The Queensland Rugby Union (QRU) and Santos are thrilled to announce the rugby schedule for the 2025 Santos Festival of Rugby to be held in Narrabri, NSW on September 20 and 21.
The Santos Festival of Rugby combines elite high-performance rugby with opportunities for regional Queensland and New South Wales rugby participants to play on the big stage.
The Queensland Reds and NSW Waratahs will meet across four formats in the country NSW hub: Super Rugby AUS and Super Rugby Under-19 competition fixtures, a Super Rugby Women’s exhibition match and four Women’s Rugby Sevens matches.
Other matches include the Classic Wallabies coming up against the Narrabri Blue Boars in an Over-35s match and Queensland Country and NSW Country doing battle at U18 girl’s level.
“We’re unbelievably excited to be heading back to Narrabri at a different time of the year for the 2025 Santos Festival of Rugby,” Queensland Rugby Union chief executive David Hanham said.
“The festival has firmly entrenched itself as one of the highlights of the Australian rugby season, with high-quality rugby and outstanding country hospitality combining to deliver a memorable weekend.
“I want to thank Santos for (its) incredible support of rugby in Australia and look forward to seeing plenty of travelling Queensland fans cheering on the teams in Maroon.”
Santos managing director and chief executive Kevin Gallagher said the annual event reflected all the best elements of rugby and community connection.
“We’re proud to bring the Santos Festival of Rugby back to Narrabri and share in the passion this community has for the game, while giving regional Australia a chance to experience first-rate rugby they would usually have to travel to a capital city to see,” Mr Gallagher said.
“At Santos, we believe in the power of sport to inspire, connect and strengthen communities. We also believe in great initiatives and events that shine a light on some of our incredible regions, like Northern NSW, which also stands to benefit from visitor numbers and the economic uplift of being host to a fantastic festival.
“That’s why we support sport and back local communities – because when communities thrive, we all benefit.
“Events like this bring people together and we are excited to be part of a weekend that celebrates community spirit, regional pride and great rugby.”
The Classic Wallabies will deliver a free clinic for all ticketed juniors to kickstart proceedings on the Saturday of the festival. Games will commence at 2pm Saturday and 9am Sunday.
The festival will celebrate its fifth year in 2025, alternating between Narrabri (2021, 2023 and 2025) and Roma (2022 and 2024). The switch to September is a first, with previous festivals having been staged in February over each of the past four years.
Santos and the QRU collaborate on the delivery of the festival, a core component of the successful partnership between the two organisations.
Tickets will be on-sale in coming weeks, with other exciting announcements to come.
2025 Santos Festival of Rugby Schedule:
Saturday, 20 September:
Classic Wallabies Kids Clinic, 12:30pm – 1.30pm
Queensland Reds vs NSW Waratahs Women’s Rugby Sevens, 2pm
Queensland Reds vs NSW Waratahs Women, 2.30pm
Queensland Reds vs NSW Waratahs Women’s Rugby Sevens, 4.30pm
Queensland Reds vs NSW Waratahs Super Rugby AUS, 5.45pm
Sunday, September 21:
Queensland Country vs NSW Country, U18 Girls, 9am
Queensland Reds vs NSW Waratahs Women’s Rugby Sevens, 10.20am
Classic Wallabies vs Narrabri Blue Boars Over 35s, 11am
Queensland Reds vs NSW Waratahs Women’s Rugby Sevens, 12pm
Queensland Reds vs NSW Waratahs Super U19s, 1pm.
