New South Wales Waratahs
| File:NSWWaratahsLogo.jpg | |||
| Union | Australian Rugby Union | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1882 (first NSW match) 1996 (Super 12 begins) | ||
| Location | Sydney, Australia | ||
| Region | New South Wales excluding Riverina and southern parts | ||
| Ground(s) | Aussie Stadium (Capacity: 42,000) | ||
| Coach(es) | Ewen McKenzie | ||
| Captain(s) | Phil Waugh | ||
| League(s) | Super 14 | ||
| 2006 | 3rd | ||
| |||
| Official website | |||
| www | |||
The New South Wales Waratahs (referred to as HSBC Waratahs for sponsorship reasons, the Waratahs or simply the 'Tahs) are an Australian rugby union team, representing most of New South Wales in the Super 14 (formerly Super 12) competition—though not the Riverina or other southern parts of the state, which are represented by the Brumbies, who are based in Canberra and owned by the ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union.
The Waratahs has historically been the name for the New South Wales Rugby Union (NSWRU) representative team, and became the name for the New South Wales team when it entered the Super Six, Super 10 and Super 12 competitions. The name and emblem comes from the Waratah, the state flower for New South Wales. Their home ground is Aussie Stadium at Moore Park in Sydney.
Amateur era
Sydney, New South Wales is thought to be the first place in which rugby football was played in the southern hemisphere. The SNWRU (or then, The Southern RU - SRU) was established in 1874, and the very first club competition took place that year. By 1880 the SRU had over 100 clubs in its governence in the metropolitan area. In 1882 the first New South Wales team was selected to play Queensland in a two-match series. NSW would go onto win both the games.
That same year the first NSW touring suad was selected to go and play in New Zealand. During World War I, the NSW (and QLD) Rugby Unions ceased senior competition. The Queensland body however would not reform until 1929, which saw NSW have more responsibilities for Australian rugby. In 1921 the Waratahs toured New Zealand again, and out of their 10 fixtures, won nine games, including the Test.
The most famous Waratah team was the 1927/28 Waratahs who toured the United Kingdom, France and North America, introducing a style of open, running rugby never seen before, but which has been the stamp of the Australian game ever since. They won 24 and drew two of their 31 official matches. When the selectors sat down to choose the immortal 1927/8 Waratahs, they picked no less than seven from the Drummoyne Rugby Club. Upon returning home, were greeted with a parade through Sydney and a reception at Town Hall. Matches against Queensland would soon resume also.
The 1930s were a particularly successful time for NSW. The height of the success of NSW is best represented by the defeat of the South African Springboks in 1937 at the SCG. NSW Rugby Union would also perform strongly throughout the following decades as well, which included the emergence of footballers such as Trevor Allan, David Brockhoff, Tony Miller, Nick Shehadie, Eddie Stapleton, Ken Catchpole, John Thornett, Peter Crittle and Ron Graham.
In 1963 the Sydney Rugby Union was established for the growth of the game in the city area. The NSW Rugby Union would celebrate its 100th anniversary in 1974. As part of the anniversary celebrations, a match was played at the SCG on May 18 against the All Blacks, though the Waratahs lost nil to 20.
Professional era
In their inaugural Super 12 season of 1996, the Waratahs won just under half of their games, finishing mid table, with the two other Australian teams finishing above them. The following season of 1997 saw the Waratahs end in a 9th place, winning only four of their 11 games. By the end of the 1997 season, the New South Wales side was the only Australian team not to have tasted finals action in the Super 12 series.
In the 1998 season the Waratahs won a best six out of 11 games, ending up in 6th position on the ladder at the end of the season, despite obvious improvements the team had still yet to make a finals appearance. After a promising 1998 season, 1999 turned out to be disappointing for the Waratahs as they were unable to replicate or improve on their achievements in the previous season, like the 1997 season the team won only four games. Despite winning five games in the 2000 season, the 'Tahs ended their season in 9th place.
In 2001 the Waratahs won the same amount of games as the 2000 season but finished, still out of reach of finals contention, in 8th position. 2002 was a record breaking season for the Waratahs, as the team won eight out of their 11 season games and finished in second place behind the Crusaders. However they crashed in the last two weeks of the competition- going down by a record 96-19 to the Crusaders before being soundly beaten by their rivals the Brumbies, 51-10, in the Waratahs first ever semi-final.
