The Canberra Vikings, formerly the Canberra Kookaburras, 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 it ...

football team that competes in the

National Rugby Championship The National Rugby Championship, known as NRC, was an Australian rugby union competition. It was contested by eight teams, seven from Australia and one from Fiji. The tournament ran from 2014 until 2019 before being disbanded in 2020 following t ...

(NRC). The team is based at

Viking Park Viking Park is an 7,000 capacity (1,000 seated) multi-sport stadium located in the Tuggeranong Valley suburb Wanniassa, Canberra, Australia. It has a rectangular playing surface which is used primarily to host rugby union matches but additional ...

in Wanniassa, and is backed by the

Tuggeranong Vikings The Tuggeranong Vikings are a rugby union club based in Tuggeranong, Australian Capital Territory. It is supported by 4 licensed clubs based in Wanniassa, Greenway, Conder, Chisholm. The club has been successful in local and national competiti ...

Group as the licence holder, with the

Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the brumby, feral horses whi ...

and

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. U ...

as non-financial partners. The coaching and training programs used by the Brumbies for Super Rugby are extended to players joining the NRC team from the Brumbies, the local

ACTRU Premier Division The ACTRU Premier Division is a rugby union club competition based in Canberra, Australia, and conducted by the region's governing body, the ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union. It contains four Senior Grades of competition plus Colts, and is compet ...

club competition, and the

ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union The ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in the Australian Capital Territory and southern regions of New South Wales. The union is represented by one team in the Super Rugby competition, the Brumbies. The ACT ...

catchment area. The present NRC team is descended from the ACT representative side known as the Canberra Kookaburras. That name was adopted by the Canberra Kookaburra Rugby Club for the ACT Rugby Union's entry into the NSW Premiership in 1995. Ownership of the Kookaburras was transferred to the

RUC for the 1999 season and the team was renamed the Canberra Vikings. The Vikings played in the QRU Premiership (2001 to 2003, winning three titles),

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 ...

(2004 and 2005) and Australian Rugby Shield (winning in 2006), before entering the

Australian Rugby Championship The Australian Rugby Championship, often abbreviated to the ARC and also known as the Mazda Australian Rugby Championship for sponsorship purposes, is a now-defunct domestic professional men's rugby union football competition in Australia, which ...

(2007). That competition did not continue after the inaugural season and the Canberra Vikings team was disbanded at the end of 2007. After a six-year absence, the team was revived as the University of Canberra Vikings for the national competition relaunch as the NRC in 2014.

History

The late 19th century was when rugby began to be played in the region around what is now Canberra. Goulburn Rugby Union Club became a founding member of the

Southern 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 ...

in 1874, and Queanbeyan played Yass in 1878. Teams from Hall and the

Royal Military College, Duntroon lit: Learning promotes strength , established = , type = Military college , chancellor = , head_label = Commandant , head = Brigadier Ana Duncan , principal = , city = Campbell , state ...

played rugby union matches prior to the First World War. The Federal Capital Territory Rugby Union was established and re-established several times in the 1920s and 30s, before the

First Grade First grade (also called Grade One, called ''Year 2'' in England or Primary 2 in Scotland) is the first grade in elementary school and the first school year after kindergarten. Children are usually 6–7 years old in this grade. Examples by ...

competition was finally started in 1938 with four clubs playing in the inaugural season.

ACT representative team

The Territory's representative team hosted the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

Manuka Oval Manuka Oval is a sporting venue in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is located in Griffith, in the area of that suburb known as Manuka. Manuka Oval has a seating capacity of 13,550 people and an overall capacity of 16,000 people, althoug ...

in the winter of 1938. The Canberra side managed to score a try before the interval and trailed the visitors at half time by 24–5 before the New Zealanders went on to win by 57–5. Coached by Frank O'Rourke, the home team had played its inaugural match only three months earlier. The team's original strip featured an all gold jersey with two green bands. They defeated the Hawkesbury College at the Country Carnival earlier in 1938, and later that season won against the Bathurst side. Three players from the Territory team were selected for NSW Combined Country to play Sydney that year. The Australian Capital Territory team, often referred to simply as "Canberra", grew in stature in the decades following the Second World War. ACT won the Caldwell Cup for the Country Championship for the first time in 1964 and retained it for the following two seasons. Rugby in Canberra came of age in the 1970s. ACT scored a 17–11 away win over

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 , establishe ...

in 1972, and then had their first win over a national side, defeating

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

by 17–6 in 1973. In 1975, ACT won promotion for the following season to the top division of the

Wallaby Trophy The Australian Provincial Championship, or APC, is a now-defunct rugby union football competition played in Australia. It was one of several provincial competitions since the late 1960s, including the Wallaby Trophy and Ricoh National Champion ...

