# 2019 National Rugby Championship

The 2019 National Rugby Championship was the sixth season of the top flight of Australian domestic rugby union. The competition began on 31 August and concluded on 26 October. The match of the round was broadcast live each week on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports, with all matches streamed on rugby.com.au live. The championship featured eight professional teams, seven from Australia and one from Fiji.

## Teams

The eight teams for the 2019 NRC season include two from New South Wales, two from Queensland, and one each from Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Western Australia, and Fiji:
| Region | Team | Coach | Captain |
| Australian Capital Territory | Canberra Vikings | Nick Scrivener | Darcy Swain |
| Fiji | Fijian Drua | Senirusi Seruvakula | Eremasi Radrodro |
| New South Wales | NSW Country | Robert Taylor | Ned Hanigan |
| New South Wales | Sydney | Chris Whitaker | Lalakai Foketi |
| Queensland | Brisbane City | Jim McKay | Fraser McReight |
| Queensland | Queensland Country | Rod Seib | Angus Scott-Young |
| Victoria | Melbourne Rising | Pom Simona | Semisi Tupou |
| Western Australia | Western Force | Tim Sampson | Ian Prior |

## Television coverage and streaming

One NRC match per round is broadcast live via Fox Sports. All matches are also shown live on the Kayo Sports and Rugby.com.au streaming platforms.

## Experimental Law Variations

Two new trial variations were included for the 2019 NRC.
* A 50:22 kick, whereby a team kicking the ball indirectly into touch (i.e. not on the full) is awarded the resulting lineout throw if the ball is kicked: (a) from within the team's own half and finds touch in the opposition's 22; or (b) from within the team's own 22 and finds touch in the opposition's half.
* A goal line drop-out, awarded to the defending team if an attacking player brings the ball into the in-goal and is held up.
| Existing Law of the Game | Variation |
| Television Match Official / Global law trial: Law 5A match organiser may appoint a television match official (TMO), who uses technological devices to clarify situations relating to:The grounding of the ball in in-goal.Touch or touch-in-goal in the act of grounding the ball or the ball being made dead.Where there is doubt as to whether a kick at goal has been successful.Where match officials believe an infringement may have occurred in the playing area leading to a try or preventing a try.Foul play, including sanctions.Any of the match officials, including the TMO, may recommend a review by the TMO. The reviews will take place in accordance with the TMO protocol. | Television match official to only be consulted about tries and in-goal plays. |
| Conversion: Law 8(d) [The kicker] takes the kick within 90 seconds (playing time) from the time the try was awarded, even if the ball rolls over and has to be placed again. Sanction: Kick is disallowed. | Time limit reduced to 60 seconds for conversion kicks. |
| Penalty goal: Law 8The kick must be taken within 60 seconds (playing time) from the time the team indicated their intention to do so, even if the ball rolls over and has to be placed again. Sanction: Kick is disallowed and a scrum is awarded. | Time limit reduced to 45 seconds for penalty kicks. |
| During a maul: Law 16The ball-carrier in a maul may go to ground provided that player makes the ball available immediately. Sanction: Scrum.All other players in a maul must endeavour to stay on their feet.All players in a maul must be caught in or bound to it and not just alongside it.Players must not:Intentionally collapse a maul or jump on top of it.Attempt to drag an opponent out of a maul. Sanction: Penalty. | Greater policing of this law, in order to discourage "hold up tackles", by ensuring that the tackler, who holds up a ball carrier in an effort to form a maul, does not collapse the maul as soon as it has formed. |
| Quick throw: Law 18A quick throw is disallowed and a lineout is awarded to the same team if:A lineout had already been formed; orThe ball had been touched after it went into touch by anyone other than the player throwing in or the player who carried the ball into touch; orA different ball is used from the one that originally went into touch. | Players will be allowed to take quick throw-ins regardless of whether someone else has touched the ball |
| Lineout: Law 18Where the game is restarted with a lineout and which team throws in ... | For a 50:22 kick, where the team in possession kicks the ball indirectly into touch from either: (a) within their own half to find touch in the opposition's 22; or (b) from within their own 22 to find touch in the opposition's half; then the throw in to the resulting lineout is awarded to the kicking team at the location where the ball reached the touchline. |
| Location of a penalty or free kick: Law 20A penalty or free-kick is taken from where it is awarded or anywhere behind it on a line through the mark and parallel to the touchlines. When a penalty or free-kick is taken at the wrong place, it must be re-taken. | Increased latitude will be given to where penalty and free kicks are to be taken |
| Ball held up in-goal: Law 21When a player carrying the ball is held up in the in-goal so that the player cannot ground or play the ball, the ball is dead. Play restarts with a five-metre scrum, in line with the place where the player was held up. The attacking team throws in. | Play restarts with a goal-line drop out awarded to the defending team. Rationale: To reward good defence and promote a faster rate of play. |
| Competition rule - Bonus point awarded for scoring 4 tries | Bonus point awarded if a winning team scores at least 3 more tries than its opponent. This particular system was first used in the French professional leagues during the 2007–08 northern hemisphere season. |

