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This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (November 2010) |
The Australian Provincial Championship, often abbreviated to the APC, is a now defunct Australian national Rugby union tournament that commenced for just one season in 2006. Each team plays every team twice throughout the six week round robin tournament.
[edit] Overview
There had previously been no national rugby union club competition in Australia because of a lack of player depth outside of the rugby strongholds of Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane, where there are strong local competitions. In order to expose fringe state players to a high level of rugby, the state teams New South Wales Waratahs, the Brumbies and Queensland Reds, have previously played for the Ricoh National Championship at the completion of the Super 12.
Before the professional rugby era, the NSW Waratahs and Queensland Reds played annually in a competition known as the State of the Union, a name which is still commonly used to refer to Australian interstate games. This was expanded and renamed the Ricoh National Championship in 1998 to accommodate the ACT Brumbies and also ran in 1999 and 2000, respectively won by the Waratahs, the Brumbies and the Reds.
In 2006, a Western Australian team Western Force, joined New South Wales, Queensland and ACT for the Australian Provincial Championship at the completion of the Super 14, the winner of which was awarded the Bob Templeton trophy. It was suggested that in 2007 or 2008 some Japanese teams could play this competition, however the competition was discontinued beyond 2006 due to the new Australian Rugby Championship. Additionally, the Australian Rugby Shield is a national competition featuring teams from outside the traditional rugby areas.
[edit] Format
The points system used for the APC was the same as the one that is used for the Super 14; with bonus points being awarded to teams who score four tries or more in one match and/or lose by seven points or less. The standard system is four points for a win, two for a draw and zero for a loss (depending on bonus points).
The four teams will be as strong as possible, but will be without their respective Wallabies, due to the South African leg of the 2006 Tri Nations Series. The Western Force ended up having all-away fixtures, whilst the Brumbies will be playing all their games on Friday nights, the Waratahs will take games to Gosford and Bathurst, whilst the Reds will kick off in the afternoon at Ballymore.[1]
[edit] 2006 tournament
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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Australian Provincial Championship
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