The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), often referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Sydney that represents the majority of New South Wales (NSW) in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. The Waratahs play their home games at the new Sydney Football Stadium.
Contents
History
Amateur era
The NSWRU (or then, The Southern RFU – SRFU) was established in 1874, and the very first club competition took place that year. By 1880 the SRU had over 100 clubs in its governance in the metropolitan area.
In 1882 the first NSW team (now Waratahs) was selected to play Queensland in a two-match series. The first NSW captain was James Brodie from Wallaroo FC, and NSW won both the games. That same year the first NSW touring squad was selected to go and play in New Zealand.
After using various jersey colours through the 1880s for the NSW representative XV, in 1891 the NSWRU changed to now traditional light blue jersey. The NSW team were familiarly known as "the Blues" until a re-branding as "Waratahs" in 1991. Tours by the NSW team were first made to New Zealand in 1882, Queensland in 1883, Victoria in 1894 and Western Australia in 1907.
In 1907, several of the NSW rugby union team's players defected. They included the "superstar", Dally Messenger. These players joined the New South Wales rugby league team against a visiting rebel New Zealand rugby team. This was essentially the birth of rugby league in Australia.
During World War I, the NSW (and QLD) Rugby Unions ceased senior competition. The Queensland body however would not reform until 1929, which saw NSW have more responsibilities for Australian rugby. In 1921 a NSW selection toured New Zealand again, and out of their 10 fixtures, won nine games, including the Test.
The first and only (until 1991) NSW team be styled as "Waratahs" were the 1927/28 Waratahs who toured the United Kingdom, France and North America, introducing a style of open, running rugby never seen before, but which has been the stamp of the Australian game ever since. They won 24 and drew two of their 31 official matches. Seven members of this 1927/8 side were from the Drummoyne Rugby Club. Upon returning home, were greeted with a parade through Sydney and a reception at Town Hall. Matches against Queensland would soon resume also.
The 1930s were a particularly successful time for NSW. The height of the success of NSW is best represented by the defeat of the South African Springboks in 1937 at the SCG. NSW Rugby Union would also perform strongly throughout the following decades as well, which included the emergence of footballers such as Trevor Allan, David Brockhoff, Tony Miller, Nick Shehadie, Eddie Stapleton, Ken Catchpole, John Thornett, Peter Crittle and Ron Graham.
Professional era
In their inaugural Super 12 season of 1996, the Waratahs won just under half of their games, finishing mid table, with the two other Australian teams finishing above them. The following season of 1997 saw the Waratahs end in a 9th place, winning four fixtures.
In the 1998 season the Waratahs won a best six out of 11 games, ending up in 6th position on the ladder at the end of the season, despite obvious improvements the team had still yet to make a finals appearance. The Waratahs won four fixtures the next season. They won five games in the 2000 season and the 'Tahs finished their season in 9th place.
In 2001 after replicating their 2000 performance, the Waratahs were still out of reach of finals contention, in 8th position. 2002 was a record breaking season for the Waratahs, as the team won eight out of their 11-season games and finished in second place behind the Crusaders – making the semis. However, in the final game of the regular season the Waratahs lost 96–19 (a Super Rugby record). They were defeated by their Australian rivals the Brumbies, 51–10, in the Waratahs' first ever semi-final. The combined score over the two weeks was Brumbies/Crusaders 147 v. Waratahs 29.
In the 2003 season the Waratahs missed a place in the finals, finishing in 6th position on the ladder at the end of the regular season. In 2004 the Waratahs made a promising start to their season with three straight wins. The team finished 8th on the Super 12 table, six points out of the finals. That year coach Ewen McKenzie re-introduced the end of season tour, taking place in Argentina that year. In 2005, they had their best regular season, finishing second in the table, before losing to the Crusaders in the 2005 Super 12 Final.
The Waratahs finished 3rd on the regular season table for the 2006 Super 14 season, in which two new teams entered the expanding tournament, the Force and Cheetahs. In the last home match of the regular season, the Waratahs hosted the Hurricanes, which they lost 14 to 29. The news that star league recruit Wendell Sailor had tested positive to an illegal substance and thus faced a career ending ban from the game was an unwelcome intrusion on the Waratahs semifinal build up. The following week, the semi-finals, they again faced the Hurricanes, though away in Wellington. The Waratahs made their exit, losing 16 to 14. Wendell Sailor later received a two-year ban from the game, marring a season that had promised so much.
Identity
Name and logo
The "Waratahs" name has since 1991 been the name for the New South Wales Rugby Union (NSWRU) representative team, and was continued when NSW entered the Super Six, Super 10 and Super 12 competitions.
The name and emblem comes from the waratah, the state flower for New South Wales.
The NSW Waratahs commonly play in a Cambridge Blue jersey since 1891 and navy blue shorts, blue having a long sporting association with the state and a famous rivalry with the red/maroon colour of Queensland. Longtime sponsors HSBC featured on the front of the jersey until the final time when they played Argentina in August 2013.
The 2014 season saw Volvo as the Waratahs new major sponsor, after a number of years being minor sponsors with 'sleeve presence' on the previous jersey. An alternative white strip is also used. In pre-season of 2006, the Waratahs donned a New Jersey scheme in a trial game against the Crusaders. This system saw traditional rugby playing numbers on the back of jerseys replaced with the initials of the player. The current jersey is made by ISC and is Cambridge blue with navy side panels, collar and cuffs, with the alternate strip being white with five Cambridge blue hoops, collar and cuffs.
