Rugby Union South Australia (RUSA) is the governing body for the sport of rugby union in the state of South Australia. It is a member of Rugby Australia and runs an amateur club competition in Adelaide consisting of men's teams in Premier grade, Premier reserves, Division 2 and Division 2 reserves; and junior teams grouped by age from under 7 to under 18. As of 2013, a women's competition has been included. The RUSA also selects representative teams each year to compete against other Australian states and territories.
The SA Rugby Union was established in 1932 after journalist Ian Sabey, from The Advertiser, convened a public meeting. This meeting resulted in the formation of the Adelaide Rugby Club, with enough players to field two 7-a-side teams. Interest in the sport grew, and by the end of that year, the Royal Australian Navy, Adelaide University and the Waratahs were ready to field teams in a local competition.
Rugby in the Adelaide area grew quickly and within a year, South Australia had fielded a team against Victoria for its first interstate match.
Rugby League benefited in the 1940s, when the Port Adelaide Rugby Union team fractured and changed codes.[1] Over the following two decades, rugby grew across the metropolitan region and by the 1950s, South Australia boasted eight clubs. In 1951, with the competition and therefore financial risks growing, it was decided that it was in the Union's best interest to become an incorporated body. In the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s, the South Australian representative team competed in the Southern States Carnivals against Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. The SARU financed its own tour of Queensland and ACT in 1971, playing in Canberra, Toowoomba, and Brisbane.[2][3]
By 1971 clubs included: Army, Adelaide University, Glenelg, Burnside, Elizabeth, Flinders University, North Adelaide, Old Collegians, Onkaparinga, Port Adelaide, Roseworthy College Rams, Salisbury, Southern Suburbs, West Torrens and Woodville.
Clubs which have fielded rugby teams in the past are: Aquinas, Black Forest, Central Districts, Flinders University, Gawler, Murray Bridge, North-West Districts, Salisbury, Smithfield Plains, Edinburgh, Lincoln, Pulteney Grammar School, Salisbury High School, Salisbury Com. Schools, Salisbury Teachers College, S.C.A.E., South Australian Institute of Technology, St Peters College, St Marks College, Tea Tree Gully, Kingswood, Adelaide, Royal Australian Naval Reserve, Whyalla, Waratahs, North Adelaide Baptist, Prince Alfred Old Collegians, Army, East Torrens, RAAF, SA Railways Institute and RAN. In 1978 Glenelg was renamed Brighton, the club's second name change, having previously been known as Kingston. In 2006 the Roseworthy college Rams were renamed Barossa Rams. Burnside fielded no junior teams until they amalgamated with The Waratahs Junior Rugby Union Football Club in 1992. North Torrens was formed when West Torrens and North Adelaide merged. Western Districts Junior Rugby Union Football Club (the Vikings) is the junior team for the two senior clubs of Woodville and Port Adelaide.
In 1995, Adelaide University and Old Collegians RFC established women's teams. Initially playing infrequently while building player numbers. By 2013 sufficient clubs had established women's teams for the Union to establish a formal competition.
Logo used from 2013 to 2017.
In 1999, SA Rugby again took on corporate change and release its Incorporated Association status and become a Company Limited by Guarantee, further underlining its commercial strength. In 2006, SA Rugby Union Ltd merged with the SA Junior Rugby Union.
In 2014 Old Collegians broke an 8-year drought to win the premier grade premiership
Current clubs
As of 2018, there are fourteen clubs which make up RUSA, eleven of these clubs field senior men's sides, eight field senior women's sides and 11 field junior sides. There is also a golden oldies club for players 35+, and a rugby sevens club for women and girls (12+).
The Black Falcons team is selected from senior players within South Australia each year, and competes against other amateur representative rugby teams from states including Victoria and Western Australia. Junior Falcons teams are also chosen to play in national age group competitions. The Southern Warriors is the women's seven-a-side team that competes in tournaments including the National Women's Sevens tournament.[4]
The South Australian Under 20 team competes in the Southern States Championship and also plays occasional matches against other representative sides. Prior to 2008, state colts teams at under21 and under19 age levels were fielded in national competitions.
From 2018 Black Falcons compete into Emerging States Championship and in 2019 also a second developing team, South Australia Under 23.[5]
Since 1970, the South Australian House of Assembly — the lower house of the Parliament of South Australia — has consisted of 47 single-member electoral districts consisting of approximately the same number of enrolled voters. The district boundaries are regulated by the State Electoral Office, according to the requirements of the South Australian Constitution and are subject to mandatory redistributions by the South Australian Electoral Districts Boundaries Commission in order to respond to changing demographics.
Football South Australia is the governing body of soccer in the state of South Australia. It was established in 2006 under the name Football Federation South Australia (FFSA).
Hindmarsh Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Hindmarsh, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the home of the Australian A-League team, Adelaide United.
The Onkaparinga River, known as Ngangkiparri or Ngangkiparingga in the Kaurna language, is a river located in the Southern Adelaide region in the Australian state of South Australia. Rising in the Mount Lofty Ranges, the river's estuary extends from Old Noarlunga to the river's mouth between the suburbs of Port Noarlunga and Port Noarlunga South.
Roseworthy Agricultural College was an agricultural college in Australia. It was 50 km (31 mi) north of Adelaide and 7 km (4.3 mi) west of Roseworthy town. It was the first agricultural college in Australia, established in 1883. It is now part of the University of Adelaide.
Sport at the University of Adelaide is primarily organised by the Adelaide University Sports Association. Other bodies affiliated to the University of Adelaide providing sport include the various sports clubs forming part of the residential colleges and the Roseworthy Agricultural Campus Student Union Council.
The Adelaide Footy League, formerly known as the South Australian Amateur Football League (SAAFL), is a semi-professional Australian rules football competition based in Adelaide, South Australia. Comprising sixty-seven member clubs playing over one hundred and ten matches per week, the SAAFL is one of Australia's largest Australian rules football associations.
The Hills Football League (HFL) is an Australian rules football league, situated in the Adelaide Hills region of South Australia, to the south east of the state capital Adelaide.
The County of Adelaide is one of the 49 cadastral counties of South Australia and contains the city of Adelaide. It was proclaimed on 2 June 1842 by Governor Grey. It is bounded by the Gawler River and North Para River in the north, the Mount Lofty Ranges in the east, and Gulf St Vincent in the west. The south border runs from Aldinga Bay to Willunga South and Mount Magnificent.
Old Collegians Rugby Club, also known as Old Coll's, is a rugby union club in Adelaide, South Australia. The team was founded in 1937, and plays at Tregenza Reserve. The club's jersey is red and blue.
Alex Rokobaro is a Fijian rugby union footballer who plays for the Old Collegians Rugby Club in South Australia Rugby Union. His usual position is fullback, although he can play other positions including Wing.
The Gawler Football Club was an Australian rules football club that was founded on 21 August 1868 based at Gawler in the Township of Gawler about 39 km to the north-north east of Adelaide, South Australia.
The Barossa Rams Rugby Club is a South Australian rugby union club from the Barossa Valley wine region and based in the town of Lyndoch, 58 km northeast of Adelaide.
Asoiva Karpani is an Australian rugby union footballer who plays for the NSW Waratahs in the Super W. She is an Australian Wallaroos representative and competed at the 2021 Rugby World Cup. She also played for the St George Illawarra Dragons in the NRL Women's Premiership.
References
↑ Thompson, Ted. "History". South Australian Rugby League. Archived from the original on 9 April 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
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