# 2014 National Rugby Championship

The 2014 National Rugby Championship (known as the Buildcorp National Rugby Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the inaugural season of Australia's National Rugby Championship, involving nine professional rugby union teams from around Australia. The competition kicked off on 21 August 2014. The final was held on 1 November 2014 and won by Brisbane City.

## Teams and venues

The nine teams for the 2014 NRC season included four from New South Wales, two from Queensland, and one each from Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, and Western Australia:
| Region | Team | Coach(es) | Captain(s) |
| ACT | University of Canberra Vikings | Dan McKellar | Fotu Auelua |
| NSW | NSW Country Eagles | Darren Coleman | Matthew Carraro Cameron Treloar |
| NSW | Greater Sydney Rams | Brian Melrose | Jed Holloway |
| NSW | North Harbour Rays | Geoff Townsend | Greg Peterson |
| NSW | Sydney Stars | Chris Malone | Pat McCutcheon |
| QLD | Brisbane City | Nick Stiles | David McDuling |
| QLD | Queensland Country | Steve Meehan | Anthony Fainga'a |
| VIC | Melbourne Rising | Sean Hedger | Nic Stirzaker |
| WA | Perth Spirit | David Wessels Kevin Foote | Rory Walton Sam Wykes Ian Prior |
Home match venues for the 2014 NRC season:
| Region | Team | Match Venue | Capacity | City |
| ACT | University of Canberra Vikings | Viking Park | 10,000 | Canberra |
| NSW | NSW Country Eagles | Caltex Park | 12,000 | Dubbo |
| NSW | NSW Country Eagles | Central Coast Stadium | 20,059 | Gosford |
| NSW | NSW Country Eagles | Oakes Oval | 10,000 | Lismore |
| NSW | NSW Country Eagles | Wade Park | 8,000 | Orange |
| NSW | NSW Country Eagles | Coogee Oval | 5,000 | Sydney |
| NSW | Greater Sydney Rams | Parramatta Stadium | 20,700 | Sydney |
| NSW | North Harbour Rays | Brookvale Oval | 23,000 | Sydney |
| NSW | Sydney Stars | Leichhardt Oval | 22,000 | Sydney |
| QLD | Brisbane City | Suncorp Stadium | 52,500 | Brisbane |
| QLD | Brisbane City | Ballymore | 18,000 | Brisbane |
| QLD | Queensland Country | Ballymore | 18,000 | Brisbane |
| QLD | Queensland Country | Bond University | 5,000 | Gold Coast |
| QLD | Queensland Country | Cbus Super Stadium | 27,000 | Gold Coast |
| QLD | Queensland Country | Mike Carney Toyota Park | 5,000 | Townsville |
| VIC | Melbourne Rising | AAMI Park | 29,500 | Melbourne |
| WA | Perth Spirit | Adelaide Airport Oval | 15,000 | Adelaide |
| WA | Perth Spirit | HBF Arena | 16,000 | Perth |
| WA | Perth Spirit | Rockingham RUC | 3,000 | Perth |
| WA | Perth Spirit | UWA Rugby Club | 4,000 | Perth |

