Brisbane is about to host the world's biggest gay rugby tournament and it's a bigger deal than you'd think

Brisbane is about to get very loud, very proud and very good at rugby.

From Thursday 20 August to Sunday 23 August, Norths Rugby Club in Wavell Heights becomes the beating heart of the Bingham Cup, the biggest inclusive rugby tournament on the planet. More than fifty teams are flying in from across the globe, and every single match is free to watch.

If you have not heard of it, the Bingham Cup is basically the Gay Rugby World Cup. It began in San Francisco back in 2002, named after Mark Bingham, an openly gay rugby player and one of the passengers credited with storming the cockpit on United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11. Every two years since, a different city has hosted it, most recently Rome in 2024. Now it is Brisbane's turn, and organisers say it is the biggest edition Australia has ever staged.

The line-up reads like a world tour. Sydney Convicts, Kings Cross Steelers, San Francisco Fog and Gotham Knights are all in, alongside Australia's own First Nations Lorikeets and, for the first time ever, teams from Asia: the Tsurami Brats from Tokyo and the Taipei Warriors. The women's competition, the Amanda Mark Cup, named after Mark Bingham's best friend, runs alongside it.

And despite the name, you do not need to be gay, or even know the rules of rugby, to turn up. Straight players, coaches and supporters are just as much a part of it. That is rather the point.

Bingham Cup Brisbane organising committee chair Jason Garrick has promised a "festival of rugby" with an atmosphere that is unmistakably Bingham: fierce competition on the pitch, a genuinely safe and inclusive vibe off it, and by all accounts a very good time at the bar afterwards.

This is the sort of event that deserves more than a footnote in the sports pages. It is a proper city moment, a chance for Brisbane to show off in front of the world, and frankly a great excuse to spend a winter weekend watching elite rugby for nothing.

So clear your calendar, head to Wavell Heights, and pick a team to scream for. The full match schedule and directions are at binghamcup2026.com.