The NSW team have worn the Cambridge blue jersey since adopted by the NSWRU in 1891. The team's jerseys in its 1882 debut season were navy blue, then heather green 1883-85, and various shades of cardinal/maroon 1886-1890. The light blue jersey and navy blue pants were established in 1897 and have been in effect ever since.
Team song
At the end of every winning game, the Waratahs sing the following song:
—Waratahs website, Team song Archived 19 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine
Sponsorship
In Super Rugby the Waratahs have featured the following sponsors:
Region
Stadium
Until 2019, the Waratahs played at the old Sydney Football Stadium (SFS) in Sydney's Moore Park. The capacity for the stadium was 45,500. The Waratahs shared the ground with Sydney FC and the Sydney Roosters.
In 2009, the Waratahs signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Stadium Australia which saw them play at least one game per season at the Sydney Olympic Park stadium until 2015.
As well as the SFS, the Waratahs have on occasion played fixtures at other stadiums throughout the state. During the Australian Provincial Championship, in which the Waratahs had two fixtures, the games were taken to the Central Coast Stadium in Gosford, and the other to Bathurst. The Waratahs also played trial matches at Campbelltown Stadium in 2008 and 2015. During the 2018 Super Rugby season, the Waratahs played one home game at Brookvale Oval and one at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
With the SFS closed for demolition and rebuilding as the Sydney Football Stadium (2022) from 2019 to 2022 home games were split between the new Western Sydney Stadium, the Sydney Cricket Ground, Brookvale Oval and even outside of Sydney at Hunter Stadium in Newcastle.
In the inaugural edition of the Super Rugby AUS competition, the Waratahs played one home match at Narrabri's Dangar Park.
Players
Current squad
The squad for the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season is:
Super Rugby AUS
The squad for the 2026 Super Rugby AUS competition is:
Development teams
The New South Wales Waratahs own and manages two National Rugby Championship teams, the Sydney Rays and NSW Country Eagles. These NRC teams draw on a range of players ranging from full-time professionals to those on incentive contracts. These teams are closely aligned with the Waratahs and are based at Moore Park, the training venue used by the Waratahs.
Outside of the NRC season, many of these players are retained in the Gen Blue (NSW A) team, which is the Waratahs elite development squad just below full-time professional level. The Sydney Rays and NSW Country Eagles also field Under 19 teams.
The Gen Blue team plays matches against interstate and international representative teams, and has also competed in tournaments such as the Pacific Rugby Cup. Known by various names over the years including NSW A, Waratahs A, Gen Blue, and Junior Waratahs, the team is selected from the best emerging rugby talent in New South Wales. The squad is composed of Waratahs contracted players, extended training squad members, New South Wales Under 19s, and selected Shute Shield club players.
Two New South Wales teams, Sydney Rays U19 and NSW Country Eagles U19, play in the national URC competition. Prior to 2008, state colts teams at under 21 and under 19 age levels were fielded in national tournaments and competitions such as the Trans-Tasman Trophy. These colts teams were consolidated as under 20s ahead of the inaugural World Rugby U20 Championship. In 2018, an under 19 age limit was reinstated for the national colts team competition.
Awards
The Matthew Burke Cup is awarded to the best Waratahs player at the end of each season:
The Chris Whitaker Medal, or Chris Whitaker Aspiring Waratah Medal, is presented to the team's most promising or stand-out young player and is named in honour of the former Waratahs and Wallabies halfback Chris Whitaker. It was inaugurated in 2006.
Coaches
As of 30 June 2026.
All head coaches of the New South Wales Waratahs since the Super Rugby era (1980s), listed by order of the first game in charge of the team are:
Honours
Professional era
Super 12/14 (1996–2010):
Runners-up (2): 2005, 2008
Play-off Appearances (3): 2002, 2006, 2010
Super Rugby (2011–present): / Super Rugby AU (2020–2021): / Super Rugby Trans-Tasman (2021):
Champions: 2014
Australian Conference Champions (3): 2014, 2015, 2018
Play-off Appearances (6): 2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2022, 2023
Super Rugby AUS (2025–present):
Champions: 2025
Statistics
Records
As of 26 November 2014.
Statistics in this section include only those pertaining to Super Rugby matches (1996–present). They do not include any matches prior to this period (1882–1995). Records for "in a season" include finals games unless otherwise stated.
Biggest winning margin: 62 vs. Southern Kings, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (2013)
Biggest win: 72–10 vs. Southern Kings, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (2013)
Biggest loss: 19–96 vs. Crusaders, Lancaster Park (2002)
Highest team score: 77 vs. Sunwolves, Sydney Football Stadium (2018)
Most regular season wins: 12 (2014)
Most consecutive wins in a season: 9 (2014)
Most consecutive defeats in a season: 13 (2021)
Most tries in a season: 81 (2018)
Most conversions in a season: 68, Bernard Foley (2018)
Most penalty goals in a season: 50 (2014)
Most drop-goals in a season: 3 (2014)
Most points in a season: 613 (2018)
Most tries scored in a match: 12 vs. Sunwolves, Sydney Football Stadium (2018)
Most conversions in a match: 9 vs. Lions, Sydney Football Stadium (2010)