Across the upcoming long weekend, junior representative teams from the ACT, Southern Inland Rugby Union (SIRU) and South Coast Monaro (SCM) will compete in the NSW Junior State Championship.
This competition will see approximately 400 players from across the ‘Brumbies Region’ descend on venues across NSW, all anticipating the challenge of quality competition and playing experience. To all the players, team volunteers and supporting families involved – we wish you the best of luck and safe travels! For those unable to accompany teams in person, you can stream all the action via a subscription to nswrugbytv.com.au or follow team results via Rugby Xplorer.
In 2025, the Junior Rep season won’t start and finish with the Junior State Championships. In addition to this weekend and pre-existing Super Rugby U16 and U18, ACT Schoolboys (XVs) and Schoolgirls (7s) programs, we are pleased to confirm the following programs to further strengthen the representative pathway for our aspiring Brumbies;
ACT Brumbies - U16 (Girls)
ACT Brumbies - U18 (Girls)
ACT Brumbies U13 (Boys)
ACT Brumbies U15 (Boys)
The foremost driver of these programs is to ensure a connection between Super Rugby Women’s and talented young players in our junior club/school competitions. By being able to represent the ACT Brumbies and wear the same badge, hopefully this will inspire more players to pursue their rugby goals and see themselves one day becoming a Super Rugby Women’s athlete, which in turn will help grow the volume of players in general.
Head of Women’s Rugby & Pathways, James Erwin, says the addition of U16s and U18s girls’ programs reflect the rapid growth of the women’s game within the Brumbies pathway, and is a well-deserved boost for aspirational athletes within the region.
“We are really excited to launch these initiatives which not only aim to elevate our local talent, but also streamline a direct pathway from our junior representative sides into our Super Rugby Women’s program” said Erwin.
“We are looking forward to these programs creating a more holistic youth pathway for aspirational athletes, as we look to continue to develop opportunities for Women and Girls across the ACT and SNSW region.
For both of these U16 and U18 programs, players will be selected based on performances observed at NSW State Championships, ACT Schoolgirls, Brumbies Academy and club/school competitions. Selected players will then train and prepare for a weekend of fixtures against Victoria and Sydney Juniors at the back end of this season (Oct 4 & 5).
There are a plethora of reasons driving the creation of the U13s and U15s ACT Brumbies programs. Leading the way is a desire to identify players who might go on to form the nucleus of the ‘Super Rugby U16s’ program. It is hoped by providing an exposure to high-performance training environment and additional quality fixtures, we can better increase player readiness and team success in the national representative programs that exist at U16 level.
Head of Pathways, Andrew Clark, spoke to the merits of this new program saying that similarly to the women’s additions, U15s will assist in bridging the gap to high performance.
“Prior to this program our Super Rugby U16s would be many representatives first experience in a high performance environment,” said Clark.
“Now, through U13s and U15s we can ensure that our players are more acclimatised to higher level programs. The added bonus to this initiative is that it provides younger players in the region an added goal to strive toward when they take the field each weekend for their respective teams.”
In order to arrive at a ‘ACT Brumbies U13s and U15 Team’, a ‘City’ team comprised of a ACTJRU players and a ‘Country’ team derived from SIRU and SCM players will compete in a selection trial (03 August – Venue TBC). From this game and prior representative performances in the same season, a squad will be selected and commence preparation for a fixture against Victoria - 04 October (Albury location)
Additional playing opportunities will of course trigger a need to identify suitable coaches and team volunteers. Accordingly, EOIs for Coaching and Team roles will soon be communicated.
Once again, best of luck to all our teams competing this weekend and to all the players whose rep calendars in 2025 just got busier!
