Removals to Australia – History of Rugby in Australia

Looking for removals to Australia? You will most likely want to take up some form of activity when you get here. One of the favourite team sports in Australia (after cricket) is rugby. Starting in New South Wales and Queensland, the game, in its various forms, has become extremely popular throughout the country. So, wherever your removals to Australia take you, whether you a going to Darwin in the northern territory, moving to Adelaide in the south, relocating to Sydney in the east or emigrating to Perth in western Australia, you are bound to find a local rugby team to either support or play for. The really good thing about moving to this part of the world is that your removals to Australia need not remove you from the game of rugby.

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Removals to Australia – click here for full information on our removals to Australia service or contact us now for a free online moving quote.

A Brief History of Rugby in Australia

Both rugby league and rugby union are popular in Australia but in this blog post, we will concentrate on the union game. Rugby is believed to have hit Australian shores as far back as 1865. There are reports in the Sydney Morning Herald of June of that year that the newly founded Sydney Rugby Football Club played its first match against a team of Aussie cricketers, winning by one goal to nil. Back then of course, the scoring system was very different to that of the modern game.

Rugby grew in popularity over the coming years and by 1874 there were enough clubs to form a Sydney Metropolitan competition. Also in that year, the Southern Rugby Union was established, initially being administered from HQ at Twickenham.

As the popularity of the code increased it began to spread north to Queensland and this resulted in the first inter-colonial game in 1882 between the Southern Rugby Union of New South Wales and Queensland. This led to the creation of the Northern Rugby Union (of Queensland) which was officially incorporated on November of 1883. By 1892 the Southern Rugby Union of New South Wales and the Northern Rugby Union of Queensland became New South Wales and Queensland Rugby Unions respectively.

Representatives from these two unions joined forces in June 1899 to play a visiting team from the British Isles. Four tests were played with the Australians winning the first test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Since then, of course, Australian rugby has gone from strength to strength, spawning some great teams and some truly great players.

Top Teams in Australia

Any discussion centring around the top teams in any given sport is always going to be hotly debated but it can’t be denied that the teams that appear in Australia's Super Rugby division, previously the Super14, have to be at the top of their game. At the time of writing, these teams, and they are listed alphabetically, are hailed as the ones to watch: Brumbies, Melbourne Rebels, New South Wales Waratahs, Queensland Reds and Western Force. As you can tell from most of their names, the teams come from all over Australia and, just to clear the other two up, The Brumbies play their rugby in Canberra, Australia's Capital City and the Force play out from Perth in Western Australia.

The ACT Brumbies

Established in 1938, The Brumbies home ground is at Canberra Stadium, near the Australian Institute of Sport. Their ground is shared with the Canberra Raiders rugby league team. In 2003 they hosted some of matches in the Rugby World Cup. The all seated stadium has a capacity of 25,011; however, their largest recorded crowd was 28,753, for the 2004 Super12 Final.

The Melbourne Rebels

The Melbourne Rebels are a relatively young club having made their debut in The Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They play their rugby out of the AAMI Park in Batman Ave. The stadium was officially opened in May 2010.

The NSW Waratahs

Established in 1874, their home ground is now the Aussie Stadium (Formerly known as the Sydney Football Stadium, or SFS) at Moore Park in Sydney.  Built in 1988, it has a capacity of 45,500 though this has never been reached for a Waratahs game.

The Queensland Reds

The Reds play out of Lang Park Castlemaine St, Milton in Brisbane. The stadium, known as the Suncorp Stadium, has a capacity of 52,500. Founded in 1882, they played their first Super12 game in 1996

The Western Force

On the 10th of February 2006, the Western Force made their rugby debut playing at home against the Brumbies. The Subiaco Oval in Perth was a near sell out for this match which The Force ended up losing 25–10. The Subiaco stadium can be found on Roberts Road, Subiaco, Western Australia.

Great Australian Rugby Players

Again, any discussion around the best players in any sport is bound to provoke reaction but here are 6 players who can be counted among the best in the business.

Nathan Sharpe
Position: Lock
Height:  200cm 
Weight:  115kg 
Date Of Birth:  26/02/1978 
Born:  Wagga Wagga, NSW 
Plays for:  Western Force 
Test Rugby Caps:  114 
Test Rugby Points:  40  
Test Rugby Debut:  2002 v France in Melbourne

Radike Samo
Position: Loose Forward
Height:  197cm 
Weight:  117kg 
Date Of Birth:  09/07/1976 
Born:  Nadi, Fiji 
Plays for: Queensland Reds 
Test Rugby Caps:  23 
Test Rugby Points:  15 (3t) 
Test Rugby Debut:  2004 v Scotland in Melbourne

Adam Ashley-Cooper
Position Fullback
Height:  182cm 
Weight:  98kg 
Date Of Birth:  27/03/1984 
Born:  Sydney 
Plays for: NSW Waratahs 
Test Rugby Caps:  73
Test Rugby Points:  115
Test Rugby Debut:  2005 v South Africa in Perth 

Michael Hooper
Position: Openside Flanker
Height:  182cm 
Weight:  97kg 
Date Of Birth:  29/10/1991 
Born:  Sydney, NSW 
Plays for: NSW Waratahs 
Test Rugby Caps:  11 
Test Rugby Debut:  2012 v Scotland in Newcastle 

Sekope Kepu
Position: Prop
Height:  188cm 
Weight:  125kg 
Date Of Birth:  05/02/1986 
Plays for: NSW Waratahs 
Test Rugby Caps:  20 
Test Rugby Debut:  2008 v Italy, Padova 

Anthony Faingaa
Position: Outside Centre
Height:  178cm 
Weight:  88kg 
Date Of Birth:  02/02/1987 
Plays for: Queensland Reds 
Test Rugby Caps:  23
Test Rugby Debut:  2010 v New Zealand in Melbourne

These are just a few of the ones to watch; there are of course a great many others. To see them in action, pop along to your local rugby stadium, you're guaranteed a great afternoon's entertainment.

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Removals to Australia – click here for full information on our removals to Australia service or contact us now for a free online moving quote.