Rugby Union - Home

Watch a high-level rugby union game and you will soon see that it is one of the most demanding sports around. Players need extreme fitness to work at high intensity, running up to nine kilometres in an average match. They also need speed, agility, lightning-fast reactions, power, and technical and tactical skills. To achieve this, teams and individuals need a coaching, sports science and sports medicine program that helps prepare them to play at optimum levels. The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Rugby Union program does all of this and more for Australia’s up and coming elite players.

About AIS Rugby Union

The Rugby Union program was established at the AIS in 1988 as part of a plan to provide a coordinated national approach to talent identification and development. The program has evolved through the development of state union academy programs with the Australian Rugby Union providing quality control of these programs through its High Performance Unit. From 2003-2006 the AIS program incorporated athletes from 15-18 years of age with the objective of preparing these players for representative school/club rugby and post-school professional rugby at the Super 12/14 and Wallabies levels. Today the AIS program has graduated up the elite player development pathway to encompass the Australia U19 program – a pinnacle and critical component of Australian Rugby Union’s program to develop tomorrow’s Wallabies.

The AIS/Australia U19 Rugby Union program is administered by the Australian Rugby Union from Sydney under the management of National Teams & Programs Manager, Ben Whitaker. The squad (26 players) takes part in an annual iRB U19 World Championship tournament to decide the best U19 national team in the world. Selection and preparation for the World Championships begin in September of the previous year – all selection and preparation camps take place at the AIS making use of the state of the art facilities and some of the world’s best sports professionals.

The 2006 Australia U19 team became the first Australian age group team to win an iRB world Championship in it’s six year history beating Oceanic rivals New Zealand in the final in Dubai. In 2007 the iRB U19 World Championships will be held in Belfast, Ireland from 4-22 April 2007.

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Australia is one of only two nations to have competed in every modern Summer Olympic Games

Quick numbers

700 Athlete scholarships are offered annually at the AIS
40 Thousand kilometres were swum by Petria Thomas whilst at the AIS
1 million people visit the AIS each year
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