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The Australian Rugby Union has announced where members of the Wallabies squad will be playing for the 2014 season of the National Rugby Championship (NRC).
In general, players have been allocated according to the premier grade club they play for and the club’s affiliations to the NRC franchise.
There are, however, a few notable exceptions to this.
Kurtley Beale has been allocated to the Greater Sydney Rams, for example, despite being a Randwick associated player. Had that affiliation been honoured, Beale would be playing for the NSW Country Eagles.
Beale played for the Rams franchise in the Australian Rugby Championship in 2007, so there is history between Beale and the team.
The Rams have benefitted greatly from the allocations, getting backline stars Beale, Rob Horne and Tevita Kuridrani, as well as front rowers Tatafu Polota-Nau and Ben Alexander.
By comparison, the Brisbane City, Melbourne Rising and Queensland Country sides only have two players from the national squad.
The alignments will be supplemented by players from the Super Rugby squads, however, and full squads have not yet been released.
Brumbies players have largely been divided among the Canberra Vikings and various New South Wales-based franchises
Israel Folau has been allocated to the Sydney Stars, alongside Bernard Foley, Nick Phipps and Will Skelton.
Andrew Fagan, the ARU’s General Manager of National Teams & Rugby Operations, says that the connection between the fans and the players was imperative in determining who played for which franchise.
“Rugby fans naturally have a strong connection to their national representatives, so it’s important for them to know which players are affiliated with their chosen NRC teams,” Mr Fagan said.
“The alignment of current Test players to the Buildcorp NRC is significant for the promotion of individual teams and the competition, while the potential still exists for players to train or play with their affiliated NRC team when they are not on international duty.
“Feedback we’ve received about the Buildcorp NRC from our Test representatives has been really positive.
“They are looking forward to being ambassadors for the competition and helping to shape and influence the culture of their respective NRC teams.”
Full list of Wallaby-NRC player alignments:
Brisbane City
· Will Genia
· James Horwill
Greater Sydney Rams
· Kurtley Beale
· Ben Alexander
· Rob Horne
· Tatafu Polota-Nau
· Tevita Kuridrani
Melbourne Rising
· Scott Higginbotham
· Luke Jones
North Harbour Rays
· Scott Fardy
· Michael Hooper
· Wycliff Palu
· Pek Cowan
NSW Country Eagles
· Adam Ashley-Cooper
· Sekope Kepu
· Matt Toomua
· Nic White
Queensland Country
· Rob Simmons
· James Slipper
Perth Spirit
· Nathan Charles
· Matt Hodgson
– Ben McCalman
Sydney Stars
· Israel Folau
· Bernard Foley
· Nick Phipps
· Will Skelton
University of Canberra Vikings
· Sam Carter
· Christian Leali’ifano
· Pat McCabe
· Scott Sio
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.