## Experimental Law Variations

As part of the initial championship, the ARU was given approval by the IRB to conduct experimental law trials as part of the 2014 National Rugby Championship. Proposed law variations were first considered by a panel composed of the current Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie, former Wallabies coach Bob Dwyer, former Wallaby Rod Kafer and former top referee Wayne Erikson. The variations were then put to the voting public, before returning to the panel.
The variations in place for the 2014 and 2015 seasons are listed below.
| Existing Law of the Game | Variation |
| Law 9.A.1 Value of a Conversion goal - 2 points Value of a Penalty goal - 3 points Value of a Dropped goal - 3 points | Value of a Conversion goal - 3 points Value of a Penalty goal - 2 points Value of a Dropped goal - 2 points Previously trialled in South Africa’s Varsity Cup. |
| Law 5.7(e) If time expires and the ball is not dead, or an awarded scrum or lineout has not been completed, the referee allows play to continue until the next time that the ball becomes dead. The ball becomes dead when the referee would have awarded a scrum, lineout, an option to the non-infringing team, drop out or after a conversion or successful penalty kick at goal. If a scrum has to be reset, the scrum has not been completed. If time expires and a mark, free kick or penalty kick is then awarded, the referee allows play to continue. | Non-offending team is allowed to kick the ball into touch after being awarded a penalty kick, which has been blown after time expires, and the lineout will take place. |
| Law 19.6 The player taking the throw-in must stand at the correct place. The player must not step into the field of play when the ball is thrown. The ball must be thrown straight, so that it travels at least 5 metres along the line of touch before it first touches the ground or touches or is touched by a player. | Latitude will be given to the throwing team if the opposing team does not compete for the ball near where the ball is received |
| Law 9.B.1(e) The kicker must take the kick within one minute and thirty seconds (ninety seconds) from the time a try has been awarded. The player must take the kick within one minute and thirty seconds even if the ball rolls over and has to be placed again. | Time limit reduced to 60 seconds for conversion kicks, and 45 seconds for penalty kicks. |
| Law 20.1(d) No delay. A team must not intentionally delay forming a scrum. | Team has 30 seconds to form a scrum from the time the referee gives the mark. |
| Law 20.12(c) When a team has won the ball in a scrum, the scrum half of the opposing team is offside if that scrum half steps in front of the ball with either foot while the ball is still in the scrum. | Opposing scrum half is not allowed to enter the gap between the flanker and number 8, even if they stay behind the ball |
| Law 21.2(a) The kicker must take the penalty or free kick at the mark or anywhere behind it on a line through the mark. | Increased latitude will be given to where penalty and free kicks are to be taken |
| Law 19.2(d) For a quick throw-in, the player must use the ball that went into touch. A quick throw-in is not permitted if another person has touched the ball apart from the player throwing it in and an opponent who carried it into touch. The same team throws into the lineout. | Players will be allowed to take quick throw-ins regardless of whether someone else has touched the ball |
| Law 17.2(d) Keeping players on their feet. Players in a maul must endeavour to stay on their feet. The ball carrier in a maul may go to ground providing the ball is available immediately and play continues. | 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. |
| Competition rule - Bonus point awarded for scoring 4 tries | Bonus point awarded if winning team scores 3 or more tries than their opponents. This particular system has been used in France's professional leagues since the 2007–08 northern hemisphere season. |
| Television match official protocols | Television match official to only be consulted about tries and in-goal plays. |

## Regular season

The nine teams compete in a round-robin tournament for the regular season. Each team has four matches at home and four away, and one bye. The top four teams qualify for the title play-offs with semi-finals and finals.

### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Melbourne Rising | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 399 | 184 | +215 | 8 | 0 | 40 | Qualification for Semi-finals |
| 2 | New South Wales Country Eagles | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 251 | 202 | +49 | 2 | 1 | 27 | Qualification for Semi-finals |
| 3 | Brisbane City | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 295 | 257 | +38 | 2 | 0 | 26 | Qualification for Semi-finals |
| 4 | Perth Spirit | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 301 | 259 | +42 | 2 | 3 | 17 | Qualification for Semi-finals |
| 5 | Greater Sydney Rams | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 254 | 265 | −11 | 2 | 0 | 16 | |
| 6 | Canberra Vikings | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 210 | 238 | −28 | 0 | 2 | 14 | |
| 7 | North Harbour Rays | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 240 | 327 | −87 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| 8 | Queensland Country | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 208 | 281 | −73 | 1 | 2 | 11 | |
| 9 | Sydney Stars | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 211 | 356 | −145 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |

