Wombats Rugby Club Wiener Neustadt (Wombats, WRC) is a rugby union club in Wiener Neustadt, Austria. Its men play fifteens in the Austrian championship, and the club also has a women's side and a youth team.
History
The Wombats Rugby Club was founded in 2003 in Bad Fischau-Brunn. It later played in the championship in combined sides with RUFC Graz and RC Leoben, under the names "Styria XV" and "Ost XV", and then with RC Krems as "NÖXV". It moved to Wiener Neustadt to concentrate on fifteens rugby. Many new players soon formed what the club calls a surprisingly strong and balanced team, which won its first ever league title, in the Nationalliga, in 2010/11 as table leaders, and two further titles by 2012/13.
Women first joined the club's training in 2009, initially without playing in tournaments. In 2023 the women, playing together with their partner club Spartans Melk, won the silver medal in the Austrian championship, in a keenly awaited match broadcast live on ORF Sport Plus.
The club won promotion to the first Bundesliga as an independent team in 2018. Since 2018 it has run regular rugby sessions in schools with ASKÖ-NÖ under the "Jugend gesund bewegen" project, with seven partner schools as of August 2026. In 2023 the club finished third in the Austrian tens championship.
In the 2025/26 Austrian championship (Österreich Cup, ÖSTM), the men played the match for fifth place on 30 May 2026, losing 7–68 to Rugby Club Innsbruck. In the same season a team named Wombats RC Wiener Neustadt played in the Alpe Adria Rugby Championship.
Honours
Honours by the club's count:
- Nationalliga titles, men: 2010/11 (the club's first), and two further titles by 2012/13
- Promotion to the first Bundesliga as an independent team, men: 2018
- Austrian championship runners-up, women: 2023, as a combined side with Spartans Melk
- Austrian tens championship, third place: 2023
Ground
The club plays at the Neuklosterwiese, Franz Schubert Gasse 14, 2700 Wiener Neustadt.
Teams and training
As of August 2026, men and women train together on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 19:00 to about 21:00, and players are expected to be changed and ready by 19:00. From January to the end of March, during pre-season, the club does running training or moves sessions into a sports hall; in January and February these are on Tuesdays and Fridays from 20:00 to 22:00. Players must attend at least two-thirds of training sessions.
The club suggests newcomers attend three or four sessions to get to know the club before joining. For the first session, football boots, hard-wearing training trousers and an old T-shirt are enough. Membership for players costs €150 a year, or €75 per half-year. New members bring a completed membership form to their first training.
The club has been building its own under-16 team for several years, with players aged 12 to 16; as of August 2026, youth training takes place with the adults twice a week. There is also a session for children and young people on Tuesdays from 18:00 to 19:00.
Under the club's statutes, a six-person board is elected or confirmed every four years, and every member may vote and stand for election.
Club life
At home matches the club runs what it calls the "now legendary" Wombats Fanzone, a fenced-off area with a barbecue, bar, tent village and DJ. It invites spectators to "experience Neukloster Ruck'n Roll live". The club's goal is to build a strong team that can rise into, and compete in, the top league of the Austrian championship.