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The ARU has announced a major development for the National Rugby Championship, with the introduction of a Fiji-based side for the 2017 season.
The NRC outfit will become Fiji’s first ever professional provincial rugby side, and will be comprised entirely of local players from the Fijian national second XV, the ‘Fiji Warriors’, and will play their home matches in the island nation.
In the wake of the announcement, the NRC will expand to nine teams for the 2017 season, with the regular season now running for eight weeks. Each team will have one bye during the season, and all of the Australian teams in the competition will travel to Fiji for an away game during a two-year cycle.
The plan to include a team from Fiji in the NRC has been in the works for some months now, but it wasn’t until Friday afternoon that the news became official, with the ARU’s CEO, Bill Pulver, joined by Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama to announcing the historic deal.
“We are incredibly excited to welcome Fiji into the Buildcorp NRC and thank World Rugby for supporting both the ARU and Fiji Rugby Union (FRU) in helping to make this a reality for next season,” Pulver said.
“The Fiji brand of rugby is arguably the most exciting brand of Rugby in the world and their inclusion in the Buildcorp NRC will enhance the competition both in terms of the quality of rugby and by adding a huge amount of support and interest from the Fijian communities both in Fiji and here in Australia.”
World Rugby is set to fund the team under the umbrella of its Oceania program.
“The Pacific Islands play a major role in the sport’s heritage and future and World Rugby is committed to working with our friends and colleagues in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga to further assist them with the unique challenges that they face,” said World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont.
“Participation in the NRC will not only provide a superb performance pathway leading into Rugby World Cup 2019, but it provides locally-based players with a strong alternative to playing club rugby overseas should they wish to remain in the Fijian system.”
“It will be a major milestone for the sustainable growth of Fijian rugby.”
For some time now, there has been plenty of criticism towards Australia and New Zealand for capitalising on the phenomenal talent available in the Pacific without doing much to improve the countries’ own rugby programs and infrastructure.
However, there are hopes the introduction of the Fijian NRC team will go some way to quieting those critics by providing the island nation with a pathway to compete in a professional tournament in one of world rugby’s heartlands.
However, there is still plenty of work to be done before the team will become a reality. While the announcement has been made, a home ground still needs to be found in Fiji, and the entire squad needs to be populated. The FRU is looking to create a 30-man strong squad made entirely of local players.
The development is a major feather in the cap of the ARU and World Rugby, having beaten the NRL to the punch in expanding to Fiji. There had been calls to introduce a Fijian team into league’s NSW Cup, following in the footsteps of the Queensland Cup’s PNG Hunters.
Since the Hunters joined the Queensland Cup in 2014, rugby league in Papua New Guinea has received a significant boost, with the national team springing a surprise victory over Fiji in May of this year.
Fiji has been a phenomenal performer in the rugby sevens circuit for some years, winning this year’s world series as well as the men’s gold medal at the Rio Olympics, the country’s first ever Olympic medal.
However, many of the country’s finest exponents of the 15-man game ply their trade overseas, predominantly in European rugby competitions. The NRC team is seen as a way of stopping, or at the least slowing, the talent drain to Europe, with the introduction of a Super Rugby team the next possible step.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.