History
Rugby union was established in the area around what is now the Australian Capital Territory well before it separated from New South Wales on 1 January 1911.[3] Teams playing in the 19th century include Goulburn Rugby Union Club which was formed in 1872 [4] and became a founding member of the Southern Rugby Union in 1874.[5] Cooma played Snowy River as early as 1876,[6] and Queanbeyan played Yass in 1878.[7]
The first match of the 1899 British Lions tour was held at the Goulburn Showgrounds, and the Central Southern RFU put up a strong showing before the visitors prevailed 11–3.[8] Central Southern beat the reigning Sydney premiers Glebe the following year.[9]
Beginnings
A team from Hall was playing rugby by 1907.[2] Royal Military College, Duntroon played the game from the year it was founded in 1911.[10][11] The Federal City Club also played rugby union prior to the First World War, including matches against a Glenlee team from Bungendore and the Rovers and Warrigal clubs from Queanbeyan.[12][13][14]
The dominant rugby code in the region after the first world war was rugby league.[3] Although Royal Military College remained with rugby union, matches had to be arranged with Sydney teams for the college to play the game.[3][15] A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) branch of the NSW Rugby Union was founded in 1927,[16][17] but there was not sufficient support for the union code to warrant the establishment of a formal competition.[18] Royal Military College played a series of matches that year against the newly-formed Canberra Rugby Union Club instead.[19][20][21] The Canberra club had adopted a black and white strip.[22]
The FCT Rugby Union had to be re-established in 1930,[23][24] and re-established again in 1937.[25][26] It was renamed the Australian Capital Territory Rugby Union in 1939.[27] No rugby union matches were played in Canberra for the five years prior to 1936,[28] in the period when the Royal Military College was forced to relocate to the Victoria Barracks, Sydney due to the economic downturn caused by the Great Depression.[29] After returning to Duntroon, the Military College played a re-formed Canberra Rugby Club in 1937, ten years after the teams had first met.[30][31]
The First Grade competition was started in 1938 with four clubs playing in the inaugural season.[32] The Territory's representative team hosted the All Blacks at Manuka Oval in 1938,[33] with the New Zealanders winning by 57–5.[33]
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Further information: Canberra Kookaburras § ACT representative team |
Growth of amateur rugby: 1946 to 1995
Rugby union expanded quickly after World War II, particularly in New South Wales.[34] The Australian Capital Territory team grew in stature through the 1950s and 1960s as part of the NSW Country Rugby Union.[34] ACT won the Caldwell Cup for the Country Championship for the first time in 1964 and went on to win it three times in a row.[35][36] In 1966, five Canberra players were chosen in the squad for the Combined NSW Country team that gave the touring British Lions team a physical match,[37] losing narrowly by 6–3 in front of a record crowd at Manuka Oval.[38]
The 1970s was a breakthrough decade. The ACT claimed their first win over an international side, defeating Tonga by 17-6 in 1973.[39] ACT Rugby Union separated from NSW Country after the 1974 season and became directly affiliated to the Australian Rugby Football Union.[40] In 1975 the ACT team won promotion to top division of the Wallaby Trophy, Australia's provincial championship at the time.[41] The triumph was cut short, however, as the tournament was cancelled in that season.[42][43] In 1978, the ACT defeated the reigning Five Nations champions Wales at Manuka Oval, showing that they could compete with some of the world's best players.[44]
After the ACT team had comprehensively beaten New South Wales in 1994,[45][34] an invitation was issued for a Canberra club to play in the NSWRU Premiership for the following season.[46] The ACT Rugby Union formed the Canberra Kookaburra Rugby Club in August 1994,[47] with the Tuggeranong Vikings RUC as underwriters.[48]
Professional era
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