Rugby union in Victoria
Rugby union in Victoria | |
---|---|
Governing body | Rugby Victoria |
State team | Melbourne Rebels |
First played | 1878, Melbourne |
Registered players | 11,792 (2022)[1] |
Clubs | 26 |
Club competitions | |
) |
Rugby union in Victoria describes the sport of
Player numbers are healthy for a sport in perhaps the most crowded football code marketplace on earth. Rugby Victoria counts participation across all variations of the game including 15-a-side Rugby, Sevens Rugby, VIVA 7s and Game-On primary school development program and claims that the game has grown by 38 per cent in 2016 to 15,829 participants.[citation needed] However Ausplay shows a decline of the sport in Victoria and with 11,792 registered players in 2022 trails behind Rugby union in Western Australia.[2]
There are over 25 Rugby clubs in Victoria at any one time, with age group and community rugby forming the largest portion. The top tier of clubs consisting of a mix of amateurs and professionally contracted players aligned with the Melbourne Rebels compete for the Dewar Shield.
Victoria has produced over 30 Wallabies and many more Super Rugby and Professional players and age group Australian players as well as internationals for a number of pacific island nations.
International rugby matches are popular with spectators in Victoria. This is evidenced by the large crowds which attended matches at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, 2006 Commonwealth Games, England v Australia game (2016) and overall television ratings for blockbuster internationals.
Victoria is represented in the professional Super Rugby competition by the Melbourne Rebels.
History
Writer
During the 1870s, Victorian clubs Albert Park and South Melbourne continued to experiment with rugby football rules. In May 1874, Albert Park, South Melbourne, and others had advocated strongly for their widespread adoption in Victoria,[3] however this did not meet favour with the more powerful clubs in the colony and the premier football matches, the Challenge Cup effectively banned use of the rugby rules by competing clubs.
Early intercolonials between Victoria and New South Wales were played in alternating codes. During the 1877 match between Waratah and Carlton, Victorian superstar George Coulthard switched codes and joined the Waratahs to play rugby in Sydney. He quickly dominated at the sport, scoring all five goals and four tries in his second and last game for the club.[4] Although he appeared in only two of the Waratahs' twelve rugby matches in 1877, Coulthard scored more goals than any other member that season, and tied equal first in tries.[5] Coulthard's effort in "[showing] the Rugby men how their game should be played" damaged the reputation of the rugby code in Victoria for decades.[6]
Club rugby was established in Victoria when the Melbourne Rugby Union (MRU) was formed in 1888.[7][8] The touring 1888 British team played matches in Victoria, as did the 1888–89 New Zealand Native team, and both teams switched between rugby and Victorian rules (Australian rules football).[9]
Victorian rugby went into recess between 1890 due to a lack of players. However competition restarted in 1893.[10]
Victoria first played rugby football against New South Wales in Melbourne in 1894 and sent its first team to play in Sydney in 1895 but after 1889 the game more or less disappeared in the state except for the match played in Melbourne in 1899 against Great Britain in which the tourists defeated the Victorians 30-0.
A Victorian Rugby Union (VRU) was restored in 1908 as arrangements were being made for a Victorian team to play the first Wallabies in Melbourne just prior to their departure for Great Britain.
The next year, 1909 saw the first presentation of the Dewar Shield, an award for first grade premiership teams still retained. The clubs competing for the inaugural shield were the Melbourne Rugby Union Football Club and Melbourne University Rugby Football Club (both laying claim to being the oldest in Victoria), East Melbourne, South Melbourne.
Competition lapsed on commencement of the First World War and was not revived until 1926 when five League clubs decided to convert to Union and form the current VRU.[11] During the following twelve years, up until the Second World War, Victoria played thirty matches against international and interstate teams and produced thirteen Wallabies. Club and representative competition did not resume again until 1946.
The first schoolboys match in Victoria was played in 1932 between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar.[12]
Melbourne was selected as a venue for the 2003 Rugby World Cup including finals. The attendances were significant, with the highlights being 50,647 seeing Australia defeat Ireland and 50,647 for England versus Samoa.
Following the success of the
Melbourne hosted the
The inaugural
On 5 January 2010, it was announced by the Australian Rugby Union that it had awarded control of the new Melbourne Super Rugby team to the
On 24 March 2014, the ARU officially announced a new professional national competition, the National Rugby Championship. The inaugural season started in August 2014. Victoria is represented by the Melbourne Rising, which plays out of AAMI Park.[15]
Governing body
Known as the Victorian Rugby Union until late 2017, the governing body for rugby union in the state of Victoria is now Rugby Victoria. Victoria is a founding member of the national governing body, Rugby Australia.
