National Rugby Championship

National Rugby Championship (NRC)
Current season or competition:
2016 National Rugby Championship
Sport Rugby union
Inaugural season 2014
Number of teams 8
Country Australia
Champions Perth Spirit (2016)
Most titles Brisbane City (2 titles)
Website buildcorpnrc.com
Broadcast partner Fox Sports
Related competition
NRC Competition Launch with Buildcorp MD Tony Sukkar and players from all teams.

The National Rugby Championship, known as the NRC, is Australia's national professional rugby union football competition. The NRC is administered by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU), and is contested by nine teams from around Australia.[1] The NRC is the highest tier of competition below the transnational Super Rugby tournament, which also involves New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina and Japan. The National Rugby Championship is the most important club competition for players in Australia following the Super Rugby season.

Format

The National Rugby Championship spans eleven weeks from late August, after the completion of the premier club rugby competitions in each state, to early November. A round-robin tournament is played over nine rounds where each team plays each other once. Each team has four home matches and four away matches with one bye. This is followed by the finals rounds consisting of two semi-final matches, contested by the top four teams, and a grand final match to determine the season's champion team.

During the round-robin section of the tournament, teams can also play for the Horan-Little Shield, a challenge trophy that is played for when a challenge is accepted or offered by the holders.

Sponsorship

NRC Trophy

Buildcorp has the naming rights for the NRC competition.[2] Other partners include Intercontinental Hotels, Qantas, and Allianz, with the Allianz group logo appearing on referees' jerseys through to end of 2016.[3] ASICS are the official apparel supplier and Gilbert is the official supplier of all rugby balls.[2][4]

The tournament is run by the Australian Rugby Union with the sponsorship of Foxtel which provides television coverage on its Fox Sports channels.

Live TV coverage and streaming

Two of the NRC matches each weekend are broadcast live via Fox Sports. Discussion of the NRC competition is included on Fox Sports' Monday night review show NRC Extra Time on Fox Sports HD 2,[5][6] and the Rugby 360 program on Wednesday evenings.

Background

In December 2013, the ARU announced that Australia would get another tier of competition under Super Rugby in line with South Africa’s Currie Cup and New Zealand's ITM Cup. Eleven bids were tendered from teams wanting to participate in the tournament, with nine being accepted. Applicants that were not successfult were advised that they could bid again as the competition matured, as early as 2015.[7]

The National Rugby Championship follows a previous national competition, the Australian Rugby Championship, that was abandoned after the first season in 2007 due to financial losses.[8][9]

A new broadcasting deal agreed in 2015, secured the funding and future of the competition until the 2020 season.[10]

Teams

   WSR
Location of teams in the 2016 National Rugby Championship

Legend:

BC –   Brisbane City
CV –   Canberra Vikings
CE –   Country Eagles
MR –   Melbourne Rising
PS –   Perth Spirit
QC –   Queensland Country
SR –   Sydney Rays
WSR – Western Sydney Rams

The teams competing in the NRC are the following:[11]

Team  Licencees and associated clubs
Current
Brisbane City QRU / Reds
Canberra Vikings ACT&SNSWRU / Brumbies, University of Canberra, Tuggeranong Vikings
Country Eagles NSW Country, Sydney University,a Easts, Randwick
Melbourne Rising VRU / Rebels
Perth Spirit WA / Force
Queensland Country QRU / Reds
Sydney Rays b Gordon, Manly, Norths, Warringah
Western Sydney Rams c Parramatta, Penrith, Southern Districts,b West Harbour
Past
Sydney Stars (2014–15) Balmain, Sydney University
Future
Fiji Warriors (2017) Fiji Rugby Union

Notes:

^ a Sydney University, previously with Sydney Stars before their licence was cancelled, formed a partnership with NSW Country Eagles in 2016.[12]

^ b Consideration was given to Southern Districts switching to Sydney Rays in 2016,[12] but the club remained with the Rams.[13]

^ c Eastwood withdrew from the Rams partnership in July 2014 citing financial concerns.[14][15]

Team selection

Australia's Super Rugby players participate in the NRC under a capped allocation to ensure that all NRC teams have a mix of players from local development squads and club competitions, as well as those with Super Rugby experience. Australian national team players are required for Test match rugby during the NRC season, but each player is allocated to one of the NRC teams and is able to play if released from national duty.

Champions

Total wins

Team Championships Runners-up Losing semi-finalists
Queensland Brisbane City 2 (2014, 2015) 0 0
Western Australia Perth Spirit 1 (2016) 1 (2014) 0
New South Wales Country Eagles 0 1 (2016) 1 (2014)
Australian Capital Territory Canberra Vikings 0 1 (2015) 0
Victoria (Australia) Melbourne Rising 0 0 3 (2014, 2015, 2016)
New South Wales Sydney Rays 0 0 1 (2016)
New South Wales Sydney Stars 0 0 1 (2015)

Wins by State/Territory

State/Territory Championships Runners-up Losing semi-finalists
Queensland Queensland 2 0 0
Western Australia Western Australia 1 1 0
New South Wales New South Wales 0 1 3
Australian Capital Territory Australian Capital Territory 0 1 0
Victoria (Australia) Victoria 0 0 3

Champions by year

Year # of Teams Final Losing semi-finalists
Winner Score Runner-up 1st semi-final 2nd semi-final
2014 9 Brisbane City Queensland 37–26 Western Australia Perth Spirit Victoria (Australia) Melbourne Rising New South Wales NSW Country Eagles
2015 9 Brisbane City Queensland 21–10 Australian Capital Territory Canberra Vikings Victoria (Australia) Melbourne Rising New South Wales Sydney Stars
2016 8 Perth Spirit Western Australia 20–16 New South Wales NSW Country Eagles Victoria (Australia) Melbourne Rising New South Wales Sydney Rays

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ARU Board approves nine team National Rugby Championship to start in August 2014". rugby.com.au (Press release). 24 March 2014. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Buildcorp announced as National Rugby Championship naming rights partner". Australian Rugby. 16 July 2014. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  3. ↑ "ARU partners with Allianz for new National Rugby Championship". Australian Rugby. 20 August 2014. Archived from the original on 25 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  4. ↑ "Fixtures draw". Australian Rugby. 2014. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  5. ↑ McKay, Brett (13 Aug 2015). "Law variations to continue in NRC Season 2". The Roar. Archived from the original on 13 August 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
  6. ↑ McKay, Brett (15 July 2014). "NRC update part 3: All systems go for launch". The Roar. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "SA Rugby misses out on an NRC Team". sarugby.com.au. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  8. ↑ "Australia relaunches National Rugby Championship". rugbyweek.com. 24 March 2014. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "NRC update part 1: Queensland, Perth, Melbourne and Canberra". The Roar. 8 July 2014. Archived from the original on 3 July 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  10. ↑ Payten, Iain (4 March 2015). "New broadcasting deal ensures future of National Rugby Championship until at least 2020". The Courier Mail. News. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  11. ↑ "Bill Pulver releases details on the new National Rugby Championship, which kicks off in August". foxsports.com.au. 24 March 2014. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  12. 1 2 "Sydney Stars victims of National Rugby Championship consolidation". The Daily Telegraph. 11 February 2016. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  13. ↑ "Questions and answers – 2016". Rams Rugby. 16 July 2016. Archived from the original on 17 July 2016. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
  14. ↑ "NRC update part 2: NSW Country and the Sydney teams". The Roar. 9 July 2014. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  15. ↑ "Eastwood quit Greater Sydney Rams partnership". ESPN Scrum. 2 July 2014. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2014.

Team webpages

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