The 2018 National Rugby Championship was the fifth season of the top flight of Australian domestic rugby union. The competition began on 1 September and concluded on 27 October. Matches were broadcast on Fox Sports and the championship featured eight professional teams, seven from Australia and one from Fiji.
The Fijian Drua won their first NRC title, defeating reigning champion side by 36–26 in the grand final held at Churchill Park in Lautoka. The Drua secured home ground advantage in the final by winning the minor premiership for the regular season and then beating in their semifinal. Queensland Country defeated the Western Force in the other semifinal to progress to the grand final. Fijian Drua also finished the season as winners of the Horan-Little Shield for 2018.
Teams There were two major changes for the 2018 season. The Greater Sydney Rams team was removed from the competition, leaving New South Wales with two participating sides in the NRC, one Sydney team and one Country team. In Perth, the Western Force replaced Perth Spirit as the team in Western Australia, following the removal of the Force from the Super Rugby competition in 2018. The eight teams for the 2018 NRC season include two from New South Wales, two from Queensland, and one each from Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Western Australia, and Fiji: RegionTeamCoachCaptainCanberra VikingsNick ScrivenerBen HyneFijian DruaSenirusi SeruvakulaMosese VokaDarren ColemanPaddy RyanSydney RaysChris WhitakerDamien FitzpatrickBrisbane CityMick HeenanAdam KorczykQueensland CountryRod SeibDuncan Paia'auaMelbourne RisingEoin ToolanAngus CottrellWestern ForceTim SampsonIan Prior
Television coverage and streaming Two of the NRC matches each weekend are broadcast live via Fox Sports, with the remaining matches shown live on the Fox Sports streaming platform. Discussion of the NRC competition is included on the Fox Sports review show NRC Extra Time on Monday nights, and the Kick & Chase program on Wednesday evenings.
Experimental Law Variations World Rugby adopted all global law variations being trialled as of May 2018 into the rugby law book with immediate effect. As such, the NRC 2017 trial changes to Laws 15, 16 and 20 (renumbered as 14, 15 and 19 in the simplified 2018 laws)World Rugby introduced a simplified law book effective from 1 January 2018. This new version removed the largely redundant section under the previous Law 7 (entitled "Mode of Play") with all Laws following it being renumbered. The scope of this former Law 7 was incorporated elsewhere, particularly within the new introductory 'Principles of the Game' section preceding the numbered Laws of the Game. – were officially incorporated by World Rugby and thus became variations no more. The other law variations used for the NRC in 2017 were retained for the 2018 season.
Existing Law of the GameVariationTelevision Match Official / Global law trial: Law 5Television match official to only be consulted about tries and in-goal plays.Conversion: Law 8 Sanction: Kick is disallowed.Time limit reduced to 60 seconds for conversion kicks.Penalty goal: Law 8 Sanction: Kick is disallowed and a scrum is awarded.Time limit reduced to 45 seconds for penalty kicks.During a maul: Law 16 Sanction: Penalty.Greater policing of this law, in order to discourage "hold up tackles", by ensuring that the tackler, who holds up a ball carrier in an effort to form a maul, does not collapse the maul as soon as it has formed.Quick throw: Law 18Players will be allowed to take quick throw-ins regardless of whether someone else has touched the ballLocation of a penalty or free kick: Law 20Increased latitude will be given to where penalty and free kicks are to be takenCompetition rule - Bonus point awarded for scoring 4 triesBonus point awarded if a winning team scores at least 3 more tries than its opponent.This particular system was first used in the French professional leagues during the 2007–08 northern hemisphere season.
Regular season The eight teams competed in a round-robin tournament for the regular season. During this section of the competition, teams also played for the Horan-Little Shield, a challenge trophy put on the line when a challenge is accepted by the holders or mandated by the terms of competition for the shield.
Points for the regular season standings were accumulated by the same method as for The Rugby Championship and Super Rugby. A slightly modified version of the standard competition points system was used, with a bonus point awarded to a winning team scoring at least 3 tries more than their opponent; and a bonus point awarded to a losing team defeated by a margin of 7 points or under. Four points were awarded for a win and none for a loss; two points were awarded to each team if a match was drawn.
Each team's placement was based on its cumulative points total, including any bonus points earned. For teams level on table points, tiebreakers apply in the following order: Difference between points for and against during the season. Head-to-head match result(s) between the tied teams. Total number tries scored during the season.
The top four teams at the end of the regular season qualified for the title play-offs in the form of semi-finals followed by a final to determine the champion team.
