Australian Club Championships - 13 March 2010

The Australian Club Championships - an annual challenge match between the Brisbane and Sydney rugby club champions - was first contested in 1974. The regular scheduling was abandoned in 1993 when the New South Wales Rugby Union insisted on playing each match in Sydney, at Concord Oval, rather than on a rotating basis. In 2006, the match was revived and is now played in Brisbane and Sydney in alternate years. Multiple winners of the title are Randwick (7 wins); Brothers (3 wins) and Sydney University (2 wins).
 
The 2010 clash is between Brothers and Sydney University and will take place at Brothers home ground, Crosby Park, in Brisbane on Saturday, March 13 at 3.30pm. A large crowd is expected to watch two of the giants of Australian Club Rugby battle for the honour of being called Australian Club Champions. While both teams will have players on representative duties, both sides are expected to be powerful, since the consensus of opinion is that the 2009 Premier Club Competition was one of the strongest for a long time.
 
David Mortimer AO, President of the Sydney University Football Club commented, " We have been fortunate to contest each of the Australian Club Championships in recent years and, to us, it is a very important fixture on the Club Rugby calendar. We have for some years believed that a National Club Competition would add considerable value to Australia's Rugby Calender but, with such busy International and Super 14 seasons, this now looks unlikely. We will continue to explore possibilities. Our great sport continues to face many challenges but we still believe that elite club competitions are critical to the future of the game in Australia. SUFC also believes strongly in both the aspirational and participative aspects of our game and, we endeavour to provide opportunities for as many young men as possible to play the game, by being a pathway to representative rugby and also by fielding four grade and three colts sides at Sydney University. Our Club, our players and our sponsors and supporters have been looking forward to this match with much enthusiasm. I'm sure that the match will be hard fought but played in the spirit of rugby and its best traditions. May the best team win."