- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The draw for the 2017 National Rugby Championship season has been revealed, with the new Fijian team to make their competition debut against two-time premiers Brisbane City at Ballymore on the first day of the season on Saturday, September 2.
The new side will play their first ever home game two weeks later in Round 3 when they host the NSW Country Eagles at Lawaqa Park in Sigatoka. The other teams to make the trip to Fiji this year will be defending champions Perth Spirit (Round 4 Suva), Queensland Country (Round 8, Lautoka) and the Sydney Rays (Round 9, Suva).
The introduction of Fiji, which was announced late last year, means each side will have one bye throughout the season.
Fans will be treated to a replay of last year’s thrilling grand final when the Country Eagles and Spirit meet in Round 7 at the scene of the 2016 decider, Tamworth’s Scully Park.
The semi-finals will get underway on Saturday, November 4, before the grand final a week later on November 11.
Most games during the season will be played at either 1:00 or 3:00pm (AEST) on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, however there will be both a Friday night and Monday afternoon game on the September/October long weekend.
A number of fixtures have been scheduled to coincide with local rugby events, while a number of Wallabies will be released during the Rugby Championship in order to play in the NRC.
The ARU’s general manager of high performance, Ben Whitaker, hailed the impact of the NRC, and said the 2017 season will one for fans to look forward to.
“The NRC continues to grow and with the inclusion of Fiji the 2017 season will have an international flavour which will boost the appeal of the competition for fans even further,” Whitaker said.
“The quality of Rugby has improved dramatically from year to year and it is bound to go up another notch as the NRC enters its fourth season.
“Importantly, the NRC has proven to be a successful platform for player and coach development with graduation into Super Rugby positions at its highest in 2016. Both the players and coaches have overwhelmingly backed the competition, as have the fans, who watched the NRC in record numbers last season.”
For the full draw, head over to The Roar’s 2017 NRC fxitures page.