## Regular season

The eight teams competed in a round-robin tournament for the regular season. During this section of the competition, teams also played for the Horan-Little Shield, a challenge trophy put on the line when a challenge is accepted by the holders or mandated by the terms of the competition.
The regular season standings were determined via a slightly modified version of the standard competition points system— the same system as was used for The Rugby Championship and Super Rugby—with a bonus point awarded to a winning team scoring at least 3 more tries than their opponent; and a bonus point awarded to a losing team defeated by a margin of 7 points or under. Four points were awarded for a win and none for a loss; two points were awarded to each team for a draw.
Each team's placement was based on its cumulative points total, including any bonus points earned. For teams level on table points, tiebreakers apply in the following order:
* Difference between points for and against during the season.
* Head-to-head match result(s) between the tied teams.
* Total number tries scored during the season.
The top four teams at the end of the regular season qualified for the title play-offs in the form of semi-finals followed by a final to determine the champion team.

### Standings

| National Rugby Championship |
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
| 1 | Western Force | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 285 | 213 | +72 | 45 | 31 | 4 | 0 | 28 |
| 2 | Canberra Vikings | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 238 | 211 | +27 | 36 | 33 | 2 | 0 | 22 |
| 3 | Fijian Drua | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 231 | 214 | +17 | 33 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| 4 | Brisbane City | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 214 | 199 | +15 | 34 | 29 | 1 | 2 | 17 |
| 5 | NSW Country HL | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 181 | 172 | +9 | 28 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
| 6 | Queensland Country | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 205 | 235 | –30 | 30 | 35 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| 7 | Melbourne Rising | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 206 | 211 | –5 | 30 | 33 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| 8 | Sydney | 7 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 220 | 325 | −105 | 34 | 50 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Updated: 12 October 2019 Source: rugbyarchive.net  • Teams 1 to 4 (Green background) at the end of the regular season qualify for the title playoffs. HL denotes the holder of the Horan-Little Shield. |

### Team progression

| | NRC team progression | NRC team progression | NRC team progression | NRC team progression | NRC team progression | NRC team progression | |
| Team | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 |
| Brisbane City | 2 (4th) | 7 (3rd) | 8 (4th) | 12 (2nd) | 12 (4th) | 13 (6th) | 17 (4th) |
| Canberra Vikings | 5 (1st) | 5 (5th) | 9 (3rd) | 9 (4th) | 14 (3rd) | 18 (2nd) | 22 (2nd) |
| Fijian Drua | 2 (5th) | 2 (6th) | 4 (7th) | 9 (5th) | 9 (7th) | 13 (5th) | 17 (3rd) |
| Melbourne Rising | 0 (8th) | 0 (8th) | 0 (8th) | 5 (8th) | 9 (6th) | 10 (7th) | 11 (7th) |
| NSW Country | 4 (2nd) | 8 (2nd) | 10 (2nd) | 11 (3rd) | 15 (2nd) | 16 (3rd) | 16 (5th) |
| Queensland Country | 1 (6th) | 6 (4th) | 6 (5th) | 6 (6th) | 10 (5th) | 14 (4th) | 15 (6th) |
| Sydney | 1 (7th) | 1 (7th) | 6 (6th) | 6 (7th) | 6 (8th) | 6 (8th) | 6 (8th) |
| Western Force | 4 (3rd) | 9 (1st) | 14 (1st) | 19 (1st) | 19 (1st) | 23 (1st) | 28 (1st) |
| The table above shows a team's progression throughout the season. For each round, their cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets. |
| Key: | win | draw | loss | bye | | | |

### Competition rounds
#### Round 7
## Title playoffs

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| Western Force | Western Force | 42 | | | |
| Brisbane City | Brisbane City | 38 | | | |
| Brisbane City | Brisbane City | 38 | Western Force | Western Force | 41 |
| | | | Canberra Vikings | Canberra Vikings | 3 |
| Canberra Vikings | Canberra Vikings | 28 | Canberra Vikings | Canberra Vikings | 3 |
| Fijian Drua | Fijian Drua | 27 | | | |

