Brumbies


The Brumbies is an Australian professional rugby union based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, The team competes in Super Rugby and named for the wild horses which inhabit the capital's hinterland. The team represents the ACT and southern New South Wales regions.
The Brumbies were formed in 1996 to provide a third Australian franchise for the newly formed Super 12 competition. It was predicted that the Brumbies, made up of so-called 'reject' – players not wanted by the other two teams – would perform poorly. Since then, they have enjoyed more success than all the other Australian teams combined, reaching six finals and winning two.
The Brumbies play in navy blue, white and gold kits. The team plays at GIO Stadium in Canberra and is currently coached by former Wallabies fly-half Stephen Larkham. Larkham shared the coaching duties with Laurie Fisher as Director of Football, after the unexpected departure of Jake White in September 2013, who had two years left on his contract, until Fisher left to become head coach of Gloucester Rugby after the 2014 season.

History

Rugby union football has a long history in the region around what is now Canberra. The British Isles opened their 1899 tour of Australia with a match in Goulburn. However, it was not until 1938 that the ACT Rugby Union was finally established.

Early years of rugby in ACT

Four clubs made up the first local competition; University, Easts, RMC and Norths. Also in 1938, a representative ACT side faced off against the All Blacks, losing 5 to 56.
The first international victory for an ACT representative side was in 1973, when they defeated Tonga 17 points to six. In 1978 an ACT side defeated Wales, who were Five Nations champions at the time. ACT had trailed at half time, 6 to 16, but came back and won with a penalty kick in the final moments of the match.
The ACT representative side became known as the Kookaburras in 1989. ACT defeated NSW 44 to 28 at Sydney's Concord Oval in 1994, which led the way for the ACT to become a franchise, and be included in the new professional international Super 12 competition, alongside the Reds and Waratahs. ACT became Australia's third provincial team in the new competition, known officially as the ACT Brumbies.

Super 12 era: 1996–2005

In the inaugural Super 12 season, under coach Rod Macqueen, the Brumbies finished fifth on the table after the regular season, narrowly missing out on a finals position. The following season was even more successful as the Brumbies entered the 1997 Super 12 Final, but lost to the Auckland Blues.
Eddie Jones took over as head coach in 1998, but the Brumbies fell to tenth place on the 1998 season ladder. However, the following season saw a big improvement, as they finished fifth for the second time in their Super rugby history, just missing out on the finals. In 2000, the Brumbies made it to the 2000 Super 12 Final for the second time, and were actually hosting it as well. They were however beaten by the Crusaders, losing 19 to 20.
In 2001 they backed up their good performance in 2000 to again enter the final, this time against the Sharks from Durban. The Brumbies won the match, and in doing so, became the first team outside of New Zealand to be crowned Super 12 champions. That year the British Lions also came to Australia, and played a match against the Brumbies. The combined strength of four nations was pitted against the Brumbies Second XV with the tourists winning by just two points, 30 to 28.
David Nucifora took over as head coach at the Brumbies for the 2002 season. Under Nucifora the Brumbies entered their third Super 12 final in a row, again against the Crusaders who had defeated them in the 2000 final. The Crusaders won the match, 31 to 13. The following season, going for four straight final appearances, the Brumbies fell just short, being knocked out in the semi-finals by the Blues. They did however go on to beat Fiji and Tonga later that year.
In 2004 the Brumbies finished at the top of the Super 12 table, six points clear of the next best team. The Brumbies hosted the 2004 Super 12 Final as well, and were to face the Crusaders once again. Though this time, the Brumbies won, 47 to 38 in front of a record crowd at Canberra Stadium. During the off-season the ACT Rugby Union was renamed the ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union, and the name of the team was changed to Brumbies Rugby.
Laurie Fisher took over as coach for the 2005 season. After an undefeated run in the early stages of the season, injuries began to mount up and the Brumbies eventually finished fifth, missing out on the finals. The following year the competition was expanded to the Super 14, introducing one new team from Australia and one new team from South Africa.

