National Rugby Championship

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National Rugby Championship (NRC)
Current season or competition:
2016 National Rugby Championship
220px
Sport Rugby union
Inaugural season 2014
Number of teams 9
Country Australia
Champions Brisbane City (2015)
Most titles Brisbane City (2 titles)
Website buildcorpnrc.com
Broadcast partner Fox Sports
Related competition

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 Competition Trophy
NRC Competition Launch with Buildcorp MD Tony Sukkar and players from all nine teams.

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. Discussion of the NRC competition is included on Fox Sports' Rugby HQ program on Thursday nights following the live match broadcast, and on the Monday night review show NRC Extra Time on Fox Sports HD 2.[5]

Live TV coverage and streaming

One (or more) of the NRC matches each round, typically the Thursday night match, is broadcast live via Fox Sports HD 2.[6] Streaming of the three non-broadcast matches per round, usually played on Saturday or Sunday, is hosted by Fox Sports online.[5]

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

Location of teams in the 2014 National Rugby Championship

Legend:
Template:Rut Brisbane City – Template:Rut Brisbane City
MLB – Melbourne Rising
NSW – NSW Country Eagles
PER – Perth Spirit
QC – Queensland Country
UCV – University of Canberra Vikings

Blue pog.svg SYD – Sydney (see below)
Location of the Sydney-based teams in the 2014 National Rugby Championship

GSR – Greater Sydney Rams
NHR – North Harbour Rays
SYD – Sydney Stars

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

Team Licencees and associated clubs
Brisbane City QRU / Reds
Greater Sydney Rams West Harbour, Penrith, Parramatta, Southern Districts∗
Melbourne Rising VRU / Rebels
NSW Country Eagles Easts, Randwick
North Harbour Rays Manly, Warringah, Gordon, Norths
Perth Spirit WA / Force
Queensland Country QRU / Reds
Sydney Stars Sydney University, Balmain
University of Canberra Vikings ACT&SNSWRU / Brumbies, University of Canberra, Tuggeranong Vikings

∗ Eastwood withdrew from the Rams partnership in July 2014 citing financial concerns.[12][13]

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 0 1 (2014) 0
Australian Capital Territory Canberra Vikings 0 1 (2015) 0
Victoria (Australia) Melbourne Rising 0 0 2 (2014, 2015)
New South Wales New South Wales Country Eagles 0 0 1 (2014)
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 0 1 0
Australian Capital Territory Australian Capital Territory 0 1 0
New South Wales New South Wales 0 0 2
Victoria (Australia) Victoria 0 0 2

Champions by year

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

See also

References

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External links

Team webpages
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