ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union

ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union

Sport	Rugby union
Founded	1937 (as Federal Capital Territory RU) (1937 (as Federal Capital Territory RU))
Rugby Australia affiliation	1972
Headquarters	Canberra
Men's coach	Stephen Larkham
Women's coach	Adam Butt

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 is also home to the Canberra Vikings in the National Rugby Championship.

History

The union was founded in 1937 as the Federal Capital Territory Rugby Union (FCTRU).^[1][2] It became the Australian Capital Territory Rugby Union (ACTRU) in 1939,^[3] and eventually the ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union. It received its current name prior to the 2005 Super 12 season, when the Far South Coast and Southern Inland unions of New South Wales joined the ACT and Monaro Rugby Unions.^[4] This change also led to the former ACT Brumbies being renamed Brumbies Rugby.

Jurisdiction

The ACT and Southern New South Wales Union has jurisdiction over the southern-most bordering towns of New South Wales from the eastern coast over to Albury-Wodonga and Deniliquin. It also includes Griffith, Young, Yass, Taralga, as well as Goulburn, Batemans Bay, Wagga Wagga and Canberra.

Competitions

The ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union administers three senior competitions:

• ACT Rugby Union
• Far South Coast Rugby Union
• Southern Inland Rugby Union

ACTRU Premier Division (John I Dent Cup)

ACTRU 1st XV Teams

Team	City/Suburb/Town	Home Ground
Premier Division
Canberra Royals	Canberra	Canberra Rugby Club
Gungahlin Eagles	Gungahlin	Gungahlin Enclosed Oval
Penrith Emus	Penrith, Sydney	Penrith Rugby Club
Queanbeyan Whites	Queanbeyan	Campese Field
Tuggeranong Vikings	Tuggeranong	Viking Park
Uni-Norths Owls	Australian National University	University Oval
Wests Lions	Belconnen	Wests Rugby Club
First Division
ADFA	Australian Defence Force Academy	Dowsett Rugby Fields
Cooma Red Devils	Cooma	Rotary Oval
Easts ACT	Griffith, Australian Capital Territory	Griffith Oval
Goulburn Dirty Reds	Goulburn	Simon Poidevin Rugby Park
Hall Bushranger	Hall	Hall Sportsground
Royal Military College	Royal Military College, Duntroon	Portsea Oval

Far South Coast Rugby Union (Incorporated into ACTRU Lower Grades)

This union is officially affiliated with the ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union instead of the NSW union.

Team	Nickname
ADFA	ADFA
Batemans Bay-Broulee	Boars
Braidwood	Redbacks
Bungendore	Mudchooks
Cooma	Red Devils
Crookwell	Dogs
Hall	Bushrangers
Jindabyne	Bushpigs
Milton-Ulladulla	Platypi
Taralga	Tigers
Yass	Rams

Junior Teams

• Bermagui
• FSC Falcons (Tathra)

Former Teams

• Broulee Dolphins

Southern Inland Rugby Union

This union is officially affiliated with the ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union instead of the NSW union.

Clubs

Club	City	Home Ground
1st/2nd Grade
Albury-Wodonga Steamers	Albury/Wodonga	Murrayfield
Charles Sturt University Reddies	Wagga Wagga	Conolly Park
Griffith Blacks	Griffith	Exies Oval No.1
Tumut Bulls	Tumut	Jarrah Sportsground
Wagga Ag College	Wagga Wagga	Conolly Park
Wagga City	Wagga Wagga	Conolly Park
Wagga Wagga Waratahs	Wagga Wagga	Conolly Park
Leeton Phantoms	Leeton	Leeton No.1 Oval
3rd Grade Only
Hay Cutters	Hay	Hay Park Oval
Deniliquin Drovers	Deniliquin	Deniliquin Recreation Ground

Junior Clubs

• Cootamundra Tri-Colours (Seniors play in Central West Rugby Union)
• Temora Tuskers (Seniors play in Central West Rugby Union)
• West Wyalong Weevils (Seniors play in Central West Rugby Union)
• Young Yabbies (Seniors play in Central West Rugby Union)

Affiliated Clubs

• Hillston Hogs (invitational team)

Former Clubs

• Junee Rams

ACT representative teams

The Territory's representative team hosted the All Blacks at Manuka Oval in the winter of 1938.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} Coached by Frank O'Rourke, the home team had played its inaugural match only three months earlier.^[5][6]

The team's original strip featured an all gold jersey with two green bands.^[7] They defeated the Hawkesbury College at the Country Carnival earlier in 1938,^[8][9] and later that season won against the Bathurst side.^[10] Three players from the Territory team were selected for NSW Combined Country to play Sydney that year.^[9] The Australian Capital Territory team, often referred to simply as "Canberra", grew in stature in the decades following the Second World War.^{[citation needed]} ACT won the Caldwell Cup for the Country Championship for the first time in 1964 and retained it for the following two seasons.^{[citation needed]}

1990s Kookaburras rep team kit and logo.

Rugby in Canberra came of age in the 1970s. ACT scored a 17–11 away win over Queensland in 1972,^[11] and then had their first win over a national side, defeating Tonga by 17–6 in 1973.^{[citation needed]} In 1975, ACT won promotion for the following season to the top division of the Wallaby Trophy, Australia's provincial championship at that time.^{[citation needed]} The triumph was short-lived, however, because the planned tournament for 1976 was officially cancelled.^{[citation needed]}

When Wales toured Australia in 1978, the ACT defeated them in a rousing 21–20 come-from-behind victory.^{[citation needed]} The win over the reigning Five Nations champions showed that ACT could compete against the top tier of rugby players in the world.^{[citation needed]}

The name "Canberra Kookaburras" was used for the ACT representative team from 1989,^[12][13] 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 by 44–28 in 1994,^{[citation needed]} an invitation was issued for a Canberra club to play in the expanded 14-team NSWRU Premiership sponsored by AAMI for the following season.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[4] 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. In 2022, with the Revival of Australian Rugby Shield ACT and Southern New South Wales Griffins were crowned champions defeating NSW Country 34-31 in the Grand Final at Brighton Oval, Adelaide.^[14]

Honours

• Australian Rugby Shield Winners (2006, 2022)

See also

• Rugby union in the Australian Capital Territory
• Brumbies
• ACTRU Premier Division
• ACT Veterans Rugby Club

References

External links

• Brumbies Rugby - official site of ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union
• Australian Capital Territory Rugby Union - unofficial fan site