Recent times: 2006–present

In 2006 the Brumbies finished sixth, missing out on the finals by 1 point, having never dropped out of the top four all season prior to the last round. Later that year the Brumbies played in the inaugural Australian Provincial Championship. In their opening game they defeated the NSW Waratahs 14–13 at Viking Park. This win snapped a 3-game losing streak against their traditional rivals. They then went on to defeat the Western Force 25–10, again at Viking Park. Despite narrowly losing, 20–19, to the Queensland Reds on the road in Brisbane, the Brumbies won the right to face the Reds in the final back in Viking Park. They won this more comfortably, 42–17, securing the inaugural APC.
The side failed to make the playoffs between 2007 and 2011, during which time they finished between 5th and 13th on the ladder. After a succession of coaches over the same period, including Laurie Fisher, Andy Friend and Tony Rea, former South Africa coach Jake White took over as coach of the side in April 2011, signing a four-year deal with the club. However, he was granted a release from his contract in September 2013, with two years left on his four-year contract.
In 2012, the Brumbies became the first Australian Super Rugby team to host an international fixture against a touring side. On 12 June, the Brumbies played Wales at Canberra Stadium while Wales was on their 2012 Summer tour. Wales won 25–15.
The Brumbies returned to form in the 2012, finishing second in the Australian conference, and seventh in the overall standings, narrowly missing the final-six and a place in the quarter finals.
In 2013, the Brumbies and the other Australian super rugby teams played the British and Irish Lions as part of the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia. The Brumbies earned a hard-fought 14–12 victory, the first defeat of the Lions on their tour.
The Brumbies continued their strong performances in 2013 by finishing first in the Australian conference and 3rd on the ladder to make their first finals appearance since they won the Super title in 2004. After defeating the Cheetahs in a close home final 15 – 13, the Brumbies travelled to Pretoria to face the Bulls and again achieved victory, 23–26. The team had to travel from South Africa to New Zealand to meet the Waikato Chiefs for the championship final the following week, and the Chiefs proved to be too strong, winning the final 27–22.
Following the end of the Super Rugby season the Brumbies sent a squad captained by Robbie Coleman to the invitational World Club 7s in England. The Brumbies won the series, defeating the Auckland Blues 17–14 in the final. Henry Speight was named the player of the tournament.
During the 2017 Super Rugby season, the Brumbies were one of three Australian franchises threatened with contraction when the Australian Rugby Union prevailed upon competition organiser SANZAAR to reduce the number of Australian sides in the competition from five to four after that season. The ARU later announced that the Brumbies would remain in the competition.

Colours and name

The Brumbies traditional colours are navy blue, white and gold. Their primary jersey is navy with gold trim, with navy shorts and socks. The alternate jersey is gold and yellow, generally worn for away matches. The Brumbies also have a traditional jersey which is used for games against fellow Australian Super 12 foundation teams NSW and Queensland, which reflects the original home jersey worn between 1996 and 2005. This features a navy 'saddle' across the shoulders and white below chest level, with gold trim. The primary jersey sponsor is the Plus500.
The team is named after the wild horses which inhabit Canberra's hinterland. The Brumbies mascot is Brumby Jack. The Brumbies were originally known as the ACT Brumbies when they were accepted into the Super 12 for its inaugural season in 1996. Shortly after the 2004 season, two regional governing bodies in New South Wales – Far South Coast Rugby Union and Southern Inland Rugby Union, joined the ACT Rugby Union, which then renamed itself the ACT and Southern NSW Rugby Union. The team adopted a new name and logo for the 2005 season, dropping the "ACT" to become known simply as "The Brumbies". The name change identified that the team represented an area much larger than the Australian Capital Territory – with "Brumbies Territory" incorporating a number of regions through southern New South Wales including the Riverina, Shoalhaven, and Southern Highlands as well as the Sunraysia region incorporating parts of Victoria.

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

PeriodKit manufacturerMajor SponsorOther SponsorsShorts Sponsor
1996ClassicCanberra Milkn/an/a
1997–1998ClassicCanberra MilkCAn/a
1999–2000Canterbury CAn/an/a
2001–2002Canterbury CAAAMIn/a
2003Canterbury n/aAAMIn/a
2004Canterbury CALiberty Financialn/a
2005Canterbury CALiberty FinancialLiberty Financial
2006ISC CALiberty FinancialLiberty Financial
2007–2009ISC CADHLNavy
2010–2011Kooga CADHLSG Fleet
2012KoogaUniversity of CanberraDHL, SG FleetAll Homes
2013BLKUniversity of CanberraLand Rover, SG FleetAll Homes
2014ClassicUniversity of CanberraLand Rover, SG FleetAll Homes
2015ClassicAquis GroupLand Rover, SG FleetAll Homes
2016ClassicAquis GroupLand Rover, SG FleetCanberra Milk
2017ClassicPlus500Aquis Group, Land RoverAquis Group
2018ClassicPlus500Aquis Group, Land RoverAustbrokers
2019O'NeillsPlus500Aquis Group, Land RoverCivium
2020O'NeillsPlus500Land Rover, SG Fleet, PoplarsVodafone

Stadium

The Brumbies play all their home fixtures at GIO Stadium, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. They share the ground with the Canberra Raiders rugby league team. Also, the Canberra Vikings, the Brumbies' affiliate in the short-lived Australian Rugby Championship, played one of their four regular-season home matches there. In 2003 matches from the 2003 Rugby World Cup were played at the stadium. Capacity is a nominal all-seated 25,011, however the largest crowd is actually 28,753, which was for the 2004 Super 12 Final. The Brumbies team did not use Canberra Stadium for their post-season APC games, instead taking their home fixtures to Canberra's Viking Park, which has a smaller capacity.

