About the Club
The Sydney Convicts are Australia’s first gay Rugby Union club. We are the most successful club to have competed in the Bingham Cup, the World Cup of gay Rugby since 2004, with both its A and B sides taking out the major trophy on two occasions.
The Convicts are committed to building a competitive, social and diverse club which welcomes players from all levels of experience. The primary aim is the enjoyment of rugby in a prejudice free environment. Along the way to achieving this goal the Convicts have broken down barriers and challenged stereotypes, not just on the rugby field but also in the wider community.
Through our affiliation with the Woollahra Colleagues RFC, we compete in the Halligan Cup and also the Sydney Suburban Rugby Union championship. The team proved its ability to hold its own in mainstream competition by winning the Halligan Cup, undefeated, in 2005 and 2006 and finishing runners up in 2009 and 2010.
The Convicts B team won the Bingham Bowl, at the 2010 Bingham Cup, held in Minneapolis, USA. The Convicts A team were close runners up in the Bingham Cup division. The club narrowly lost a recent bid to host the 2012 Bingham Cup in Sydney and players will travel to Manchester in 2012 to compete for the Cup and Bowl trophies.
In just 7 years the club has become one of the most well known gay sports teams in the country. This has occurred thanks to strong support from the local gay & lesbian community, as well as the help of the NSW and Australian Rugby Unions. Our community profile has been supported by our very popular fund raising events and participation in the annual Sydney Mardi Gras Parade, Mardi Gras Fair Day and through volunteer work for the AIDS Council of NSW (ACON).
Past rugby champions such as World Cup winning Captain, John Eales and leading writer, Peter Fitzsimons, have eagerly embraced the Convicts, assisting the club in building its profile in the mainstream media. Current Wallabies stars like Al Baxter, David Pocock, Drew Mitchell, Stirling Mortlock and Stephen Moore have leant their support, in anti-homophobia campaigns and through general messages of support for the Convicts.
