Connacht reaching for the top

THERE is a famous picture hanging in the headquarters of the ACT Brumbies in Canberra.

Formed in 1996 to provide the third Australian franchise deemed necessary to compete in the new Super 12 tournament, the Brumbies were equally essential for the Australian national side in order to broaden their base of players for the professional era and challenge New Zealand and South Africa in the newly-constructed Tri Nations championship.

Initially the Brumbies were populated by rejects from the New South Wales Waratahs supplemented by a few Queenslanders, with the remainder coming from the ACT rugby union, which had represented the region dating back to 1899, when they played the British Isles.