Rugby Union

Rugby Union was played as early as 1839 in Sydney, and the first rugby football club, The Sydney University Club, was established in 1864. The sport stayed true to its amateur roots until 1996 when all the major playing nations embraced professionalism.

At domestic level the Australian Rugby Championship feeds into the hugely popular Super 14 championship, which features the best domestic sides from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and is considered the world’s premier club competition.

The four Aussie teams involved are the Reds of Queensland, Waratahs of New South Wales, Brumbies of Capital Territory and the Force of Western Australia. The Brumbies have delivered Australia’s two winning teams in the Super 14s to date, with Kiwi teams winning 10 times and one victory for a South African side. For more information go to www.super14.com.

Named the Wallabies (Wallaroos in the women’s game), the Australian national Rugby Union team was formed in 1899 to play against a British touring side, and played its first official test against New Zealand in 1903.

This fixture, competing since 1931 for the Bledisloe cup, is considered the ‘blue ribband’ event in world rugby today outside of the World Cup. The ‘green and golds’ have always been a powerful nation at the ‘top table’ in the sport, and despite generally being second best to their chief rivals the ‘All Blacks’ their balance of flair, aggression and skill have propelled them to the top of the world’s rankings on a number of occasions, crowning their achievements with two World Cup triumphs, in 1991 and 1999. Famous Wallabies include Mark Ella, David Campese, John Eales and George Gregan.