Royal Australian Navy Rugby Union

Rugby has long been considered a premier team sport throughout the world. It crosses commercial, political and demographic borders with ease; it encourages fitness and fosters the type of teamwork and camaraderie sought by many modern corporations. The Royal Australian Navy recognises these benefits and harnesses them through the Royal Australian Navy Rugby Union (RANRU). This Union was formed in 1912 and has progressively grown from strength to strength throughout its long history. As a sign of the current strength of RANRU, the National Representative Men's team won the 1999, 2000 and 2005; and the Women's team won the 2003 and 2005 Australian Defence Force championships. The Men's team was placed second in the international Commonwealth Navy Cup during 2000 and 2003.
 

NAVY RUGBY - TODAY AND TOMORROW
 

RANRU proudly fosters both male and female rugby union at all levels within the Navy, the Defence Force and the community. An exciting one-day competition is held for seven-a-side teams competing for the Old Windsor Cup, while fifteen-a-side teams compete for the much-treasured Mons Cup. An annual competition also takes place between the Australian and New Zealand Navies for the fiercely contested Lou Smith Cup. A recent inclusion in the Navy Rugby calendar is the inter-command Challenge Cup played between the Maritime Command and Navy Systems Command; in 2005 this included two men's games and one women's game.From these various competitions the Navy National Team is selected to represent their Service at the Australian Defence Force Rugby Championships - the pinnacle of the annual Defence rugby calendar. Moreover, the Navy National Team often undertakes special event tournaments and overseas tours to further develop our standard of rugby and to increase global visibility for our sponsors. Recent tours have included the United Kingdom (1997), Canada and the United States of America (1999). RANRU were the host of the very successful international Commonwealth Navy Cup in 2001 (comprising the RAN, Royal Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy); as an indication of the prestige of this competition, in 2006, the Republic of South Africa Navy joined and hosted the competition.  The 2009 competition was held in UK.  Australia will host the 2012 competition