Schools
1st Division | 2nd Division |
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, Haileybury College
|
Clubs
Dewar Shield | Premiership | Premiership Reserves | Championship | Lindroth Cup (Women's) | Wheelchair | Vic Masters (Over 35s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Box Hill, Harlequins, Melbourne University , Moorabbin, Power House, Footscray, Endeavour Hills.
|
Eltham, Kiwi Hawthorn, Geelong, Northern Panthers, , Brimbank, Wyndham City Rhinos | Cerebus, Melbourne, Northern Panthers, Eltham, Melbourne Chargers, Eltham, Wyndham City Rhinos | Bendigo, Ballarat, Monash Uni, Maroondah, Melton, Shepparton. | Melbourne, Northern Panthers, Casey, Western Districts, Melbourne Uni, Powerhouse | Box Hill, Melbourne, Harlequins, Power House. | Melbourne, Box Hill, Melbourne Uni, Power House, Southern Districts, Harlequins, Barbarians, Maroondah. |
These clubs in turn feed the Victorian state representative team, The Victorian Country (pre 2008), the Rebel Rising, a joint program between the
Notable players
Victoria has produced a number of top-level rugby players including
- Rob Valetini
- Rob Leota
- Christian Leali'ifano
- Ashley Marsters
- Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop
- Pete Samu (Victoria, Crusaders and Brumbies)
- Tetera Faulkner (Victoria, Western Force, Rebels, Waratahs and Wallabies)
- Silvia Silvia (Victoria, Western Force, Brumbies and Rebels)
- Sammey Ikihega (Victoria, Niue Rugby Union)
- Jordan Uelese (Rebels and Wallabies)
- Wallabies)
- Rocky Elsom (ACT Brumbies and Wallabies)
- Hunter Paisami (Queensland Reds and Wallabies)
- Lloyd Johansson (Victoria, Queensland Reds, Melbourne Rebels and Wallabies)
- Vitori Buatava (Victoria, Western Force)
- Tala Gray (Victoria, Brumbies, Waratahs and Biarritz)
- Tamaiti Horua (Victoria, Western Force)
- Tom McVerry (Queensland Reds)
- Ole Avei (Queensland Reds)
- Ben Tapuai (Queensland Reds, Wallabies)
- Rex Tapuai
- John Ulugia (Victoria, Brumbies, Waratahs and Clermont)
- Christian Lealiifano(Victoria, Brumbies, Wallabies, Toyota)
- David Palavi (ACT Brumbies)
- London Irish RFC, ACT Brumbies, Western Force, and Wallabies)
- Marc L'Huillier (Victoria and USA)
- Nick Stiles (Queensland Reds and Wallabies)
- Andrew Heath (Victoria, Australia U21s, NSW Waratahs, Queensland Reds, Wallabies, Beziérs FRA, Wellington Lions)
- Ewen McKenzie (Wallabies, and Super Rugby-winning coach of the Queensland Reds).
