The 2025 Purchas Cup, the premier Australasian gay and inclusive rugby tournament, is set to kick off this weekend at Western Springs Rugby Stadium in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.
The 16th edition of the tournament will see six teams play across four days and two divisions.
Watch the Wallabies tackle Los Pumas at Allianz Stadium live and on-demand via Stan Sport.
A bi-annual event running in alternate years to its international counterpart, the Bingham Cup, this year’s Purchas Cup marks a big upcoming twelve months for the Australian inclusive rugby community as Brisbane prepares to host the 2026 Bingham Cup.
For the trophy’s namesake, Andrew Purchas, who founded the Sydney Convicts in 2003, it has given him pause as to how much the tournament has grown in that time.
“It's obviously really pleasing,” Purchas told Rugby.com.au.
“The fact that we have gay and inclusive clubs is great. And they're certainly very competitive in their own competitions, most have two teams.
“I think there's a huge level of excitement, [I’m] very much looking forward to getting over there. Every rugby player loves a tour.
“The tournament champions participation, obviously. There are two levels of competition - you're able to have those who want to play harder rugby and play at a certain level - but even at the second tier level is still pretty full on.”
It has been a long journey to get the Purchas Cup to this point.
Purchas himself had played for Sydney University First Grade, New South Wales School Boys and subbies rugby, but nearly gave up on the sport after he came out.
It took moving to the USA and playing in San Francisco and meeting Mark Bingham to open his eyes on the need for inclusive rugby clubs, with the first invitational Gay Rugby World Cup being played in May 2001.
When the event reconvened in 2002 in San Francisco, it was given the name of the Bingham Cup in honour of Mark, who was among the brave group of passengers who died taking down United Airlines flight 93 during the September 11 terrorist attacks.
“The [May 2001] event really opened my eyes to how important it was,” Purchas added.
“I think there were six clubs playing in it, two clubs from the UK, the rest from the US. It was very small, but it had a real impact on me in terms of how important this opportunity was for the guys who were playing in the tournament to have this chance.”
Today, there are close to 125 gay rugby clubs around the world and Purchas has transitioned into the advocacy space, co-founding Pride in Sport - the world's first membership-based program assisting sporting organisations with their gender and sexuality diversity.
Following the founding of the Sydney Convicts and the Brisbane Wrestlers, who later folded before returning as the Hustlers, the Purchas Cup came into existence in 2004 as an Australian domestic equivalent tournament.
Player James Saunders was quick to jump into the sport, playing for both clubs and winning eight Purchas Cups and four Bingham Cups.
“When I joined in 2005, I was 19,” Saunders said.
“That's the year I came out to my family. I joined the team and I had support from some of the older players who helped me navigate quite a difficult decision for me.
“No one knew anything about us. We had the most daggy jerseys, there was like little to no sponsorship. There wasn't this global movement.
“The Purchas Cup has allowed players who are LGBTQ identifying, or allies, to join clubs and communities who are accepting of them for who they are. It’s about creating a really good safe space for people who want to play sport and learn to love rugby.”
The Melbourne Chargers joined in 2009, before going Trans-Tasman in 2015 with the arrival of the NZ Falcons.
The Perth Rams and Adelaide University Sharks followed in 2019, with Saunders also complimenting how the Cup has been a particularly valuable source of support for gay First Nations and Pasifika players.
With New Zealand set to host its second tournament, the Cup is now set for its largest iteration yet.
“To see other regions grow, it's been really great,” Saunders added.
“It's giving people an access point outside of the major capital cities in Australia. Perth is a great example of bringing in their own West Australian vibe and culture into the space.
“We've always had from the very beginning a really good number of Pasifika and Indigenous players playing within these teams and in these competitions. It echoes very similar across the broader rugby community.
“This is going to be the largest New Zealand [has] hosted. That's great for the game in New Zealand, for the Falcons to host and for people who may not be aware.”
The Falcons will be livestreaming the event as well, and with the rugby calendar set to be very busy over the next several years in Australia, the inclusive rugby community is excited to see what the future holds.
It has also taken notable confidence from the Women’s Rugby World Cup setting a more inclusive standard in representation.
“It's the perfect fit, given that we have the [2027 and 2029] World Cup coming up, given that the Wallabies have come into some really hot form,” Saunders said.
“It all just adds to the notion that rugby is a community sport, it's for everyone.
“I think that message is going to be really shown come next year in Brisbane, if we have the right support and have everybody around us, like Queensland Rugby and Rugby Australia, who have been really supportive in the past.
“We used to talk about this as players, maybe one day equality will be reached and players don't have to play in designated specific LGBT teams, it'll just be like everybody just existing and playing rugby together, similar to what happens within women's rugby.”
“My view is I think there will always be gay and inclusive rugby clubs,” said Purchas.
“Regardless of how inclusive the game becomes. If you look at a lot of the rugby clubs, particularly in the community sphere, there's a geographic, cultural, ethnic, socio-economic bonding force that sits next to or over the rugby connection.
“But depending upon your ethnic, socio-economic, religious surroundings, being same-sex attracted and particularly gender diverse can be, those environments can be extremely hostile.
“There's a continuing need for clubs that do identify as providing a safe space for those people who may need it and won't necessarily feel comfortable going down to a club that doesn't openly identify as being gay and inclusive.
“From research we did out in the field, a lot of people's attitude towards sport and their engagement with sport happens at school, and the evidence is pretty strong that same-sex attracted people get turned off sport at that age.
“It's very difficult to get them kind of re-engaged. I think that there's an opportunity. There's nothing underlying where gay men or gay women are weaker or stronger than the average population.
“You’re just restricting the opportunity for those people to engage in a very important activity, both physically, mentally and emotionally.
“I think the men's sport, we've got something to learn from the women's sport - [for women], it's just not an issue.
“There will [always] be a need for people that want to play rugby together. I think we've certainly made progress. There's still a long way to go.”