### Final

| Western Force | Canberra Vikings |
Team details :
| FB | 15 | Jack McGregor | |
| RW | 14 | Byron Ralston | |
| OC | 13 | Pama Fou | 60' |
| IC | 12 | Nick Jooste | 72' |
| LW | 11 | Jonah Placid | |
| FH | 10 | Andrew Deegan (c) | |
| SH | 9 | Issak Fines | 72' |
| N8 | 8 | Brynard Stander | |
| OF | 7 | Carlo Tizzano | |
| BF | 6 | Henry Stowers | 58' |
| RL | 5 | Jeremy Thrush | |
| LL | 4 | Fergus Lee-Warner | 72' |
| TP | 3 | Tom Sheminant | 68' |
| HK | 2 | Heath Tessmann | 58' |
| LP | 1 | Harrison Lloyd | 54' |
| Replacements: ||
| HK | 16 | Andrew Ready | 58' |
| PR | 17 | Cameron Orr | 54' |
| PR | 18 | Dominic Hardman | 68' |
| LK | 19 | Ben Grant | 72' |
| FL | 20 | Tevin Ferris | 58' |
| SH | 21 | Rory O'Sullivan | 72' |
| FH | 22 | Chris Tuatara-Morrison | 72' |
| UB | 23 | Jake Strachan | 60' |
| Coach: ||
| Tim Sampson ||
72' :
| RW | 14 | Tom Wright | |
| OC | 13 | Len Ikitau | |
| IC | 12 | Irae Simone | |
| LW | 11 | Andy Muirhead | |
| FH | 10 | Noah Lolesio | 68' |
| SH | 9 | Ryan Lonergan | 54' |
| N8 | 8 | Angus Allen | 61' |
| OF | 7 | Will Miller | |
| BF | 6 | Pete Samu | |
| RL | 5 | Nick Frost | |
| LL | 4 | Blake Enever (c) | 49' |
| TP | 3 | Angus Wagner | 58' |
| HK | 2 | Lachlan Lonergan | 68' |
| LP | 1 | Bo Abra | 49' |
| Replacements: |||
| HK | 16 | TP Luteru | 68' |
| PR | 17 | Fred Kaihea | 49' |
| PR | 18 | Tom Ross | 58' |
| LK | 19 | Will Sankey | 49' |
| FL | 20 | Luke Gersekowski | 61' |
| SH | 21 | Joe Powell | 54' |
| FH | 22 | Bayley Kuenzle | 68' |
| OB | 23 | Lincoln Smith | 72' |
| Coach: |||
| Nick Scrivener ||||
* Man of the Match (Phil Waugh Medal):
* Fergus Lee-Warner
* Assistant Referees:
* Graham Cooper (Australia)
* Jordan Way (Australia)
* Television match official:
* Alexander Ninkov (Australia)

## Season attendances

| Team | Matches hosted | Total | Average | Highest | Lowest |
| Brisbane City | 4 | 9,450 | 2,363 | 3,000 | 1,500 |
| Canberra Vikings | 5 | 8,100 | 1,620 | 3,000 | 1,000 |
| Fijian Drua | 3 | 6,750 | 2,250 | 2,750 | 1,500 |
| Melbourne Rising | 4 | 5,250 | 1,313 | 2,000 | 500 |
| NSW Country Eagles | 3 | 3,750 | 1,250 | 1,500 | 1,000 |
| Queensland Country | 3 | 5,000 | 1,667 | 2,000 | 1,500 |
| Sydney | 3 | 2,000 | 667 | 750 | 500 |
| Western Force | 6 | 19,000 | 3,167 | 6,500 | 1,500 |
| Totals (8 teams) | 31 | 57,800 | 1,865 | 6,500 | 500 |

## NRC Division 2

The NRC II tournament was hosted by Rugby Union South Australia on 26–29 September in Adelaide as a competition for member unions and regions in Rugby Australia without a pathway to professional rugby via the main National Rugby Championship. The tournament was a reprisal of sorts of the Australian Rugby Shield which had been disbanded ten years earlier, and most of the representative teams which had featured in the Shield were invited to participate in NRC Division 2 in 2019. The eight teams scheduled to play in the tournament were:
* Northern Territory Mosquitoes
* NSW Country Cockatoos
* Perth Gold
* Queensland Country Heelers
* South Australia Black Falcons
* South Australia U23
* Tasmania Jack Jumpers
* Victoria Country Barbarians