Rivalries

New South Wales Waratahs

The Brumbies have traditionally had a fierce rivalry with the NSW Waratahs. Ascendency in the rivalry is now formally recognised by holding the Dan Vickerman Cup.
In July 1994, before the formation of the Brumbies, the Canberra Kookaburras defeated the Waratahs 44–28 at Concord Oval in Sydney. The 1994 Waratahs side was otherwise unbeaten, but had missed an opportunity to compete for the 1994 Super 10 title due to a refusal to tour Apartheid South Africa. As a result, the Brumbies were the only team to beat the 1994 Waratahs.
The original Brumbies team was primarily made of players from the 1994 Kookaburras game, Waratahs 'rejects', and Queenslanders: all groups with reasons to dislike the Waratahs. Brisbane-born Brumby Troy Coker summed it up with "There was this entitlement thing around NSW rugby that the Canberra boys had a real distaste for." Ironically, despite being a team of 'rejects', the Brumbies have been the most successful Australian team in all competitions in the Super Rugby era.
Traditionally, the ACT-NSW rivalry was dominated by home victories, with only two away victories in the Super 12 era, and none in the Super 14 era. The first away win in the rivalry came in the 2002 Semi Final, which the Brumbies won 51–10 at Sydney Football Stadium. The Waratahs won the first regular season away game in 2005. Dan Vickerman played for the winning team in both victories.
Since 2011, home dominance is no longer as significant: the first clash in the Super 15 era saw the Waratahs win 29–22 at Canberra Stadium, with the Brumbies getting revenge the following year with a 19–15 victory at Allianz Stadium. Between the round 12 clash in 2015 and the round 17 clash in 2019, the homes team lost six of the seven games.
The Waratahs got revenge for the 2002 Semi Final in the 2014 Semi Final, which they won 26-8. In the absence of Dave Dennis, their regular captain, the Waratahs were captained by Michael Hooper, who was named the Brumbies' best forward only two years earlier.
Brumbies fans took a lot of joy from beating the Waratahs 40–31 in the final round of 2018, as this prevented the Waratahs from finishing 2nd on the overall table. Daryl Gibson, head coach of the Waratahs, exclaimed that his side "was not focused on the job at hand, and getting ahead of itself in terms of already being in next week". Brumbies fans got additional joy from Gibson's post-match press conference, where he claimed that the result did not affect the Waratahs' playoffs picture.

Canterbury Crusaders

The Brumbies also have a rivalry with the Crusaders.
Between 1997 and 2006, every Grand Final included at least one of the Brumbies or the Crusaders. The two sides have met in three grand finals:
Former players and pundits likened the intensity of the clashes in the Super 12 and Super 14 era to Test match rugby, saying "It was basically the Wallabies v the All Blacks" and "Every time they met it was just great running rugby".
In common with the Waratahs rivalry, the away side rarely won in encounters during the Super 12 and Super 14 era. The Brumbies are the only team to have scored 50 points against the Crusaders, and have recorded the highest ever score in a grand final against them. However, at the beginning of the 2020 season, the Brumbies had last beaten the Crusaders in 2009, with an aggregate score of 148–313 over the following decade, and only taking only two out of a maximum forty-five competition points from games against the Crusaders. Fans of other Australian provincial teams are loathe to bring up this record: while the Brumbies are on a streak of nine losses against the Crusaders, both the Reds and Waratahs have previously lost eleven straight games against the Crusaders. Fans of the Blues are also loathe to mention the record, as they are currently on a ten-game losing streak against the Crusaders, despite the competition structure having them play each other twice per season.
Despite this, the Brumbies remain one of few sides to have a competitive win/loss record against the Crusaders. At the end of the Super 14 era, the Brumbies' record against the Crusaders was eight wins in eighteen games. At the start of the 2020 Super Rugby season, that record was eight wins in twenty-six games. At that time, only four other teams have a win record above 30% against the Crusaders: The Hurricanes, the Blues, the Bulls, and the Chiefs.

Queensland Reds

The four years that Ewen McKenzie, who played for the Brumbies in Super 12, was coach of the Reds was the high water mark of the interstate rivalry. In 2010, 2012, and 2013, the Rod Macqueen Cup games decided whether either the Brumbies or the Reds made the playoff. In 2010, the Rod Macqueen Cup game was the difference between the Reds finishing 4th and 5th. In 2012 and 2013, if the losing team had won just one of the Rod Macqueen Cup games, they would have won the conference ahead of the other.

