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Union Australian Schools Rugby Union Founded 1969
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The Australian Schoolboys rugby union team is the national team for schoolboy rugby union players in Australia. Considered to be the pinnacle of schoolboy rugby in Australia, the team plays in fixtures against other national representative schoolboy teams from around the world. Many players who have played in the Australian Schoolboys team have gone on to further representative careers with Super Rugby franchise teams and the Australian national rugby union team.
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Australian Schools Rugby Championships
The Australian Schools Rugby Championships, held to determine the champion state and to select the Australian Schools Rugby team, have taken place every year since 1973. Under the current format, the championships are played in two divisions.
Division I
The Division I Championship is contested by 8 teams:
Each team has a squad of 23 players. The "Combined States" team is composed of players from any state (or territory) not selected for other squads but deemed up to the standard required for Division I. The team winning the Division I Championship is awarded the 'Jika' Travers Shield, while the runner-up receives the 'Weary' Dunlop Plate.
Following the tournament, the Australian Schools Team is selected to represent Australia in 'Test' matches against national Under 18 or schoolboys teams from other countries.
An Australian Schools Barbarians team (previously Australia A Schoolboys) is also chosen. This side was first selected in 1995 and also plays schoolboys teams from other countries, but these matches (usually on Australian soil against incoming teams) are not counted as Australian Schools 'Test' matches.
Division II
The Division II Championship is contested by 4 teams:
In previous years, the first teams from Victoria and Western Australia played in Division II but they now play in Division I. For the 2014 tournament, Victoria II replaced Tasmania in the Division II Championship, but Tasmania returned in 2015. The team winning the Division II Championship is awarded the Charles Blunt Cup, while the runner-up receives the Merv Allen Plate.
Since 2012, a President’s XV Team has been selected from the Division II players for matches against visiting national schools teams.