New Rugby Competition Forces Overhaul Of Canberra Club Rugby

Canberra club rugby officials met on Wednesday to "discuss the future of the capital in the new National Rugby Championships and how it will affect their futures," according to Chris Dutton of the CANBERRA TIMES. The Australian Rugby Union announced on Tuesday a domestic competition would begin in '14 with teams from Canberra, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne. The new competition will force the ACT Rugby Union to "overhaul its premier division season." Instead of finishing in September, the John I Dent Cup season has been cut to just 12 games, with the grand final on Aug. 9. Details for the Canberra team "will be finalised in the coming weeks" with submissions to the Australia Rugby Union closing on Jan. 13. Outgoing Super League Rugby side ACT Brumbies CEO Andrew Fagan said, ''All the details have to be worked through. There are variety of models, we just have to make sure we've got a model in Canberra that works economically but equally provides the best talent development outcome'' (CANBERRA TIMES, 12/12).