The sixth season of the National Rugby Championship (NRC) kicks-off today, with eight teams battling it out again for supremacy in the country’s newest domestic competition. Fijian Drua are the holders, having lifted the title in some style last year. But a look across the squads suggests that there are plenty of pretenders to their throne this time around, with a heavy Super Rugby presence balanced nicely with the cream of the crop from clubland.

A thrilling finale to the 2018 NRC competition has seen the Fijian Drua claim an inaugural title, with a 36-26 defeat of reigning champions Queensland Country in rain-soaked Lautoka.

Being called Andrew and helping to lead the Western Force back into the limelight seems to be in vogue right now. But while Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest is busy putting his money where his mouth is and delivering off the field for rugby fans in Western Australia, it’s his on-field namesake Andrew Deegan that is doing to plenty to validate those efforts to preserve the Force’s long-term status.

The haunted look of shock and confusion was writ large over Darren Coleman’s face. You see, his team’s simply don’t lose by 50pt margins, so when asked after Wednesday night’s derby win over the Sydney Rays to reflect on what exactly had happened the previous weekend in Mudgee, when the NSW Country Eagles had fallen by the reprehensible scoreline of 62-7 to Melbourne Rising, his genuine look of bewilderment in trying to fathom the reasons why, was somewhat understandable.

NSW Country Eagles have been the flag-bearers for the state thus far, with a grand final appearance on home soil in Tamworth in 2016, and a semi-final spot in the inaugural competition back in 2014.

The fifth season of the National Rugby Championship (NRC) got underway last weekend, with first up wins from an impressive looking Fijian Drua, Western Force, and reigning champions Queensland Country.