Rugby union in New South Wales
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Rugby union in New South Wales is one of the leading professional and recreational team sports. Rugby football began to be played in Sydney’s schools in the early 1860s. In the more than 150 years since, the game in New South Wales has grown to include more than 100,000 participants and the
Rugby World Cup Final The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition established in 1987. It is contested by the men's national teams of the member unions of the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and takes place every four years. The winners of the ...
has been hosted in Sydney.


History

Reports of folk football being played in the Colony of New South Wales date from at least as early as 1829. Games were occasional and included matches played by soldiers at Sydney's barracks or against the crews of visiting ships. The rules were variable and negotiated by the players before each game.


Rugby beginnings

Football played under versions of the Rugby School rules was brought to Australia by
Old Boys The terms Old Boys and Old Girls are the usual expressions in use in the United Kingdom for former pupils of primary and secondary schools.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While these are traditionally associated with independent schools, they are ...
of the English public schools. Some settlers would have been familiar with earlier forms of the game even before it was formally codified at Rugby School in 1845. The Rugby code was introduced to schools in Sydney from the early 1860s. Players familiar with the game from the Sydney schools, along with increased arrivals from England and elsewhere, soon led to organised club football commencing in Sydney. Rugby games were being played at
Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...
in the 1860s. The first ‘inter-club’ rugby match took place during July 1865 between the Sydney Football Club and a team from the Australian Cricket Club. The game was intended to be played over three Saturdays but the newspapers of the time only report on the first two. The game was postponed after the second Saturday when the Sydney FC held a lead of two goals to one, but no record has been found of the final result.
Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...
is credited with having a rugby club as early as 1869. From 1872 onwards there was a rapid growth in the formation of rugby football clubs. At a meeting of Sydney clubs on 22 June 1874, the Southern Rugby Football Union was formed as the governing body for rugby in New South Wales, and it was later renamed the
New South Wales Rugby Union The New South Wales Rugby Union, or NSWRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within most of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia. Within Australia it is considered t ...
in 1892.


New South Wales state team

The
New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state, ...
team is the representative team of the
NSWRU The New South Wales Rugby Union, or NSWRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within most of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is a member and founding union of Rugby Australia. Within Australia it is considered ...
. The Waratahs have competed in the transnational
Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...
competition since the start of the professional era of rugby in 1996.


Competitions


Super Rugby

The New South Wales Waratahs play in the
Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...
competition against other professional teams from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina. The Waratahs team won the Super Rugby title for the first time in 2014, after having previously reached the final in 2005 and 2008.


National Rugby Championship

New South Wales has two teams in the National Rugby Championship: * New South Wales Country *
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...


Shute Shield

Premiership Rugby is contested in Sydney across four senior grades and three colts competitions. Club Championship trophies are also contested on overall results. The
Shute Shield The Shute Shield is a semi-professional rugby union competition in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier club competition in New South Wales. The Shute Shield is awarded to the winning team from the Sydney premiership grand final held at the end ...
is the trophy for the first grade premiership competition, and the eleven clubs currently competing for the premiership are: *
Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...
*
Eastwood Eastwood may refer to: Places ;in Australia *Eastwood, New South Wales **Eastwood railway station **Electoral district of Eastwood *Eastwood, South Australia ;in Canada * Eastwood, Ontario *Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood ;in the Ph ...
*
Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...
* Manly *
Northern Suburbs Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney’s north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Sydney ...
*
Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...
* Randwick * Southern Districts *
Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...
*
Warringah Warringah is a name taken from the local Aboriginal word for Middle Harbour, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It may refer to: *Division of Warringah, an electoral division of the Australian House of Representatives created in 1922 *Electoral ...
* West Harbour Over the many years of competition for the NSW premiership, a number of formerly notable clubs became defunct. Some of the early ones include: Glebe ( Australian Club Champions in 1908), Pirates, The Sydney Football Club (est. 1865), and Wallaroos. The
Tooheys New Cup {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Tooheys New Cup, or TNC, was a rugby union competition established by the New South Wales Rugby Union (NSWRU) in 2002. Played in the second half of the rugby season after the Super 12 competition was comple ...
, which was the other recent first grade competition, ran from 2002 to 2006. An abbreviated Shute Shield competition was played in the latter part of the season during those years. When the Tooheys New Cup competition was disbanded, the Shute Shield competition was expanded again for the 2007 season.


Suburban rugby

Below the NSWRU grade competition is the
New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union The New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union, or NSWSRU, is affiliated to the New South Wales Rugby Union and runs the competition affectionately known as "Subbies" rugby. There are around 7500 players and 55 clubs competing across 6 divisions, makin ...
(commonly known as Subbies). With over 6,000 players and 55 clubs this is believed to be the largest centrally organised rugby union competition in the world.


Country Rugby

The
New South Wales Country Rugby Union The New South Wales Country Rugby Union, or NSWCRU, is the Sports governing body, governing body for the sport of rugby union within most of New South Wales in Australia. The NSWCRU is affiliated with the New South Wales Rugby Union and adminis ...
is affiliated with the NSWRU and administers game in the majority of non-metropolitan areas of NSW. The union is split into nine zones with 100 clubs and over 16,000 players. NSW Country is represented by the
New South Wales Country Cockatoos The New South Wales Country Cockatoos is an amateur representative rugby union football team. Players in the team are selected by the New South Wales Country Rugby Union from regions of New South Wales excluding Sydney and Southern NSW. New Sout ...
team.


Women's Rugby

Club competitions for women's 15-a-side teams are run in Sydney and Newcastle. A representative team from Sydney is regularly selected to play the NSW Country Corellas and the Australian Army women's team. The NSWRU also sends women's 15-a-side and 7-a-side representative teams to the ARU National Championships each year. The six clubs in the Sydney women's competition, as of 2014, are: *
Parramatta Two Blues Western Sydney Two Blues Rugby, formerly Parramatta Two Blues Rugby, is a rugby union club based in Parramatta, the second CBD of Sydney, Australia. The club was formed in 1879 and competes in the Shute Shield run by the New South Wales Rugby ...
* Penrith Emus * Rockdale Rangers *
Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's six ...
*
Warringah Rugby Club Warringah Rugby Club is a rugby union club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, New South Wales. Only located 25 km from the city centre, the club is close to many magnificent beaches, the Sydney Academy of Sport and Narrabeen Lake. T ...
*
Waverley Rugby Club The Waverley Rugby Football and Sporting Club (Waverley RF&SC) was founded in 1971. It is plays in the New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union, the largest rugby union football competition in New South Wales. The club is based in Bondi in the east ...


Schoolboy Rugby

The Waratah Shield is a rugby union knock-out competition for high school teams from New South Wales, Australia. First contested in 1963, it is organised by New South Wales Rugby Union in conjunction with NSW Schools' Rugby Union and NSW Combined High Schools and attracts around 100 entries each year.


Taki Toa Shield

The Taki Toa Shield is a rugby union tournament played among semi-professional clubs and an invitational New Zealand Māori community team in Sydney which started in 1983.


References


Bibliography

* * *


External links


nswrugby.com.auwaratahs.com.au
{{Rugby union in Australia Sport in New South Wales by sport