The Australian Police Rugby Union Association Inc. was originally formed in 1998 under the name - The A.P.R.U. “Razorbacks”. The executive committee of the day,

President - Paul FLOOD (NSWP)  

Vice President - Brett HOWARD (NSWP)

Secretary - Larry STEPHENS (NSWP)  

Treasurer - Alan YOUNG (NSWP)   

initiated the concept of an Australian Police Rugby team to conduct an inaugural tour of England, Ireland and Wales during September and October 1999. This tour was to coincide with the 1999 IRB Rugby World Cup held in Great Britain and Ireland.

This tour provided members of the Australian police forces, an opportunity to compete in fierce rugby matches and liaise with police from the United Kingdom in respect to work related issues as well as coping mechanisms to deal with the common stresses of policing. Thirty Eight (38) players and officials embarked on the tour, commencing in September 1999 where the A.P.R.U. competed against the Welsh police, London Metropolitan police, The Irish Garda and the Great Britain representative police team. The teams the A.P.R.U. competed against were held in great regard in the United Kingdom and Ireland and contained many semi professional players with the entire London Metropolitan team competing in the 1^st grade competition in London. The games were extremely tough encounters with the A.P.R.U. only managing a win over the Irish Garda. The other three games provided the A.P.R.U. with the knowledge that there was room to improve.

The touring party were met with great hospitality from the respective police forces whilst on tour.  There was a great deal of support for local competing teams with players being allowed time off from work to compete and travel (for the Great Britain players). All police forces owned their own facilities including playing fields, golf courses and registered clubs, which allowed them to support their police sporting teams.

Following a number of years in the wilderness, the A.P.R.U. was reformed in 2005 with a new Executive Committee, who has made significant inroads into the development of the Association and its links with all states of Australia. The current executives are;

President - Brett Howard (NSWP) 

Vice President Admin - Steve Fishpool (NSWP)

Vice President Football - Jayson Joerdens (NSWP)

Secretary - Chris Whalley (NSWP)           

Treasurer - Shane Howard (NSWP),

With State representatives:

QLD - Ian Cameron

VIC - Graeme Simpfendorfer

WA - Matthew Aiken

NT - Gary Smith

AFP - Kelly Mansfield

With the reformation of the Association comes a new name, The “Bluetongues” and another tour to England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales which coincided with the 2007 IRB Rugby World Cup.  Links have been built with Police Rugby Union committees in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and the Australian Federal Police with the aim of becoming an association that represents all states of Australia.  We have been successful in establishing relationships with the England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Great Britain, Fijian and New Zealand Police Rugby Associations so far. Our hope is to continue to increase our involvement in competition with these and other agencies into the future.

Future Direction:

Since reformation of the A.P.R.U, not only was it a goal to compete in a tour of Great Britain and Ireland, but to promote the concept of a Police Rugby World Cup to be held in 2011. We have commenced negotiations with the New Zealand Police Rugby Association which has been extremely positive.  It is anticipated that the tournament will take place in New Zealand around the time of the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup withteams from the Northern and Southern hemisphere taking part.  We now have four years to develop our national police rugby team and continue to promote the Police Rugby World Cup.

Milestones:

1998 - Formation of the A.P.R.U “Razorbacks”.

1999 - Tour of England, Ireland and Wales September/ October.

1999 - 2005 - A.P.R.U inactive.

2005 - November sees the reformation of the A.P.R.U executive committee.

2006 - September - Inaugural A.P.R.U National Police Rugby Union Championships hosted by NSWPRU.  Inaugural winners were the New South Wales Police Force.

2007 - Change of name from “Razorbacks” to the “Bluetongues” after the Australian native animal the Bluetongue lizard.

2007 - September/ October - Tour of Great Britain and Ireland.

2008 - May - A.P.R.U. National Police Rugby Union Championships hosted by Vic. PRU.  Winners were the Queensland Police Force.

2008 - July/August.  A.P.R.U. Tour of New Zealand