 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Rugby union |
| Established | 2014 |
| Final year | 2019 |
| Teams | Australia (7 teams) Fiji (1 team) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Final champion | Western Force (2019; 1st title) |
| Most titles | Brisbane City (2 titles) |
TheNational Rugby Championship, known asNRC, was an Australianrugby union competition. It was contested by eight teams, seven from Australia and one fromFiji. The tournament ran from 2014 until 2019 before being disbanded in 2020 following the change of the Australian rugby TV broadcasting deal fromFox Sports, who had funded the competition, toStan Sport.[1] The 2020 competition was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[2]
The National Rugby Championship was usually held between late August and early November. Around-robin tournament was scheduled first where each team played all others once. The top four teams progressed to the championship playoffs consisting of two semi-final knockout matches and a grand final to determine the champion team and winner of the NRC Trophy, nicknamed 'The Toast Rack'.
During the round-robin section of the tournament, teams would also play for theHoran-Little Shield, a challenge trophy put on the line by the holders when a challenge match was accepted or mandated according to the Shield rules.
The teams that competed in the National Rugby Championship were.
Two of the NRC matches each weekend were broadcast live viaFox Sports, with the remaining matches shown on the Fox Sports streaming platform.[4] Discussion of the NRC competition was included on Fox Sports' review show NRC Extra Time on Monday nights, and the Kick & Chase program on Tuesday evenings.
In December 2013, the ARU announced that Australia would get another tier of competition underSuper Rugby in line withSouth Africa’sCurrie Cup andNew Zealand'sNational Provincial Championship (NPC). Eleven bids were tendered from teams wanting to participate in the tournament, with nine being accepted.[5] Applicants that were not successful were advised that they could bid again as the competition matured, as early as 2015.[6]
The National Rugby Championship followed a previous national competition, theAustralian Rugby Championship, that was abandoned after the first season in 2007 due to financial losses.[7][8]
The construction companyBuildcorp was the inaugural naming rights sponsor for the NRC competition,[9] with other partners includingIntercontinental Hotels,Qantas, andAllianz also signed.[10]ASICS was the official apparel supplier for the first two seasons. Matches were played under approved law variations,[11] intended to increase the speed of the game.[12]
A new broadcasting deal agreed in 2015 secured the funding and future of the competition until the end of the 2020 season.[13] The competition was reduced from nine teams to eight when theARU did not renew the NRC licence for theSydney Stars in 2016, citing insufficient player talent to support four competitive teams in New South Wales.[3]
A team from Fiji, theFijian Drua, joined the competition for the 2017 season.[14] For the 2018 season, theGreater Sydney Rams were dropped from the competition, leaving Sydney with just one team, the Rays.[15]
Following the onset of theCOVID-19 pandemic, the competition was cancelled for the 2020 season, with the Australian Super Rugby sides playing out theSuper Rugby AU competition in 2020–2021. However, onceSuper Rugby Pacific commenced in 2023, calls for a replacement 'third-tier' competition in Australian rugby grew.
In 2023, Force CEO Tony Lewis toldThe Sydney Morning Herald that an Australian third-tier competition was a necessity, stating: "All the Super coaches [in Australia] who participated in that third-tier comp [the NRC] that was running before COVID... all waxed lyrical about how good a competition it was and the number of coaches that come through it, and the number of S+C coaches [strength and conditioning], the number of analysts, the number of players. So it's just not about players, it's about coaches, about analysts, about physios. If you're not preparing them for the next level, the jump is horrendous. The first time you do economics, they do needs and wants."[16]
Following reports of several revived concepts in 2024,[17] a new domestic competition was officially confirmed to be in the works by Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh in December that year.[18] Subsequently, in June 2025Super Rugby AUS was announced as the new domestic competition between the four Australian Super Rugby sides,[19] with its first season commencing in September that year following the conclusion of the premier grade club season.
The tournament is run byRugby Australia with the sponsorship ofFoxtel which provides television coverage on itsFox Sports channels.[20]Gilbert is the official supplier of allrugby balls.[9]
Australia'sSuper 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 forTest 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.
| Ed. | Year | Final | Semi-finalists | No. teams | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Score / Venue | Runner-up | |||||
| 1 | 2014 |  Brisbane City | 37–26 Ballymore Stadium |  Perth Spirit |  NSW Country Eagles |  Melbourne Rising | 9 |
| 2 | 2015 | Brisbane City | 21–10 Ballymore Stadium |  Canberra Vikings | Melbourne Rising | Sydney Stars | 9 |
| 3 | 2016 | Perth Spirit | 20–16 Scully Park | NSW Country Eagles | Melbourne Rising | Sydney Rays | 8 |
| 4 | 2017 | Queensland Country | 42–28 Viking Park | Canberra Vikings | Perth Spirit |  Fijian Drua | 9 |
| 5 | 2018 | Fijian Drua | 36–26 Churchill Park | Queensland Country | Canberra Vikings | Western Force | 8 |
| 6 | 2019 | Western Force | 41–3 UWA Sports Park | Canberra Vikings | Brisbane City | Fijian Drua | 8 |
| — | 2020 | Cancelled due toimpacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.[21] | 8 | ||||
| Team | Champion | Runner-up | Semi-finalist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brisbane City | 2 (2014,2015) | — | 1 (2019) |
| Perth Spirit | 1 (2016) | 1 (2014) | 1 (2017) |
| Queensland Country | 1 (2017) | 1 (2018) | — |
| Fijian Drua | 1 (2018) | — | 2 (2017,2019) |
| Western Force | 1 (2019) | — | 1 (2018) |
| Canberra Vikings | — | 3 (2015,2017,2019) | 1 (2018) |
| NSW Country Eagles | — | 1 (2016) | 1 (2014) |
| Melbourne Rising | — | — | 3 (2014,2015,2016) |
| Sydney Stars | — | — | 1 (2015) |
| Sydney Rays | — | — | 1 (2016) |
| Region | Champion | Runner-up | Semi-finalist |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queensland | 3 (2014,2015,2017) | 1 (2018) | 1 (2019) |
| Western Australia | 2 (2016,2019) | 1 (2014) | 2 (2017,2018) |
| Fiji | 1 (2018) | — | 2 (2017,2019) |
| Australian Capital Territory | — | 3 (2015,2017,2019) | 1 (2018) |
| New South Wales | — | 1 (2016) | 3 (2014,2015,2016) |
| Victoria | — | — | 3 (2014,2015,2016) |
