The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Eastern Suburbs and inner Sydney including the CBD. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) and National Rugby League titles, and several other competitions. First founded as the Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club (ESDRLFC), it is the only club to have played in every season at the elite level, and since the 1970s has often been dubbed the glamour club of the league. The Sydney Roosters have won 15 premierships, equal to the record of the St George Dragons. Only the South Sydney Rabbitohs have won more premierships. The club holds the record for having won more matches than any other in the league, the most minor premierships and the most World Club Challenge trophies. The Sydney Roosters are one of only two clubs to finish runners-up in their inaugural season. Currently coached by Trent Robinson and captained by James Tedesco, the Roosters play home games at the Sydney Football Stadium.
The Highlanders is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that compete in Super Rugby. The team was formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island in the newly formed Super 12 competition, and includes the Otago, North Otago and Southland unions. The Highlanders take their name from the Scottish immigrants that founded the Otago, North Otago, and Southland regions in the 1840s and 1850s.
The National Provincial Championship (NPC) is an annual round-robin rugby union competition in men's domestic New Zealand rugby. First played in 1976, it is the second highest level of competition in New Zealand alongside the Ranfurly Shield. It is organised by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and since 2021, it has been known as the Bunnings NPC after Bunnings, its naming rights sponsor. A concurrent women's tournament is also held, the Farah Palmer Cup.
Rugby Southland is the provincial rugby union who govern the Southland region of New Zealand. Their headquarters are at Rugby Park Stadium in Invercargill, which is also the home ground of the union's professional team, the Southland Stags who compete in the Mitre 10 Cup Championship Division and challenge for the Ranfurly Shield.
Cumberland, officially known as Central Cumberland, were a rugby league team in 1908 based in the region of Cumberland Plain in western Sydney. They were one of the nine original teams in the first New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL) season, albeit admitted after the first round of matches had already been played. They are the shortest lived team in the history of first-grade rugby league in Australia after disbanding late that year. Statistically, they are the club with the poorest all-time record, only lasting eight games in their inaugural and only season.
North America 4, also known as IRB North America 4, was a North American rugby union competition launched in 2006. The competition was contested between two newly formed representative teams from each of Canada and the United States. The competition was funded by the International Rugby Board (IRB), and was part of their three-year global strategic investment programme which was designed to increase the competitiveness of international rugby union in Canada and the United States. The tournament was intended to act as a pathway to more exposure of domestic players and the national sides.
The National Provincial Championship, often simply called the NPC, was an annual promotion and relegation rugby union competition in men's domestic New Zealand rugby. First played during the 1976 season, it was the highest level of competition in New Zealand until Super Rugby launched in 1996. It was organised by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and ceased following the 2005 season.
Brothers Rugby Club is an Australian rugby union club based in Brisbane, Queensland. The name alludes to its beginnings as a rugby club founded by alumni of schools established by the Congregation of Christian Brothers.
The University of Queensland Rugby Club is an Australian rugby club, based at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Queensland. They currently compete in the Queensland Premier Rugby competition. They were formed in 1911, as rugby was adopted by the Sports Association at the University of Queensland as a major sport.
The Sydney Stars is a former Australian rugby union football team that competed in the National Rugby Championship (NRC) in 2014 and 2015. The Stars team was established as a joint venture between the Sydney University and Balmain rugby clubs, and was one of four New South Wales teams in the competition.
Caitlin Thwaites is a former Australian netball player and volleyballer.
Keighley Rugby Union Football Club is a Rugby Union club based in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. The club currently play in Yorkshire 1.
The Nowra Warriors are an Australian rugby league football team based in Nowra, a coastal town of the South Coast region. The club is a part of Country Rugby League and previously competed in the South Coast first grade competition since its inception in 1914 until they merged with Bomaderry in 2008 to form the Shoalhaven Jets. The Nowra Warriors still field teams in junior rugby league competitions.
Brenton Thwaites is an Australian actor. Beginning his career in his home country in 2011, he had a starring role on the series Slide and later appeared on the soap opera Home and Away. Since moving to the United States, Thwaites has had major roles in the films Blue Lagoon: The Awakening (2012), Oculus (2013), The Giver (2014), Gods of Egypt (2016), and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017). He starred as Dick Grayson / Robin / Nightwing in the DC Universe / HBO Max series Titans from 2018 to 2023.
Jeff Hassler is a Canadian rugby union player. He plays at wing and occasionally at the centre position for the Seattle Seawolves in Major League Rugby (MLR), and Rugby Canada's National 15s. He has 36 caps for the National squad in all contests, and former member of the Neath-Swansea, Ospreys.
Dallas Griffins Rugby, formerly Frisco Griffins, is a rugby union team based in Allen, Texas, United States, founded in 2008 by Phil Camm and Jeff Walton. Dallas competed in USA Rugby's first tier amateur competition, Red River Conference D1, and was a member of Major League Rugby at its foundation. The organization was later sold to a new ownership group and rebranded as the Dallas Jackals in preparation for the start of Major League Rugby.
The Hunter Mariners were an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Hunter Region's largest city, Newcastle. Hunter was formed in mid-1995 and was later disbanded at the end of 1997. The club was formed because of the Super League war, which was the rivalry between the traditional Australian Rugby League competition and the new media driven Super League competition. The team competed in the inaugural and only Super League season in 1997, as well as that year's World Club Challenge.
National Rugby Football League (NRFL) is a professional rugby union league headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 2014, the NRFL aims to establish itself as the premier rugby competition in North America, bringing the largest tackle sport worldwide to the most lucrative sport & entertainment market — North America.
Kelsie Thwaites is a New Zealand rugby union player. She previously represented New Zealand in Beach volleyball before switching to rugby.
Conán F. O'Donnell is a rugby union player from Ireland. He plays as a prop.
