National Rugby Championship

The National Rugby Championship (: Nacionālais Regbija Čempionāts) or NRC is a professional Galvian  that consists of 32 national rugby teams part of the Galvian Rugby Federation (GRF). The Championship started in 1956, with only the 15 teams with the most wins in the previous to the tournament. This was expanded in 1967 to include 24 teams, and then again in 1973, to include 32 teams, and adopt the current qualification system.

By convention, the Championship takes place annually during the last two weeks of April, between April 15th and April 30th, however, this has not been the case every time, due to outside factors such as weather, politics, or overlapping with international events. The Championship starts at the round of 32, played between April 15th and 22nd, including the 32 teams that performed the best during the previous season, which takes place between July and March.

The Championship is considered the most important and well-known sports competitions in the country, and one of the most famous Galvian events nationally and internationally. The final for the Championship's 66th edition, broadcasted on 30 April 2022, garnered a total of 23.5 million individual domestic views.

History
The National Rugby Championship was founded by the Galvian Rugby Federation (GRF) on 2 November 1956. During this time, Galvia had undergone 3 years of continuous unrest, launched by the government's decision to interrupt its support of the Tretuish people in neighbouring Ecoralia at the start of WWIII, which resulted in a series of internal conflicts in the form of, , and almost , before culminating in the Autumn Riots of 1956, a month prior to the foundation of the NRC. Though never confirmed, it is believed that, at the time, the GRF was provided a monetary incentive from the government to stage the Championship, as a distraction, not only from the dying out, but ongoing conflict, but also from the trials that were being broadcasted across all major news outlets at the time. The first edition of the NRC was held from November 2nd through the 17th, and was broadcasted in in news channels and radio stations that had been, up until that point, been transmitting the Autumn Riots trials, despite rugby season not being over. The Championship's second edition was held only 5 months later, during the second half of April, and has maintained that schedule ever since, which has led several media outlets to theorize about the true intentions behind the Championship's formation.

Format
The structure of the NRC is established by the Galvian Rugby Federation, with an annual review of its rules every 4 years. Since 1973, all rugby teams part of the GRF are required to reach a minimum average total score by the end of the season, in order to qualify for the Championship. After qualification, teams are randomly sorted into two groupings of 16 teams each, and assigned a fellow team with which to play against for the first match of the tournament.

Qualifications
Rugby in Galvia, as established by the GRF runs from 1 July through 31 March, for a total of 39 weeks. During this 39-week period, all teams in the GRF participate in the National League of Galvian Rugby (: Nacionālā Galvijas Regbija Līga) by competing against each other accumulating points based on match results. These points are then averaged for a total score, which will determine the teams to advance to the NRC.

The point system in place was first established in 1973, with the NRC expansion into a 32-team format, and has stayed consistent since its inception. Throughout the 39-week long period, the 54 teams part of the federation compete against each other after being randomly split into three groups of 18 teams each. During this time, team receive points based on performance: WIN (5 points), DRAW (3 points), and LOSS (1 point). All teams that wish to qualify must obtain a final average score of 42.5 or more. If more than 32 teams meet the minimum average score criteria, the 32 with the highest scores will be the ones to advance to the NRC. In the event several teams finish their season with the same score, the last two weeks of March are reserved for tie-breaker matches between all teams with the same score.

As standard criteria, player across all teams must meet the minimum age requirement of 22 years old. Team must comprise 13 players, with a mandatory minimum of 6 reserves, and an optional maximum of 12 reserves.

Final tournament
The actual National Rugby Championship tournament starts on April 15th and ends on April 30th. During the 16-day period, the 32 teams are randomly divided into two equal halves of 18 teams each. The only existing requirement at the time of forming these groups, is that the combined average score between all the teams in a single group can never be larger than the other group's combined average score by more than 5.5 points, in which case, teams will be switched at random to even out the collective scores of each grouping. The sorting of the groups and their announcement can take place anytime within the first week of April, though by convention the GRF will usually make its announcements on April 5th, ten days before the start of the tournament.

The Championship follows a format, starting off a round of 32, the first one played on April 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th, and the second one during April 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd. The round of 16 is played between April 23rd and April 26th, between the eight teams from each group to have won their respective match during the round of 32. Quarterfinals take place on April 27th and April 28th, with two matches each day. The semi-final matches are both played on April 29th, divided into a morning match and an evening match. Similarly, the final match and the take place the same day, on April 30th, and are played in the evening and morning, respectively.

Selection process
Originally, the hosting of the Championship was designed as a rotative system, alternating between 5 pre-selected cities: Antonija, Sienal, Kaudze, Aizsargāt, and Krustojums, which were the home cities to all 15 teams in the Galvian Rugby Federation at the time. In 1967, with the tournament's expansion from 15 to 24 qualifying teams, the host city was determined by random selection out of a maximum of 10 candidates. These candidates were required to meet specific criteria, such as manpower, infrastructure, and budget. In 1969, after the city of Vijums was selected to host the tournament, civilians living in the city began protesting against the decision due to the possible effects caused by the logistics of hosting an event of such magnitude in what was, at the time, one of the most financially unstable cities in the country. This resulted in a shift within the selection process between 1970 and 1973, where hosting was then granted to the home city of the team that had one the last tournament.

In 1973, after the expansion of the NRC into its current 32-team format, the hosting rules were changed yet again following the complaints of fans and sports critics alike, calling out the GRF for unfair decision making. This was because the city of Antonija had been selected to host three consecutive times in 1970, 1971, and 1972, as the home city to the last three winning teams. As consequence, the hosting rules were changed a final time, to make hosting in the last winner's home city optional instead of mandatory, and to include the option of bids and candidacy once again, this time put forward by the government of each city a year in advance.

