2016 National Rugby Championship

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2016 National Rugby Championship (Buildcorp NRC)

Dates: 27 August – 22 October 2016
Champions: Perth Spirit (1st title)
Runners-up: NSW Country Eagles
Matches: 31
Official site: buildcorpnrc.com.au

Overview
- The third NRC season featured eight professional teams (one fewer than the previous seasons).
- Sydney Stars were dropped to concentrate strength in New South Wales; North Harbour Rays became Sydney Rays.
- Canberra Vikings were reportedly set to become the Canberra Kookaburras, but the change was postponed to 2017.
- The eight teams came from three from New South Wales, two from Queensland, and one each from the ACT, Victoria, and Western Australia.

Format and competition
- The regular season was a round-robin: each team played four home and four away games.
- The top four teams advanced to the semi-finals, followed by a final to decide the champion.
- The Horan-Little Shield was also contested during the season.

Broadcast and coverage
- Two matches each weekend were shown live on Fox Sports; the rest were on Fox Sports’ streaming platform.
- NRC Extra Time and Rugby 360 provided additional coverage.

Rules and scoring
- Tries are worth six points; any goal is worth two points.
- Regular scoring: four points for a win, two for a draw, zero for a bye.
- Bonus points: one for scoring three or more more tries than the opponent; one for losing by eight points or fewer.
- Tiebreakers: point difference, head-to-head result, then total tries.

Other changes
- The 2016 season adopted significant law changes that were later incorporated into World Rugby’s rules, including the scrum changes tested in earlier NRC seasons.