Rugby Club **Reportedly played in a dark green jumper with a white V

Divisions

Rugby Union in Tasmania consists of the following divisions : Men's Premiership (First Grade), Men's Championship (Reserve Grade), Women's, Junior Under 18, Junior Under 16, Juniors Under 14 and Tassie Devils (under 12).

2019 Senior Men's competition

There were 11 teams from 9 clubs competing in the club rugby divisions These were: Premiership Grade *

Devonport Rugby Club Devonport Rugby Club Est. 1964 is a Rugby Union club at the Don, Tasmania, Don in Devonport, Tasmania. The club is a member of the Tasmanian Rugby Union and Tasmanian Rugby Union Juniors, affiliated with the Australian Rugby Union and plays in th ...

Glenorchy Rugby Union Football Club Glenorchy Rugby Union Football Club is a Rugby Union club in Tasmania. Established in 1935, the club is a member of the Tasmanian Rugby Union, affiliated with the Australian Rugby Union and plays in the Tasmanian Statewide League. The club's ho ...

* Hobart Harlequins Rugby Union Club *

Hobart Lions Rugby Club Hobart Lions Rugby Club (Officially Hobart Hutchin's Rugby Union Football Club) is a Rugby Union club in Tasmania. Established in 1983, the club is a member of the Tasmanian Rugby Union, is affiliated with the Australian Rugby Union, and plays in ...

* Taroona Rugby Club *

Australian Maritime College Rugby Union Club Australian Maritime College Rugby Union Football Club is a Rugby Union club in Tasmania. Established in 2012, the club is a member of the Tasmanian Rugby Union, affiliated with the Australian Rugby Union Rugby Australia Ltd, previously named ...

– ''withdrawn from competition prior to start of season'' Championship Grade *

Burnie Rugby Union Club Burnie Rugby Union Club is a Rugby Union club in Tasmania. It was established in 1961, was dormant in the late 1980s and reformed in 1997. The club is a member of the Tasmanian Rugby Union, affiliated with the Australian Rugby Union, and plays in ...

* Eastern Suburbs Rugby Union Football Club Inc. *Hobart Harlequins Rugby Union Club * Launceston Rugby Union Football Club *Taroona Rugby Club *

University of Tasmania Rugby Union Club University of Tasmania Rugby Union Club is a Rugby Union club in Tasmania. Established in 1933, the club is a member of the Tasmanian Rugby Union, affiliated with the Australian Rugby Union and plays in the Tasmanian Statewide League. The club wa ...

Premierships

2019 Senior Women's competition

Generally, Senior Women's competitions consist of a series seven's tournaments spread across the year along with several games of 15's format. There were 9 clubs competing in the club rugby divisions These were: *

* Eastern Suburbs Rugby Union Football Club Inc., identified from the Men's team as "The Chicks" *

* Hobart Harlequins Rugby Union Club, identified from the Men's team as "The Queens" * North West Panthers Rugby Club * Tamar Valley Vixens Rugby Club * Taroona Rugby Club *

, identified from the Men's team as the "Red Women"

Representative teams

The senior men's state representative side for the Tasmanian Rugby Union are the Tasmanian Jack Jumpers, named for the

jack jumper ant Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

''(Myrmecia pilosula)'', a species of venomous bull ant commonly found in Tasmania. From 2018 an additional competition was formed for teams from so-called "Minor States", called the Emerging States Championship, featuring the Jack Jumpers, Northern Territory Mosquitoes,

Adelaide Black Falcons The Black Falcons is a representative rugby union team based in Adelaide, South Australia. The team is selected from the best senior club players in South Australia and represents the state in matches against other Australian representative team ...

and Victoria Country Barbarians. The first Competition was held in Adelaide in September 2018, and the Black Falcons were the inaugural winners. * 2018 NRC Division 2 Runner Up

Notable players

Adam Coleman Adam Coleman (born 7 October 1991) is an Australian rugby union player living in England who plays lock for London Irish in the Gallagher Premiership. Career Coleman attended New Town High School in Hobart Tasmania. He represented Tasmania in u ...

, Wallaby 895, and currently playing for

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

* Eddie Jones, Head Coach of the

Wallabies A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...

, Japan Sakuras and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

national team, born in

Burnie Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. When founded in 1827, it was named Emu Bay, being renamed after William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, in the early 1840s. , Burnie had an urban popul ...

, Tasmania * Jack Ford, Wallaby 224,11 caps, born in

Sheffield, Tasmania Sheffield is a town 23 kilometres inland from Devonport on the north-west coast of Tasmania. Sheffield has long been the rural hub for the Mount Roland area. The Sheffield area is well known for its high quality butterfat production via dairy ...

* Eric E. Ford, Wallaby 240, 7 caps, born in

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () or () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, Launceston has a population of 87,645. Material was copied ...

* Nili Fielea,

Perth Spirit Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is p ...

Justin Collins
Flanker – Chiefs 1998-1999 (10 caps), Blues 1999-2009 (92 caps) * Ollie Atkins (born Hobart 1988), Waratahs, Edinburgh, Scotland A, Exeter Chiefs, Rouen-Normandie

References

External links

Official website: Tasmanian Rugby Union

Tasmanian Jack Jumpers
{{Authority control Australian rugby union governing bodies Ru 1933 establishments in Australia Sports organizations established in 1933 Women's rugby union competitions in Australia