The 2017 National Rugby Championship was officially launched at Allianz Stadium this morning and there was plenty of excitement amongst the players from each of the nine competing teams.

The launch kicked off with a special performance from Matavai dance team who welcomed the newest addition to the tournament, the Fiji Airways Drua.

The players in attendance this morning included Michael Ruru (Property Powerhouse Perth Spirit), Jordan Jackson-Hope (Canberra Vikings), Duncan Paia'aua (Bond University Queensland Country), Andrew Ready (McInnes Wilson Lawyers Brisbane City), Seru Vularika (Fiji Airways Drua), Jed Holloway (Greater Sydney Rams) Paddy Ryan (Elders NSW Country Eagles), Rob Leota (Melbourne Rising) and Damien Fitzpatrick (Macquarie University Sydney Rays).

Seru Vularika from the Fiji Airways Drua said: ‘’It’s really exciting to be here, it’s really massive for us. Fiji can’t wait to see us play on our home grounds.’’

The first game of the season will kick off this Saturday September 2 when the Canberra Vikings take on Queensland Country on home soil at Viking Park. Following this match Fiji will play their historic first NRC match against two-time Premiers Brisbane City at Ballymore.

On Sunday we’ll see 2016 Grand Finalists NSW Country Eagles take on Greater Sydney Rams at TG Millner Oval and soon after the 2016 reigning champions Perth Spirit will host Melbourne Rising at McGillivray Oval.

ARU CEO Bill Pulver said ‘’We’re delighted that most of the games will be aligned with community Rugby events which means sport fans from around the country can watch our nation’s best players in their own backyard.’’

‘’In addition, there will be six matches in regional locations across the country and three NRC matches will be wrapped inside our Aon Women’s University Series tournaments, which will make for a brilliant atmosphere at the Universities on those event days.’’

New law variations will come into play in the 2017 season including a return to traditional point-scoring values of five points for a try, three points for drop goals and penalty goals and two points for conversions. There will also be an additional 30 seconds for goal kickers to attempt a conversion and an additional 15 seconds for penalty goals.

On top of this, the NRC will adopt six of the new law amendments announced by World Rugby last month despite not coming into effect in the Southern Hemisphere until 1 January 2018.

Fans will be able to watch every game from the National Rugby Championship LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX SPORTS, with two games broadcast each weekend on television (Saturday and Sunday at 3pm AEST) and the remaining two games (Saturday and Sunday at 1pm AEST) available to stream LIVE via foxsports.com.au/live and the FOX SPORTS App.

You can head here for the latest 2017 National Rugby Championship Draw.