, Australia's provincial championship at that time. The triumph was short-lived, however, because the planned tournament for 1976 was officially cancelled. When

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

toured Australia in 1978, the ACT defeated them in a rousing 21–20 come-from-behind victory. The win over the reigning Five Nations champions showed that ACT could compete against the top tier of rugby players in the world. The name "Canberra Kookaburras" was used for the ACT representative team from 1989, but it was to be a further five years before the Canberra Kookaburra club was officially founded. When the ACT comprehensively beat

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

by 44–28 in 1994, an invitation was issued for a Canberra club to play in the expanded 14-team NSWRU Premiership sponsored by

AAMI Australian Associated Motor Insurers Limited (commonly referred to as AAMI) is an Australian general insurance provider offering car, home, CTP and business insurance. AAMI has vehicle assessment centres in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland ...

for the following season.

Canberra Kookaburras: AAMI Cup

The ACT Rugby Union formed the Canberra Kookaburra Rugby Club in August 1994, with

RUC as underwriter. For the 1995 AAMI Cup, the Canberra Kookaburras played their home games at

and had to travel to Sydney on most other weekends. The club fielded teams in first grade, reserve grade and colts. The Canberra Kookaburras played in a white and black strip, separated by bands of blue and gold (ACT's traditional colours) around the centre of the jersey. White and black were the colours of the first Canberra team formed in 1927. Canberra's reserve grade team won their grand final in the first season. The first grade team, coached by Geoff Stokes, also made the grand final in their first season but lost to

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, ...

by 24–11 to finish as runner-up in 1995. The advent of the

ACT Brumbies The ACT Brumbies (known from 2005–2022 as simply the Brumbies) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT), The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the feral horses which inh ...

and Super 12 in 1996 affected the Kookaburras' playing strength, with only one man from the previous grand final team available for the start of the 1996 season. Canberra were placed fifth in the regular season that year, and lost to Randwick in the elimination final. The Kookaburras were coached by Kim Thurbon in 1997, and by Ian Snook in 1998. The first grade team did not make the finals in either year. Travelling had caused a heavy financial drain on the club by 1998. Ownership of the Canberra Kookaburras was transferred to Tuggerannong Vikings RUC in 1998 and the team's name was changed to Canberra Vikings for the 1999 season.

Canberra Vikings

The Canberra Vikings adopted the red and white colours of

RUC with black detailing on the jersey and black shorts.

NSW Premiership

Ian Snook was retained as the team's first grade coach after the club's changeover of colours and name to the Canberra Vikings. The NSW Premiership was sponsored as the Citibank MasterCard Cup in 1999, and Canberra just missed out on making the finals. Despite the Vikings playing in the semi-finals in 2000, both Canberra and Newcastle were dropped from the competition for the 2001 season. The Vikings then made arrangements to play in Queensland.

Queensland Premiership

The Canberra Vikings played in the QRU's Premiership from 2001 to 2003 and won the grand final each year to take three consecutive titles. Canberra's entry increased the number of clubs from nine to ten and brought an added professionalism to the competition that was sponsored as the XXXX Premiership in 2001. With Terry Burkett as coach, the Vikings finished second in the 18-round regular season behind GPS Old Boys, but comfortably beat the Gold Coast Breakers by 32–10 in the grand final to win the Hospitals Cup. 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 was introduced in 2002, using additional funding from an ARU program to strengthen the top tier of Australian clubs in a transition to semi-pro rugby. Played in the second half of the season to allow Super 12 players to compete, the Premier Rugby competition spanned nine rounds followed by a finals series for the Hospitals Cup. For the first half of the season the clubs played for the Welsby Cup, which was won by Sunnybank in 2002.