- Doug Osborne Victoria and Wallabies 1975
- John Meadows Victoria and Wallabies 1974-83
- Russ Tulloch Victoria and Wallabies 1966-67
- Dick Webb Victoria and Wallabies 1966-67
- Paul Gibbs Victoria and Wallabies 1966
- David Shepherd Victoria and Wallabies 1964-66
- Jim Douglas Victoria and Wallabies 1962
- Adrian 'Art' Turnbull Victoria and Wallabies 1961
- John Cocks Victoria and Wallabies 1958-59
- Danny KayVictoria and Wallabies 1958-59
- Geoffrey Vaughan Victoria and Wallabies 1957-58
- Frank Magee Victoria and Wallabies 1953
- Warren Wakefield Victoria and Wallabies 1951
- Ernest Hills Victoria and Wallabies 1950
- Eric Davis Victoria and Wallabies 1947-49
- G Gourlay Victoria and Wallabies 1946
- George Pearson Victoria and Wallabies (tour abandoned 1939)
- Stan Bissett Victoria and Wallabies (tour abandoned 1939)
- Andrew Barr Victoria and Wallabies (tour abandoned 1939)
- Max Carpenter Victoria and Wallabies 1938
- Frederick Kerr Victoria and Wallabies 1938
- Clifford Lang Victoria and Wallabies 1938
- John Hammon Victoria and Wallabies 1937
- Ru Dorr Victoria and Wallabies 1936-37
- Ewan Jessep Victoria and Wallabies 1934
- Dave Cowper Victoria and Wallabies, Wallaby Captain in South Africa 1933
- Owen Bridle Victoria and Wallabies 1931-36
- Reg Lane Victoria and Wallabies, Victorian Captain mid–1920s
- Gordon Sturtridge Victoria and Wallabies 1929-33
Notable coaches
Victoria has had a number of outstanding and successful rugby coaches including
- Bruce Norton (Coached schoolboy, under age and seniors rugby for Victoria over three decades)
- John McKee (rugby union coach) (Coached seniors rugby at Harlequins and for Victoria before taking up senior coaching roles interstate & internationally)
- Mark Robinson (Coached seniors rugby at club Kiwi Hawthorn and Victoria senior Axemen coach in the Australian Rugby Shield runner up to ACT 2006 winners 2007 against South Australia)
Crowd Statistics
Major test matches and attendance 1997-2003
Year | Opponent | Venue (Capacity) | Attendance | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | All Blacks | MCG (100,000) | 90,119 | Bledisloe Cup / Tri Nations |
1998 | All Blacks | MCG, (100,000) | 75,147 | Bledisloe Cup / Tri Nations |
2000 | South Africa | Docklands (56,347) | 34,045 | Mandela Plate |
2001 | British & Irish Lions | Docklands (56,347) | 56,605 | |
2002 | France | Docklands (56,347) | 37,482 | 2002 France tour |
2003 | England | Docklands, (56,347) | 54,868 | 2003 England tour |
2003 | Ireland | Docklands (56,347) | 54,206 | RWC2003 |
2013 | British & Irish Lions | Docklands (56,347) | 56,771 | |
2014 | France | Docklands (56,347) | 27,189 | |
2016 | England | AAMI Park (30,050) | 29,871 | |
2017 | Fiji | AAMI Park (30,050) | 13,583 | |
2018 | Ireland | AAMI Park (30,050) | 29,018 | |
2021 | France | AAMI Park (30,050) | 20,114 | |
2022 | New Zealand | Docklands (56,347) | 53,359 | |
2023 | New Zealand | MCG (100,024) | 83,944 |
Source: Australian Rugby Union [1]
Rugby World Cup 2003 Matches and attendance in Melbourne
Teams | Attendance |
---|---|
All Blacks & Italy | 41,715 |
Canada & All Blacks | 38,889 |
England & Samoa | 50,647 |
All Blacks & South Africa | 40,734 |
France & Ireland | 33,134 |
See also
References
- ^ Ausplay Sports Report 2022 - Soccer, Australian Football, Rugby League & Rugby Union
- ^ Ausplay Sports Report 2022 - Soccer, Australian Football, Rugby League & Rugby Union
- ^ The Record and Emerald Hill and Sandridge Advertiser. May 1874
- ^ "Football". Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney). 15 September 1877. p. 31. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- ^ "Waratah Football Club". The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (Sydney). 13 October 1877. p. 469. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
- ^ "Notes from a Sportsman's Scrapbook". The Australasian (Melbourne). 16 June 1928. p. 27. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- ^ "About VRU". Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
- ^ "Rugby Union Football". The Argus. Melbourne. 11 June 1888. p.9, col.8.
- ^ Grainger, Ron (1 November 2013). "Rugby union in Victoria: The Early Years". A History of Rugby in Victoria. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
- ^ HISTORY OF THE VICTORIAN RUGBY UNION by Hugh Cunningham 26 July 2016
- ^ Grainger, Ron (1 November 2013). "Rugby union in Victoria between the Wars (1919-39)". A History of Rugby in Victoria. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
- ^ Scotch College website. "Rugby's 80th Year". Retrieved 13 June 2016.
- ^ Lost opportunity for Melbourne and rugby union from theage.com.au
- ^ "New national rugby comp for 2007". news.com.au. Retrieved 3 June 2006. [dead link]
- ^ "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.
- ^ Historical Wallabies Player Profile Page Retrieved 30 April 2017.
External links
- Melbourne Rebels official website
- "A History of Rugby in Victoria". Archived from the original on 30 December 2014.