Countdown to Country Rugby Championships

24th Mar 2014

Country Rugby is in countdown mode for the NRMA NSW Country Rugby Union Championships which will be held at Mudgee on 29 & 30 March 2014.

Mudgee Rugby Club will host the 2014 NRMA NSW Country Rugby Union Championship Weekend at the Glen Willow Regional Sports Complex.

The Glen Willow Regional Sports Complex is a state of the art sports ground which will provide players, officials and spectators with wonderful facilities both on and off the field.

The nine Country Zones will this weekend finetune their preparations with the last of their trial matches, before finalising their respective squads for the championships.

Newcastle Hunter will once again come into the championships as favourites to take out a seventh consecutive Caldwell Cup title, but there are three other zones keen to put an end to their impressive run.

Central West who have gained promotion to Tier One (Caldwell Cup) of the senior championships have had an impressive build up and will be out to cement their place, while Central North and Illawarra will be looking to reverse last year’s results which saw them both came up short against the Novocastrians.

Tier Two (Richardson Shield) will be an interesting contest, as each of the zones have gone through a rebuilding stage which will see a lot of long term established players missing from this year’s championships.

Each of the five zones on their day has the ability to claim the title, and it may come down to which team from the Central Coast, Far North Coast, Mid North Coast, New England and Western Plains are able to maintain form over the two days.

Both the Colts Championships Tiers (Rowlands Colts Cup & NRMA Colts Shield) will again see the best of the up and coming stars of Country Rugby do battle over the two days.

Colts Tier One will see defending joint champions Central West and Newcastle Hunter take on Far North Coast and Central Coast, while in Tier Two Central North, Illawarra, Mid North Coast and New England will be keen to become the new champions.

The championships will not only crown the winners of the various titles, but will provide the Country selectors an opportunity to review players for selection in the GrainCorp NSW Country Cockatoos and NRMA NSW Country Cockatoo Colts.
The NRMA NSW Country Rugby Union Championships kick off on Saturday, 29 March at 9.00am, with the ten qualifying matches being played on two fields throughout the day to determine the draw for day two.

The NRMA NSW Country Rugby Union Championships Draws are available in the fixtures and results section on the NSWCRU Webpage www.nswcountryrugby.com.au