Laurie Fisher Laurie Fisher (born 25 April 1958) is an Australian professional rugby union coach. He is currently the forwards coach of Super Rugby team the Brumbies. Early life and rugby career Fisher was born in Canberra. Rugby playing days: * 1st Grade Au ...

stepped up from the assistant coaching role the previous season to become the Vikings' head coach and his team took out the double in the 2002 Premier Rugby competition. The Vikings won the minor premiership with an 8–1 season before defeating

Easts Tigers The Brisbane Tigers are a rugby league club based at Langlands Park, in the suburb of Coorparoo in Brisbane, Australia. Since 1996, they have competed in the Queensland Cup, having competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1934 to 1997, where ...

in the grand final, avenging a regular round loss to the Tigers with a 45–3 win. Fisher was the head coach again in 2003 when Canberra finished second behind

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

in the minor premiership, but his team went on to beat the Gold Coast Breakers in the grand final by 29–16 to win their third title in a row.

NSW Premiership: Tooheys New Cup

After nine seasons of Canberra teams playing in interstate competitions, the Vikings' relations with the premier clubs in Sydney and Brisbane had become strained. This was reportedly due to a view that the Vikings were being given the opportunity every week of poaching talented young players and that the team was being run as a shadow

development side. Nevertheless, possibly due to the ARU's intervention, Canberra was granted approval to play in Sydney or Brisbane for 2004. The Vikings took the option closer to home and went to Sydney for their tenth season on the road. Nick Scrivener was the coach of the Canberra Vikings in the

for 2004. He led the team to a qualifying final after they had finished fourth in the regular season and won seven matches from twelve. The Vikings lost to Sydney University in the qualifier by 44–14. In 2005, the team was coached by John Ross. He also guided the side to seven wins from twelve matches in the regular season, but the Vikings finished sixth that year and did not play in the finals. Canberra was kicked out of the NSW Premiership for a second time ahead of the 2006 season, ostensibly to streamline the Sydney competition and allow 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 ...

to make more room in their calendar for the proposed

Australian Provincial Championship The Australian Provincial Championship, or APC, is a now-defunct rugby union football competition played in Australia. It was one of several provincial competitions since the late 1960s, including the Wallaby Trophy and Ricoh National Champion ...

Australian Rugby Shield

The Vikings entered the Australian Rugby Shield in 2006, playing as the "ACT & Southern NSW Vikings" following the renaming of the ACT Rugby Union after its expansion into Southern New South Wales the previous season. The team had two close matches against NSW Country and Perth Gold during the season, but managed to progress undefeated through the three pool games, semi-final and final to win the competition and take the shield. The Vikings played the Melbourne Axemen in the grand final at Viking Park and never looked back after the third minute when inside centre Josh Staniforth scored the first of the side's five tries for the match in a 36–10 win.

Australian Rugby Championship

The Canberra Vikings played in the

, known as the ARC, in 2007. Nick Scrivener returned as coach. The Vikings failed to progress beyond the robin-round stages after just three wins from eight matches; 17–8 against

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 ...

, 53–8 over the

Ballymore Tornadoes Brisbane City is an Australian rugby union football team based in Brisbane that competes in the National Rugby Championship (NRC). The team is one of two Queensland sides in the competition, the other being . Brisbane City is organised and mana ...

and a 29–6 win away against Sydney Fleet. The ARC was terminated at the end of 2007 after only one season of competition, with the Australian Rugby Union citing higher costs than budgeted and further projected financial losses. The Canberra Vikings team was disbanded with the end of the ARC competition.

National Rugby Championship

University of Canberra Vikings charge out in 2014

In late 2013, the ARU announced the national competition would be relaunched as the

in 2014. The expressions of interest were open to all parties and tenders were finalised in early 2014. A three-way partnership between the

and

was granted a licence for a revived Canberra Vikings team, named as the University of Canberra Vikings.

Dan McKellar Dan McKellar (born 17 July 1976) is an Australian professional rugby union coach. He is currently the head coach of Super Rugby team the Brumbies and was previously head coach of the University of Canberra Vikings in Australia's National Rugby ...

was appointed as head coach for 2014, and the University of Canberra Vikings (UC Vikings) played their home matches at

. The team finished sixth in the regular season and did not compete in the finals. Prior to the 2016 NRC season, the Brumbies chief executive, Michael Jones, had suggested that the "Canberra Kookaburras" name might be reinstated. Reverting to the ACT's traditional blue and gold colours was also canvassed, but it was likely that a voting process would be used for any change. A decision was postponed due to financial considerations until 2017, when the plan was revoked after the Vikings Group took sole ownership of the team licence. However, the team adopted a heritage-style blue, gold, black and white jersey for their first game of the season in 2017, coinciding with a Kookaburras team reunion as part of the NRC's heritage round.

Stadium

The Vikings currently play at

. Many rugby union matches have been played at the stadium including two women's tests for Australia against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. In the 2007 Australian Rugby Championship, the Canberra Vikings played at two locations;

and

Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium (GIO Stadium for commercial reasons) is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sports ven ...

. Manuka Oval was constructed in 1929 and hosts the annual

Prime Minister's XI The Prime Minister's XI or PM's XI (formerly Australian Prime Minister's Invitation XI) is an invitational cricket team picked by the Prime Minister of Australia for an annual match held at the Manuka Oval in Canberra against an overseas touring ...

cricket match, as well as senior club AFL and cricket. Originally Manuka Oval was not just a cricket ground, but was also used for international rugby matches, mainly between a Canberra team and the touring international side. Canberra Stadium (originally Bruce Stadium) was constructed in 1977 and is the home of the

and

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

Current squad

The squad for the 2019 NRC season:

Records

Honours

**Runner-up: 2015, 2017 **Playoff appearance: 2018 * Australian Rugby Shield **Winner: 2006 * Queensland Premiership **Winner: 2001, 2002, 2003 * New South Wales Premiership **Runner-up: 1995 (as Canberra Kookaburras)

Season standings

National Rugby Championship : Australian Rugby Championship :

Head coaches

* Nick Scrivener (2018–present) *

Tim Sampson Tim Sampson (born 23 May 1976) is an Australian professional rugby union football coach. He is currently an assistant coach of the Melbourne Rebels team that plays in the Super Rugby Pacific competition, and was previously the head coach of the ...

(2017) * Wayne Southwell (2016) * Brad Harris (2015) *

(2014) * Nick Scrivener (2007) * Tom Morrison (2006) * John Ross (2005) * Nick Scrivener (2004) *

(2002–2003) * Terry Burkett (2001) * Ian Snook (1998–2000) * Kim Thurbon (1997) * Geoff Stokes (1995–1996)

Captains

Darcy Swain Darcy Taimua Swain (born 5 July 1997) is an Australian rugby union player who plays for the in the Super Rugby. His position of choice is lock. Debuting for the Australian National Rugby Team in 2021 in the series against France, he was bro ...

2019 * Ben Hyne 2018 *

Tom Cusack Thomas Cusack (born 1 March 1993) is an Australian professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for the , as well as serving as vice-captain in Super Rugby. Additionally, he previously represented Australia in rugby sevens. Ear ...

2017 * Jarrad Butler (2015–2016) * Fotu Auelua (2014) * Alister Campbell (2007)

Squads

: : : :

Gallery

File:Sydney Stars versus Canberra Vikings NRC Round 5 (1).jpg, Canberra Vikings pre-game File:Sydney Stars versus Canberra Vikings NRC Round 5 (5).jpg, Canberra Vikings charge out File:Sydney Stars versus Canberra Vikings NRC Round 5 (2).jpg, Canberra Vikings fight for possession File:Sydney Stars versus Canberra Vikings NRC Round 5 (8).jpg, Canberra Vikings under pressure File:Sydney Stars versus Canberra Vikings NRC Round 5 (4).jpg, Canberra Vikings post game huddle File:Sydney Stars versus Canberra Vikings NRC Round 5 (13).jpg, Canberra Vikings clear the ball File:Sydney Stars versus Canberra Vikings NRC Round 5 (9).jpg, Canberra Vikings scrum down under the Scoreboard