Crusaders withdraw from Super Rugby match

MEDIA RELEASE: SUPER RUGBY ROUND 1 BREAKS RECORDS

	Tuesday, 22nd February 2011 SUPER RUGBY  ROUND 1 BREAKS RECORDS Round 1 of the new expanded Super Rugby competition kicked off last weekend in style with more than 64,800 people turning out to the three Australian games in Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane while a record number of viewers tuned into Fox Sports’ coverage of the first round of action across the weekend. The record number of viewers started to accumulate during the highly anticipated debut of the new Melbourne Rebels on Friday night when, at its peak, their game against the NSW Waratahs at AAMI Park attracted an average audience of more than 319,000 viewers on Fox Sports 2HD and Fox Sports 2. This figure set a new regular season game record by itself, surpassing the previous figure set in 2008 when the Waratahs took on the Highlanders in round 3, which the Waratahs won by just 3 points. On Saturday night the Brumbies took on the Chiefs in the nation’s capital and the viewer numbers kept adding up with the game attracting a larger audience than any of the 2010 regular season Super Rugby matches. Then on Sunday the Reds vs Force game continued the viewing trend with the Rugby Relief fixture also securing a larger audience than any of the 2010 regular season Super Rugby matches. When the siren went at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday evening Fox Sports’ audience numbers were up 51% on last year’s Round 1 figures with almost 930,000 unique viewers tuning in to watch all 7 games and experience the excitement of the new expanded Super Rugby competition. This was nearly double the number of unique viewers Super Rugby attracted in round 1 last season when just 590,000 tuned into the start of the 2010 competition. The two round 1 Australian derbies, Rebels vs Waratahs and Reds vs Force, saw 51,584 people come through the turnstiles to watch the first of 20 local derbies in 2011. The attendance figures are the best turn out for two local derbies held in the same round since the Force played their inaugural game against the Brumbies, and the Reds tackled the Waratahs in round 1 2006. The record viewer numbers and impressive round 1 local derby crowds follow figures released earlier this year by the Australian Rugby Union that showed there were more Rugby Union players in Australia last year than at any time since the game was introduced to this country in the mid-1800’s. In 2010 a record 209,571 people played Rugby, an increase of 16,990 (8.8%) on 2009 and a substantial increase of 7.7% on the previous record of 193,382, achieved in 2006. With more people playing and watching the game and with Super Rugby delivering more teams, more games and more finals 2011 is shaping as an exciting year for Rugby in Australia. Super Rugby continues this weekend with the highly anticipated local derby between the Waratahs and the Reds at ANZ Stadium, while the Brumbies will travel down the Hume Highway to take on the Rebels, and the Force will put their feet up and take an easy 4 points thanks to the bye. ROUND 2: Friday 25th  – Highlanders vs Chiefs Friday 25th   – Rebels vs Brumbies Saturday 26th – Cheetahs vs Bulls Saturday 26th  – Hurricanes vs Crusaders Saturday 26th  – Waratahs vs Reds Sunday 27th – Sharks vs Blues Sunday 27th – Stormers vs Lions

Karl Schubert | Media Manager | Australian Rugby Union

Curtain Raiser Victoria v Sydney University, 25 Feb, AAMI Park at 5.10pm

The Victorian State team plays Sydney University this Friday evening at AAMI Park commencing at 5.10pm.  This match will be the Curtain Raiser to the Rabo Direct Rebels v Brumbies Super Rugby match which commences at 7.40pm. Gates open to the public at 5.00pm

Below please find the Victorian team list for the match – congratulations to those selected.  Congratulations also to Kieran White appointed as Referee for the match.

As a matter of interest local referees officiate at both the Curtain Raiser and the Super Rugby match each weekend. For this Friday appointments are as follows:

Match	Kick Off	Ground	Referee	AR1	AR2	No4	No5	No6	TMO
Victoria v Sydney University	5.10pm	AAMI Park	Kieran White	Paul McKay	Hall Matt	Beau-Dean Gosper	Brad Smith
Rabo Direct Rebels v Brumbies	7.40pm	AAMI Park	Jonathan Kaplan	James Leckie	Stephen Hill	Hamish Bertram	Oliver Kellett	Beau-Dean Gosper	George Ayoub

The SANZAR appointed ref is highlighted in purple, ARU refs in light blue and local Vic refs in yellow.

There are a number of  VRU staff members and core volunteers who assist each time at AAMI Park  - with Rugby servicing of the Rabo Direct Rebels home matches and the Curtain Raiser.

These are as follows:
Match Manager & Citing Liaison Officer                 Charlie Bamford
Judicial Officer                                                                   Campbell Thomson        
Visiting Team Liaison Officer                                       Alan Latu
Curtain Raiser Visiting Team Liaison Officer          Natalie Coward
Match Officials Liaison Officer                                    Oliver Kellett
Ball Person Manager                                                      Mike Motu
Match Balls Manager                                                      Chris Evans
Medical Persons Liaison Officer,
including stretcher bearers                                          Robin Haver
Match Day Assistants (some alternating)              Ema Yandall
                                                                                                Steve Tia
                                                                                                Bree Hill                              
                                                                                                Graeme Tosch
                                                                                                Bill Gillies

VICTORIAN STATE TEAM vs SYDNEY UNIVERSITY

DATE:            Friday 25th February 2011      VENUE: AAMI PARK

KICK OFF:      1710

  

No	Position	First	Last	Club
1	Loosehead Prop	Scott	Baker	Boroondara
2	Hooker	Melbourne	Lesa	Footscray
3	Tighthead Prop	Elliot	Bull	Melbourne
4	Left Lock	Bryan	Scott	Powerhouse
5	Right Lock	Angus	Hamilton	Harlequin
6	Left Flanker	Mace	Poloie	Harlequin
7	Right Flanker	Conway	Bradey	Southern Districts
8	Number Eight	Afa	Amosa	Harlequin
9	Scrum Half	Dave	Hardisty	Melbourne Uni
10	Fly Half	Josh	Moore	Harlequin
11	Left Wing	Tasesa	Lalotoa	Harlequin
12	Left Centre	Chris	Slade	Melbourne
13	Right Centre	Lloyd	Johansson	Box Hill
14	Right Wing	Tomu	Mataika	Harlequin
15	Full Back	Ben	Jones	Melbourne
16	Prop	Alan	Latu	Powerhouse
17	Prop	Harley	Whaikawa	Melbourne Uni
18	Hooker	Christian	Brown	Melbourne Uni
19	Forward	Ilesa	Bolalaili	Powerhouse
20	Forward	Daniel	Concannon	Boroondara
21	Back	Brendan	Goodwin	Harlequin
22	Back	Michael	Paea	Powerhouse
23	Back	Lotu	Aiuta	Melbourne
24	Back	Michael	Thompson	Box Hill
	STAFF
	Coach	Josh	Philpot	Melbourne Rebels
	Coach	Brock	Parker	Community
	Skills	Matt	Cockbain	Melbourne Rebels
	Manager	Ian	Gillies	Community
	Assistant Manager	Mick	Stevens	Community
	Physio	Leki	Sisifa	Community
	Physio	Andrew	Anstee	Community
	S & C	Brendan	Whelan	Community
	Runner	Tyronne	Mitchell	Victorian Rugby Union