Development teams

The Australian Capital Territory's two elite development squads just below full-time professional level are the Brumbies A and ACT Under 19 teams. These teams are closely aligned with the Brumbies and train at the same venue used by the Super Rugby squad. Many Brumbies players not involved in international rugby play for Canberra's team in the National Rugby Championship which also draws from the elite development squads. – See: Canberra Vikings

Brumbies A

The Brumbies A team plays matches against interstate and international representative teams, and has also competed in tournaments such as the Pacific Rugby Cup. Known by various names including ACT A, ACT XV, Brumbies A, and Brumby Runners, the team is selected from the best emerging rugby talent in the ACT and Southern NSW. The squad is composed of Brumbies contracted players, extended training squad members, ACT Under 19s, and selected Premier Division club players.

Under 19

The Brumbies under 19 side plays in the URC competition. ACT teams played in the Southern States Tournament up until 2015 and also played occasional matches against other representative sides such as Pacific Rugby Cup teams. Prior to 2008, state colts teams at under 21 and under 21 age levels were fielded in national competitions. In 2018, an under 19 age limit was reinstated for the colts teams.

Honours

Super Rugby

2001, 2004
1997, 2000, 2002, 2013
2013, 2016, 2017, 2019

Australian Provincial Championship

2006

World Club Sevens

2013

World Club Tens

2014, 2016

Season standings

Current squad

The Brumbies squad for the 2020 season:

Former Captains

At the start of the 2020 Super Rugby season, there were sixteen former Brumbies captains:
Ben Mowen has captained the side on 51 occasions, more than any other Brumbies captain. He was Captain for every game in his Brumbies career, and only missed two games in that period: against the Lions in 2012, and against the Rebels in 2013.
Nic White became the youngest Captain in Brumbies history when he captained the side against the Rebels on June 7, 2013. He was 22 years and 359 days old at the time.
There are more caps as Captain than there are Brumbies games. This is due to the Brumbies adopting the co-Captaincy model between 2016 and 2018.

Captains in non-Super Rugby games

The Brumbies only recognise players who have captained the team in Super Rugby games as proper Captains. Despite players like Jim Williams, Ben Hand, Peter Kimlin, Jordan Smiler, and Josh Mann-Rea captaining the team against prestigious opponents, the Brumbies never include these players in their official publications as ex-Captains.
Furthermore, the Brumbies do not count non-Super Rugby games as captaincy caps for Super Rugby Captains. David Pocock captained the side against the Highlanders in a 2014 pre-season game and a 2015 pre-season game, though he only became a 'full' captain when he led the side against the Reds in 2015. Likewise, Sam Carter captained the side against the Waratahs in Wagga Wagga, but only became a 'full' captain in 2017. Christian Lealiifano captained the side against Suntory in 2018, though this does not count as a captaincy cap.

Notable players

All Time Brumbies XV

During the gap between Super Rugby 2020 and the 2020 domestic competition, the Brumbies ran a fan poll to select an All Time Brumbies XV.
Players in bold are still playing for the Brumbies.
The Brumbies subsequently named a list of bench players for the All Time Brumbies XV:
In the lead up to the 2018 Super Rugby season, the Brumbies announced a list of thirty players who were considered the best to play for the Brumbies:
  1. David Giffin
  2. Owen Finegan
  3. George Gregan
  4. Joe Roff
  5. Stephen Larkham
  6. Rod Kafer
  7. James Holbeck
  8. Justin Harrison
  9. Stirling Mortlock
  10. Mark Bartholomeusz
  11. Jeremy Paul
  12. Bill Young
  13. Jim Williams
  14. Andrew Walker
  15. George Smith
  16. Radike Samo
  17. Dan Vickerman
  18. Joel Wilson
  19. Matt Giteau
  20. Mark Chisholm
  21. Adam Ashley-Cooper
  22. Christian Lealiifano
  23. Ben Alexander
  24. Matt Toomua
  25. Stephen Moore
  26. Pat McCabe
  27. Henry Speight
  28. Scott Fardy
  29. Tevita Kuridrani
  30. David Pocock
Players in bold are still playing for the Brumbies.
Players in italics were still playing for the Brumbies when named to the Thirty for Thirty.

List of individual accolades

Several Brumbies players have gone on to achieve greater recognition in the Rugby community, achieving such things as:
Note: Accurate as of 30 January 2020. Players in Bold are still playing for the Brumbies. Players in Bolded Italics are still playing Super Rugby.

Coaches

As of 15 March 2020.

Team records

Team Records

Note: this section excludes the Southern Kings, who have played two games against the Brumbies: a 28-all draw in Canberra in 2013, and a 19-10 Brumbies win in Port Elizabeth in 2017. The Southern Kings were removed from Super Rugby at the end of the 2017 Super Rugby season.

Women's team

The Brumbies women's team competes in the Super W, after it was announced that a 15-a-side Australian women's rugby competition was to be played from 2018 and beyond.
On 24 January 2020, the squad for the 2020 season was announced.

Season standings

Super W