Standings National Rugby Championship # Team 1 Fijian Drua 7 6 0 1 283 175 +108 3 0 272 Queensland Country 7 5 0 2 299 211 +88 3 1 243 Western Force 7 5 0 2 284 202 +82 2 1 234 Canberra Vikings 7 5 0 2 221 169 +52 1 1 225 Brisbane City 7 4 0 3 205 245 −40 1 1 186 Melbourne Rising 7 2 0 5 239 192 +47 2 3 137 7 1 0 6 140 280 −140 0 2 68 Sydney Rays 7 0 0 7 167 364 −197 0 1 1Updated: 14 October 2018 Source: rugbyarchive.net Teams 1 to 4 (Green background) at the end of the regular season rounds qualify for the title playoffs. denotes the holder of the Horan-Little Shield.
Team progression
National Rugby Championship progressionTeamRound 1Round 2Round 3NSW DerbyRound 4Round 5Round 6Round 7 Brisbane City0(7th) 0(8th)5(6th)5(6th)9(5th)13(5th)17(5th)18(5th) Canberra Vikings0(6th) 5(4th)9(3rd)9(3rd)13(3rd)17(3rd)18(4th)22(4th) Fijian Drua5(1st) 10(1st) 10(2nd)10(2nd)14(1st)19(1st)23(1st)27(1st) Melbourne Rising0(8th) 1(5th) 6(5th)6(5th)7(6th)7(6th)8(6th)13(6th)0(4th) 0(6th) 0(8th)4(7th)5(7th)5(7th)6(7th)6(7th) Queensland Country4(3rd) 8(3rd) 13(1st)13(1st)14(2nd) 14(4th)19(3rd)24(2nd) Sydney Rays0(4th) 0(7th)0(7th)0(8th)1(8th)1(8th)1(8th)1(8th) Western Force4(2nd) 9(2nd) 9(4th)9(4th)13(4th)18(2nd)22(2nd)23(3rd)The table above shows a team's progression throughout the season.For each round, their cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.Key: win draw loss bye
Competition rounds
All times are local (and subject to change).
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Title playoffs
Semi-finals
Final
Team details FB 15 Apisalome Waqatabu RW 14 Levani Kurumudu OC 13 Apisalome Vota IC 12 Cyril Reece LW 11 Aporosa Tabulawaki FH 10 Alivereti Veitokani SH 9 Frank Lomani N8 8 Eremasi Radrodro OF 7 Jone Navori BF 6 Mosese Voka (c) RL 5 Albert Tuisue LL 4 Peni Naulago TP 3 Benji Makutu HK 2 Mesulame Dolokoto LP 1 Joeli Veitayaki Jr Replacements: HK 16 Ratunaisa Navuma PR 17 Eroni Mawi PR 18 Luke Tagi LK 19 Tevita Naqali FL 20 Johnny Dyer SH 21 Peni Matawalu FH 22 Enele Malele OB 23 Avete Daveta Coach: Senirusi Seruvakula FB 15 Jock Campbell RW 14 Filipo Daugunu OC 13 Jordan Petaia IC 12 Duncan Paia'aua LW 11 Chris Feauai-Sautia FH 10 Hamish Stewart SH 9 Tate McDermott N8 8 Caleb Timu OF 7 Tom Kibble BF 6 Angus Scott-Young RL 5 Angus Blyth LL 4 Harry Hockings TP 3 Kirwan Sanday HK 2 Efi Ma'afu LP 1 James Slipper Replacements:HK 16 Richie Asiata PR 17 Harry Hoopert PR 18 Jake Simeon LK 19 Rob Puli'uvea LF 20 Harry Wilson SH 21 Harry Nucifora FH 22 Tom Lucas OB 23 Patrick James Coach: Rod Seib Man of the Match: TBC
Assistant Referees: Jordan Way (Australia) Aaron Pook (Australia) Television match official: Tevita Rokovereni (Fiji)
Statistics Leading point scorers No. Player Team Points Average Details 1 Apisalome Waqatabu Fijian Drua 91 10.11 7 , 28 , 0 , 0 2 Ian Prior Western Force 78 9.75 1 , 35 , 1 , 0 3 Hamish Stewart Queensland Country 71 7.89 1 , 30 , 2 , 0 4 Quade Cooper Brisbane City 63 9.00 3 , 21 , 2 , 0 4 Archie King Melbourne Rising 63 9.00 3 , 24 , 0 , 0
Leading try scorers No. Player Team Tries Average 1 Jordan Petaia Queensland Country 10 1.11 2 Tom English Melbourne Rising 9 1.29 3 Levani Kurumudu Fijian Drua 8 0.89 4 Jock Campbell Queensland Country 7 0.78 4 Apisalome Waqatabu Fijian Drua 7 0.78
2018 Emerging States Championship From 2018 an additional competition was formed for teams from so-called "Emerging States", featuring the Adelaide Black Falcons, Victoria Country Barbarians, Northern Territory Mosquitoes and Tasmania Jack Jumpers. The first Competition was held in Adelaide in September 2018, and the Black Falcons were the inaugural winners.
Notes
References
External links NRC on Rugby.com.au NRC on Fox Sports NRC Live on twitter.com
Team webpages