Today, the home city of the last winning team takes priority to host the following year's Championship, however, this cannot be the case for more than two times in a row, and cities that have hosted numerous times are encouraged to give up their slot for other cities to present a bid to host. Oftentimes, though rarely, cities willingly give up their right to host, due to complications surrounding politics, budget or infrastructure. City governments are given a one-month window, during the off-season, in May to renounce hosting priority, after which all home cities to the remaining teams to have made it into the last tournament can present their candidacy to host the following year. Hosts are then chosen by the National Rugby Committee, at the head of which is the president of the GRF. If no city puts forward a bid, the GRF is then tasked with negotiating with the cities' governments, usually resulting in multi-city hosting.

Hosts
As of 2023, 19 cities have hosted the National Rugby Championship, with the capital city, Antonija, having hosted the most editions, at a total of 12. The 19 cities that have hosted the game are home to 47 out of the 54 teams part of the GRF, and excluding outlier exceptions, tend to be the home towns to the 32 teams that make it into the tournament. Throughout all of the Championship's history, only 3 cities have renounced the right to host: Krustojums in 1979 (replaced by Novērošana), Sienal in 2003 (replaced by Yugzamok), and Antonija in 2015 (replaced by Alķīmija). Several plans to host multi-city tournaments have been discussed, particularly within the Kronis corridor, which includes the cities of Antonija, Aizsargāt, and Novērošana, but none of these have come to fruition, and as of 2023, all hosting cities have only hosted individually.

The city hosting the 2023 National Rugby Championship will be Varasitija, in the kingdom of Rozežjosla.

Entertainment
Starting in 1976, every edition of the National Rugby Championship has included an opening performance before the very first match of the tournament, a halftime performance during the halftime of the tournament's final match, and a closing performance at the end of the final match. The closing performance, however, is usually instrumental and is played in the background during the award ceremony. The tradition was started by the government of the city of Aizsargāt in 1976 to commemorate the tournament's 20th anniversary, and it was formalized after the city of Sienal did the same the following year for the tournament it hosted in 1977.

After the tradition became formalized, the National Rugby Committee set up a few rules surrounding the performances. As its main rule, all artists performing at any given show must be Galvian or, if born abroad, be well-known for their Galvic ethnic roots. This later rule was then expanded a year later to include Zemaki people, all of whom are also native to the present-day Galvian territory. Additionally, all spoken and sung performances must be in or, with no exception. This is done to promote Galvian culture, not only nationally but also to the people from other countries watching the performances, or foreigners who travel to see the Championship in person. Controversy surrounding this rule sparked when in 1998, ethnically Tretuish-Galvic singer, Nienke Averink, performed in both Galvian, and the variety of the Tretuish language spoken in Galvia. This resulted in Averink being blacklisted from performing again at any future edition of the NRC.

In 1986, final performances became required to stay strictly instrumental, after the final performance during the 1985 edition had to be stopped halfway as the singer's voice overpowered the announcer of the award ceremony. Since 2000, by tradition, the Kaudze Royal Philharmonic has been invited annually to perform at the closing show, as the most popular orchestra in the country.

Reception
The NRC's reception has stayed mainly positive since its creation, only receiving backlash in recent years due to bureaucratic decisions. The Championship has been described as one of Galvia's "biggest and most important traditions", and it's considered one of the largest national sport competitions in Alutra, and the largest event in the world.

Main critiques
The main point behind the tournament's critique is the exclusion of women's teams in the Championship, despite being part of the Galvian Rugby Federation. The critique stems from the sport's prevalent popularity among the female population, which, as of 2023 and in certain kingdoms such as Tirguš, Vakars and Zināša, outnumber the amount of men that partake in. Women have also showed better results than men at the sport since it first became integrated as part of most academic institutions' PE curriculum. In 2016, the competitive women's teams part of the GRF drafted and collected signatures for a petition to assemble a Women National Rugby Championship. Despite gathering nearly 4 million signatures nationwide, the GRF struck down the petition, under the pretext of there not being the requisite amount of teams for an event of such magnitude. This has also been called out, as the amount of women rugby teams at the time of the petition was of 22, a number of teams larger than what the Championship first had when it started between 1956 and 1967. Every edition of the NRC has been boycotted, though at a decreasing scale, since 2016 by women and men alike across the country, and GRF president, Arkādijs Krieviņš, asked to step down from his position and bashed publicly by fans and viewers.

Broadcasting
The competition was first broadcasted outside of Galvia during its 10th edition in 1966, when it was picked up by radio stations in neighbouring countries such as Ecoralia, Aquizireiki, and Renesia. The tournament wasn't televised by other non-Galvian Alutran networks until 1969, when it was aired on an Ecoral national sports channel. In the present day, the Championship is broadcasted live on all Alutran networks on international sports channels, and its editions are uploaded to most international TV soon after the final.

Since the NRC's first edition, the number of views has remained on a steady incline, with its largest jump in total number of viewers being between its 32nd and 33rd edition, in 1988 and 1989, respectively, when it increased from 2 million to 5.3 million domestic views, more than doubling its audience. As of 2023, the most recent number of individual domestic views is of 23.5 million, which is nearly 63% of Galvia's entire population. When including international live broadcasting, the number jumps to 23.7 million, for a total of around 200,000 individual international views.