2017 National Rugby Championship
| 2017 National Rugby Championship | |
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| Date | August–October 2017 |
| Matches played | 39 |
| Official website | |
| buildcorpnrc |
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← 2016
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The 2017 National Rugby Championship (known as the Buildcorp National Rugby Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the fourth season of Australia's National Rugby Championship. It involves nine professional rugby union teams, one more than the previous year, with eight teams from Australia, and one team from Fiji.
A major change made for the 2017 season is the inclusion of the Fiji Warriors in the competition. Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama met with the Australian Rugby Union, and World Rugby about establishing a pathway for developing Fijian Rugby Players. World Rugby will finance the Fiji Warriors.
Prior to the season it was also reported that the Canberra Vikings would be renamed the Canberra Kookaburras in a return to the traditional name of the ACT team, but this change was postponed until at least the 2017 season.
The nine teams for the 2016 NRC season include three from New South Wales, two from Queensland, and one each from Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Western Australia, and Fiji:
Two of the NRC matches each weekend are broadcast live via Fox Sports. Discussion of the NRC competition is included on Fox Sports' review show NRC Extra Time on Monday nights, and the Rugby 360 program on Wednesday evenings.
The nine teams compete in a round-robin tournament for the regular season. Each team has four matches at home and four away. The top four teams qualify for the title play-offs with semi-finals and finals.
During this section of the tournament, teams can also play for the Horan-Little Shield, a challenge trophy that is played for when a challenge is accepted or offered by the holders.
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