Australian Rugby Union
 |
|
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Founded |
1945
(as Australian R.F.U.)
officially constituted in 1949. |
| WR affiliation | 1949 |
| Oceania Rugby affiliation | 2000 |
| Patron |
General Sir Peter Cosgrove, Governor-General of Australia |
| Chairman | Cameron Clyne |
| Bill Pulver | |
| Men's coach | Michael Cheika |
| Women's coach | Tim Walsh (sevens) |
| Sevens coach | Andy Friend |
| Website | aru.com.au |
The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) is the governing body of rugby union in Australia. It was officially constituted in 1949 and is a member of World Rugby (WR), the sport's international governing body. It consists of eight member unions, representing each state and territory. It organises the Australia national rugby union team, known as the Wallabies.
The original administrative body for rugby in Australia was the Southern Rugby Union, established in Sydney in 1874. Following the first inter-colonial rugby match in 1882 between the New South Wales and Queensland teams, a Northern Rugby Union was formed in Brisbane in 1883. Interest in rugby developed rapidly over the next decade as matches between New South Wales and Queensland became annual events and inter-colonial fixtures with New Zealand were also arranged.
The first British Isles team toured in 1888 and played 16 rugby matches in Australia (as well as 18 matches of Victorian rules, later to become Australian football). Rugby at that time was the most prominent football code in New South Wales and Queensland, whereas Victorian rules was the main game in the other Australian colonies. The Southern and Northern Rugby Unions became the New South Wales Rugby Football Union and the Queensland Rugby Football Union, respectively, in 1892 and 1893.
Australia's first international rugby match was against the touring British Isles team of 1899, a year and a half before federation established the Commonwealth of Australia. The match was played at the Sydney Cricket Ground and won 13–3 by Australia, but the tourists won the remaining three tests. The Australian team for the first match consisted of six players from Queensland and nine from New South Wales.
New South Wales, as the senior union, was responsible for administration of the Australian team, including all tours, until the end of the 1940s. However, the various state unions agreed that the future of rugby union in Australia would be better served by having a national administrative body and so the Australian Rugby Football Union was formed at a conference in Sydney in 1945, acting initially in an advisory capacity only. Additional impetus came in 1948 when the International Rugby Football Board invited Australia specifically (rather than a New South Wales representative), to take a seat on the Board.
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