2012 Shute Shield NSWRU Media Release

SYDNEY RUGBY UNION

14 November 2011

Premier Rugby Press Release

The Sydney Rugby Union has today announced the format for the 2012 Shute Shield Premier Rugby, Grade and Colts competitions.

President Chris Birch thanked all Clubs and the competition sub-committee for their input into the competition structure over the last 2 months. "The SRU Board has listened to all submissions and we believe the outcome will justify the process that has been taken" Mr Birch said, "The Sydney Rugby Union has worked closely with the Australian Rugby Union to design a competition to advance Premier Rugby in the Sydney area".

The 2012 Premier Rugby competition will run from 14 April to 15 September, with the Grand Final scheduled to be played on 15 September 2012.

All Clubs will play a minimum of 16 games with byes scheduled after Round 8 and Round 11, with a split round 15 to allow for wet weather and postponements. All Clubs will play each other in the first 11 rounds of the competition, before splitting into two groups of 6 for the final 5 rounds. Competition points will accrue for the entire 16 rounds.

The finals series will be played over 4 weeks involving 8 teams.

The Grade competition will follow the same format as Premier Rugby with Colts to mirror the format, however the Colts finals series will commence and finish 1 week before Premier Rugby.

The draw will be released as soon as we have met all of our obligations.

Bruce Worboys | Executive Director - NSW Rugby Union
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