In the 2003 season the Waratahs missed a place in the finals, finishing in 6th position on the ladder at the end of the regular season. In 2004 the Waratahs made a promising start to their season with three straight wins. Injuries and losses away from home started to take their toll on the side and after what was an optimistic start to the season, the team finished 8th on the Super 12 table, six points out of the finals. That year coach Ewen McKenzie re-introduced the end of season tour, taking place in Argentina that year, which gave fringe players more opportunities. In 2005, they had their best regular season, finishing second in the table, before losing to the Crusaders in the playoffs.
The Waratahs finished 3rd on the regular season table for the 2006 Super 14 season, in which two new teams entered the expanded tournament, the Force and Central Cheetahs. In the last home match of the regular season, the Waratahs hosted the Hurricanes, which they lost 14 to 29. The following week, the semi-finals, they again faced the Hurricanes, though away in Wellington. The Waratahs made their exit, losing 16 to 14.
Logo and colours
The New South Wales Waratahs play in a sky blue jersey and navy blue shorts, blue having a long sporting association with the state and a famous rivalry with the red/maroon colour of Queensland. Long time sponsors HSBC feature on the front of the jersey. An alternative white strip is also used. In pre-season of 2006, the Waratahs donned a new jersey scheme in a trial game against the Crusaders. This system saw traditional rugby playing numbers on the back of jerseys replaced with the initials of the player. SANZAR were loud about their feelings on this new venture, and the Waratahs reluctantly gave up on the new idea.[1]
Up until 1885, New South Wales wore 'heather green' strips, which was at the time, the official colour of the Southern Rugby Football Union (later, the NSWRU). The jersey had a white southern cross across its chest. From 1897 to 1891, New South Wales played in scarlet jerseys, which appeared to be connected to Wales, as the logo had a dragon in it. The following season they team adopted Cambridge blue jerseys. The light blue jersey and navy blue pants were established in 1897 and have been in effect ever since. The New South Wales rugby union team have historically been known as the Waratahs, the flower, the Waratah, being the state flower of New South Wales.
Stadium
The Waratahs play at Aussie Stadium, which is in Sydney's Moore Park, adjacent to the Sydney Cricket Ground. The capacity for the stadium is 42,000, though it is currently under renovations to expand capacity to 45,500. The Waratahs share the ground with Sydney F.C. and the Sydney Roosters.
As well as Aussie Stadium, the Waratahs have in the past played fixtures at other stadiums throughout the state. During the Australian Provincial Championship, in which the Waratahs had two fixtures, the games were taken to the Central Coast Stadium in Gosford, and the other to Bathurst. The Waratahs will also be playing a trial match at WIN Stadium in early 2007.
Season standings
Season Pos Pld W D L F A +/- BP Pts Notes 1996 6th 11 5 0 6 312 290 +22 8 28 1997 9th 11 4 0 7 255 296 -41 4 20 1998 6th 11 6 1 4 306 276 +30 4 30 1999 8th 11 4 1 6 246 248 -2 6 24 2000 9th 11 5 0 6 273 258 +15 5 25 2001 8th 11 5 0 6 306 302 +4 5 25 2002 3rd 11 8 0 3 337 284 +53 7 39 (lost semi-final to Brumbies) 2003 5th 11 6 0 5 313 344 -31 7 31 2004 8th 11 5 0 6 342 274 +68 7 27 2005 2nd 11 9 0 2 322 174 148 5 41 (lost final to Crusaders) 2006 3rd 13 9 0 4 362 192 170 9 45 (lost semi-final to Hurricanes)
Current squad
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Famous players
Statistics
Team
Individual
- Most caps - 107 - Chris Whitaker
- Most points - 957 - Matt Burke
- Most tries - 24 - Matt Burke
References
- ^ "Charity to Benefit from HSBC Waratahs Jersey Trial". rugby.com.au. Retrieved 6 May.
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See also
External links
- nswrugby.com.au - Official website of NSW Rugby
- gothetahs.com - Unofficial Fan website
- Overview on itsrugby.com
- wearbluefriday.com - Fan website
Template:SANZAR links Template:Rugby union in Australia links