Australian Youth Rugby Championships Explained
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| Pixels: | 200px |
| Sport: | Rugby union |
| Inaugural: | 2014 |
| Country: | Australia |
The Under-19s Rugby Championship is an Australian rugby union competition for men's youth teams that forms part of the pathway for selection to the . The competition is hosted annually by Rugby Australia and players must meet an under-19 age requirement. Previously, this tournament was played closer in time to the World Junior Championship and used an under-20 age requirement.
History
National U20s
The first National U20 Rugby Championship was played in 2014, and was contested by teams from New South Wales, Queensland and an Australian Barbarians side (selected from the other states and territories). National under-20 teams from the Pacific islands were also invited to play matches.
The competition was played over two stages, with a Southern States U20 Championship held in March for teams from ACT, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory, as well as New South Wales Country and Queensland Country. A representative team from that tournament was selected to participate in the National U20 Championship's top division.
Super U20s
The Super Under 20s Championship was launched in 2016, with teams from Australia's five Super Rugby franchises competing. Matches were scheduled as curtain-raisers to home games hosted by the Super Rugby teams, with the tournament played as a single round-robin followed by a final between the top two sides to determine the champion team.
U19s Rugby Championship
In 2018 the competition was changed to an Under-19 championship played six months earlier in the lead in to the campaign for the Oceania and World Rugby tournaments.
Teams
The teams playing in the Under-19s Rugby Championship are:
Australian Barbarians U19- Brisbane City U19 Brumbies U19
- Melbourne Rebels U19
- NSW Country U19
- Queensland Country U19
- Sydney U19
- Western Australia U19
Following the tournament, an initial squad for the Junior Wallabies team is selected from the best players. The Australian team competes in the Oceania U20 and World Rugby U20 championships.
Champions
| Year | - of
Teams
| Final | Refs |
|---|
| Winner | Score | Runner-up |
|---|
| National Under 20s Championship |
| 2014 | 4 | | round
robin | Queensland | [1] |
| 2015 | 5 | | round
robin | Queensland | [2] |
| Super Under 20s Championship |
| 2016 | 5 | | 35–5 | | [3] |
| 2017 | 5 | | 49–19 | New South Wales | [4] |
| U19s Rugby Championship |
| 2018 | 8 | | 41–7 | Queensland Country | [5] |
| 2019 | 8 | | 43–19 | | [6] |
| Tournaments cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2022 | 5 | | | Queensland | [7] |
| 2023 | 5 | | | New South Wales | [8] | |
See also
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: 27 March 2014 . NSW Win 2014 National U20 Championship . Australian Rugby . 28 February 2015 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150228005931/http://www.rugby.com.au/tryrugby/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1760/ArticleID/11220/NSW-Win-2014-National-U20-Championship.aspx . 28 February 2015 .
- Web site: 25 March 2015 . NSW wins National Under 20s Championship for second consecutive year . Australian Rugby . 25 March 2015 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20150401214136/http://www.rugby.com.au/News/NewsArticle/tabid/1699/ArticleID/14912/NSW-wins-National-Under-20s-Championship-for-second-consecutive-year.aspx . 1 April 2015.
- Web site: 17 February 2016 . Super U20s Championship to kick off in 2016 . Australian Rugby . 18 February 2016 .
- Web site: 2 April 2017 . Queensland win second straight U20s National Championship . Green and Gold Rugby . 18 February 2016 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20170402121942/http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/queensland-win-second-straight-u20s-national-championship/ . 2 April 2017.
- Web site: 5 October 2018 . URC: Cool-hand Lucas steers Brisbane City to under 19s national crown . rugby.com.au . 5 October 2018 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20181005123710/http://www.rugby.com.au/news/2018/10/04/u19-rugby-championship-final-day . 5 October 2018.
- Web site: 12 October 2019 . Brisbane City win back-to-back URC titles . rugby.com.au . https://web.archive.org/web/20191013140015/https://www.rugby.com.au/news/2019/10/12/u19-nationals-brisbane-city-sydney . 13 October 2019 . 13 October 2019 . dead .
- Web site: Tahs topple Reds in National Championship Grand Final showdown . The Courier–Mail . https://archive.today/20221113120615/https://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/sport/tahs-topple-reds-in-national-championship-grand-final-showdown/news-story/b929f3f27d7a56228ef5bd1d4511fca0?amp&nk=13e26341720e19123f8dbf718924de1e-1668341184 . 13 November 2022 . 13 November 2022.
- Web site: Williamson . Nathan . 2023-11-05 . ACT Brumbies take out Super Rugby U19s, Waratahs claim Super Rugby U16s Latest Rugby News RUGBY.com.au . 2023-11-05 . www.rugby.com.au . en.