### Round-by-round

| Team Progression – 2014 NRC season |
| Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 |
| Brisbane City | 4 (3rd) | 8 (3rd) | 8 (4th) | 12 (3rd) | 12 (3rd) | 16 (2nd) | 16 (5th) | 21 (3rd) | 26 (3rd) |
| Greater Sydney Rams | 0 (9th) | 0 (8th) | 4 (6th) | 9 (6th) | 9 (5th) | 11 (6th) | 16 (4th) | 16 (5th) | 16 (5th) |
| Melbourne Rising | 5 (2nd) | 10 (1st) | 15 (1st) | 20 (1st) | 25 (1st) | 30 (1st) | 30 (1st) | 35 (1st) | 40 (1st) |
| NSW Country Eagles | 5 (1st) | 10 (2nd) | 14 (2nd) | 15 (2nd) | 15 (2nd) | 15 (3rd) | 19 (2nd) | 23 (2nd) | 27 (2nd) |
| North Harbour Rays | 0 (7th) | 0 (6th) | 0 (8th) | 4 (7th) | 8 (6th) | 10 (7th) | 12 (7th) | 12 (7th) | 12 (7th) |
| Perth Spirit | 4 (4th) | 5 (5th) | 5 (5th) | 5 (6th) | 6 (8th) | 11 (4th) | 16 (3rd) | 16 (4th) | 17 (4th) |
| Queensland Country | 0 (6th) | 0 (7th) | 1 (7th) | 2 (8th) | 6 (7th) | 6 (8th) | 6 (8th) | 11 (8th) | 11 (8th) |
| Sydney Stars | 0 (8th) | 0 (9th) | 0 (9th) | 0 (9th) | 2 (9th) | 2 (9th) | 3 (9th) | 3 (9th) | 7 (9th) |
| University of Canberra Vikings | 1 (5th) | 5 (4th) | 9 (3rd) | 9 (4th) | 11 (4th) | 11 (5th) | 13 (6th) | 14 (6th) | 14 (6th) |
| 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 | | | | | |
| Points by Round |
| Team | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | Total | Total | Average | Average |
| Brisbane City | 45 | 20 | 26 | 21 | 18 | 79 | 34 | 26 | N/A | N/A | 29 | 13 | 29 | 56 | 77 | 26 | 37 | 16 | 295 | 257 | 37 | 32 |
| Greater Sydney Rams | 2 | 31 | 18 | 37 | 44 | 34 | 47 | 18 | 13 | 24 | 34 | 34 | 56 | 29 | 40 | 58 | N/A | N/A | 254 | 265 | 32 | 33 |
| Melbourne Rising | 55 | 34 | 45 | 13 | 79 | 18 | 44 | 24 | 37 | 16 | 34 | 13 | N/A | N/A | 58 | 40 | 47 | 26 | 399 | 184 | 50 | 23 |
| NSW Country Eagles | 31 | 2 | 37 | 13 | 33 | 21 | 26 | 34 | 16 | 37 | N/A | N/A | 26 | 24 | 42 | 37 | 40 | 34 | 251 | 202 | 31 | 25 |
| North Harbour Rays | 34 | 55 | N/A | N/A | 21 | 33 | 32 | 29 | 32 | 29 | 34 | 34 | 21 | 21 | 26 | 77 | 40 | 49 | 240 | 327 | 31 | 41 |
| Perth Spirit | 28 | 23 | 21 | 26 | 34 | 44 | 24 | 44 | 29 | 32 | 63 | 21 | 68 | 29 | N/A | N/A | 34 | 40 | 301 | 259 | 38 | 32 |
| Queensland Country | N/A | N/A | 13 | 37 | 21 | 26 | 29 | 32 | 24 | 13 | 13 | 29 | 29 | 68 | 53 | 29 | 26 | 47 | 208 | 281 | 26 | 35 |
| Sydney Stars | 20 | 45 | 13 | 45 | N/A | N/A | 18 | 47 | 37 | 37 | 21 | 63 | 24 | 26 | 29 | 53 | 49 | 40 | 211 | 356 | 26 | 45 |
| University of Canberra Vikings | 23 | 28 | 37 | 18 | 26 | 21 | N/A | N/A | 37 | 37 | 13 | 34 | 21 | 21 | 37 | 42 | 16 | 37 | 210 | 238 | 26 | 30 |
| Key: | Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive |
| Tries by Round |
| Team | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | Total | Total | Average | Average |
| Brisbane City | 6 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 5 | 4 | N/A | N/A | 4 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 41 | 37 | 5.1 | 4.6 |
| Greater Sydney Rams | 0 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 8 | N/A | N/A | 34 | 36 | 4.3 | 4.5 |
| Melbourne Rising | 8 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 | N/A | N/A | 8 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 57 | 26 | 7.1 | 3.3 |
| NSW Country Eagles | 4 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 5 | N/A | N/A | 4 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 34 | 28 | 4.3 | 3.5 |
| North Harbour Rays | 5 | 8 | N/A | N/A | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 32 | 44 | 4.0 | 5.4 |
| Perth Spirit | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 4 | N/A | N/A | 5 | 5 | 43 | 37 | 5.4 | 4.6 |
| Queensland Country | N/A | N/A | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 29 | 40 | 3.6 | 5.0 |
| Sydney Stars | 4 | 6 | 2 | 6 | N/A | N/A | 3 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 31 | 49 | 3.9 | 6.1 |
| University of Canberra Vikings | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | N/A | N/A | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 30 | 34 | 3.8 | 4.3 |
| Key: | Offensive | Offensive | Defensive | Defensive |

### Competition rounds
#### Round 1

* Bye/s: Queensland Country

#### Round 2

* Bye/s: North Harbour Rays

#### Round 3

* Bye/s: Sydney Stars

#### Round 4

* Bye/s: Canberra Vikings

#### Round 5

* Bye/s: Brisbane City

#### Round 6

* Bye/s: NSW Country Eagles

#### Round 7

* Bye/s: Melbourne Rising

#### Round 8

* Bye/s: Perth Spirit

#### Round 9

* Bye/s: Greater Sydney Rams

## Title play-offs

The top four sides in the regular season advanced to the knock-out stage of semi-finals and final to decide the National Rugby Championship title.

