Australian Rugby Union

National rugby union
unionname = Australian Rugby Union
nativename =

logosize = 75px
founded = 1949
IRB = 1949
region =
regionyear =
president = Paul McLean
coach = Robbie Deans (NZ)
womenscoach = Steven Hamson
country

url = www.rugby.com.auThe Australian Rugby Union (ARU) is the governing body of rugby union in Australia. It was founded in 1949 and is a member of the International Rugby Board (IRB) the sport's governing body. It is responsible for the Australia national rugby union team.

History

In 1874 the Southern Rugby Union was established, administered from Twickenham in England.The administration was handed over to New South Wales in 1881 and in 1892 the Southern Rugby Union of New South Wales and the Northern Rugby Union of Queensland (formed in 1883) became New South Wales and Queensland Rugby Unions respectively.

New South Wales, as the senior union, was responsible for the administration of all tours and for representing Australia on the International Rugby Board. However in 1947 the various State Unions agreed that the future of rugby union in Australia would be better served by forming one administrative body. In 1948, the International Rugby Board invited Australia specifically (rather than a New South Wales representative), to take a seat on the Board.

The inaugural meeting of the Australian Rugby Football Union was held on November 25th, 1949 with 11 delegates from New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and Victoria. The Australian Capital Territory became a member in 1972 and the Northern Territory an associate member in 1978. In 2004, the ACT union changed its name to the ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union after two regional unions in southern New South Wales switched affiliation to the ACT union.

In 1985 the Australian Rugby Football Union was incorporated as a company and in 1997, it became simply The Australian Rugby Union Ltd.

Teams

Men

*Wallabies - the national men's rugby union team.
*Under 21s - an age graded side that has developed some of today's current Wallabies.
*Under 19s - an age graded side that has developed some of today's current Wallabies.

Women

*Wallaroos - the national women's rugby union team.

External links

* [http://www.rugby.com.au Australian Rugby Union]
* [http://www.brumbies.com.au/ ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union]
* [http://www.nswrugby.com.au/nsw/ New South Wales Rugby Union]
* [http://www.qru.com.au Queensland Rugby Union]
* [http://sarugby.rugbynet.com.au South Australian Rugby Union]
* [http://www.vicrugby.com.au Victorian Rugby Union]
* [http://www.rugbywa.com.au/wa/ RugbyWA]