### Final

| Brisbane City | Perth Spirit |
| FB | 15 | Brando Va'aulu |
| RW | 14 | Chris Kuridrani |
| OC | 13 | Toby White | 80' to 80+2' |
| IC | 12 | Jack Mullins |
| LW | 11 | Matthew Feaunati | | 72' |
| FH | 10 | Jake McIntyre | | 77' |
| SH | 9 | Nick Frisby |
| N8 | 8 | Jake Schatz |
| OF | 7 | Liam Gill |
| BF | 6 | Curtis Browning | | 64' |
| RL | 5 | David McDuling (c) |
| LL | 4 | Marco Kotze | | 76' |
| TP | 3 | Sef Fa'agase | | 66' |
| HK | 2 | Andrew Ready |
| LP | 1 | Pettowa Paraka | | 64' |
| Replacements: ||
| HK | 16 | Matt Mafi |
| PR | 17 | David Feao | | 64' |
| PR | 18 | Phil Kite | | 66' |
| LK | 19 | Tim Buchanan | | 76' |
| FL | 20 | Adam Korczyk | | 64' |
| SH | 21 | Will Thompson |
| FH | 22 | James Dalgleish | | 77' |
| WG | 23 | Junior Laloifi | | 72' |
| Coach: ||
| Nick Stiles ||
Dane Haylett-Petty :
| RW | 14 | Luke Morahan |
| OC | 13 | Junior Rasolea |
| IC | 12 | Ammon Matuauto | 77' |
| LW | 11 | Marcel Brache |
| FH | 10 | Zack Holmes |
| SH | 9 | Ian Prior | 63' |
| N8 | 8 | Alex Rovira |
| OF | 7 | Richard Hardwick |
| BF | 6 | Brynard Stander | 63' |
| RL | 5 | Brent Murphy | 76' |
| LL | 4 | Sam Wykes (c) |
| TP | 3 | Ollie Hoskins |
| HK | 2 | Robbie Abel | 63' |
| LP | 1 | Pek Cowan | 56' |
| Replacements: |||
| HK | 16 | Harry Scoble | 63' |
| PR | 17 | Joe Savage | 56' |
| PR | 18 | Chris Heiberg |
| LK | 19 | Kieran Stringer | 76' |
| FL | 20 | Cian O'Connor | 63' |
| SH | 21 | Justin Turner | 63' |
| FH | 22 | Davis Tavita | 77' |
| WG | 23 | Christian Joubert |
| Coach: |||
| David Wessels Kevin Foote ||||
* Man of the Match:
* Liam Gill (Brisbane)
* Assistant Referees:
* Will Houston (Australia)
* Damien Mitchelmore (Australia)
* Television match official:
* Greg Milne (Australia)

## Season attendances

| Club | Games Hosted | Attendance | Attendance | Attendance | Attendance |
| Club | Games Hosted | Lowest | Highest | Average | Total |
| Brisbane City | 5 | 2,500 | 13,700 | 6,499 | 32,497 |
| Greater Sydney Rams | 4 | 1,063 | 1,632 | 1,380 | 5,519 |
| Melbourne Rising | 5 | 1,764 | 2,187 | 1,990 | 9,948 |
| NSW Country Eagles | 5 | 500 | 2,000 | 1,150 | 5,750 |
| North Harbour Rays | 4 | 1,852 | 2,900 | 2,230 | 8,921 |
| Perth Spirit | 4 | 1,022 | 2,300 | 1,692 | 6,767 |
| Queensland Country | 4 | 1,500 | 2,500 | 1,875 | 7,500 |
| Sydney Stars | 4 | 750 | 1,500 | 1,076 | 4,302 |
| University of Canberra Vikings | 4 | 1,500 | 2,000 | 1,625 | 6,500 |
| Totals | 39 | 500 | 13,700 | 2,249 | 87,704 |

## Players

The leading scorers in 2014 over the regular season and play-offs combined were: