South Australia Rugby Union (SARU) was established 28th July 1932 with initial teams from Adelaide Rugby Club, Royal Australian Navy, Adelaide University and Waratahs (who formed from Adelaide RC).

SARU became an incorporated body in 1951, at that time there were eight registered rugby clubs.

During celebrations after the 1967 Grand Finals (where Old Collegians (19) def Elizabeth (18)), a few players from various rugby clubs decided that it was time to form a new club south of Tapley’s Hill.

In 1967 all South Australian Rugby was played under District Boundary rules. No rugby club existed from the top of Tapley’s Hill to Victor Harbour.

Adverts were placed at numerous places and the first meeting was held at the Port Noarlunga Hotel, November 1967, attended by many new players and players from other clubs. Some of those were:
Alan Desfontaines (formerly Glenelg),
Bryan Robinson (Black Forrest)
Brian Charlton (Black Forrest),
David Pearson (Woodville),
Merv Meyer (West Torrens),
Mike Smith (Cardiff U.K.), and
Brian Purdell (RAAF).

The decision to form the club was unanimous.

The first officers elected were B. Robinson as President and A. Desfontaines as Secretary.

The first name for the club was Harlequins (as the club was formed from a mix of players from other clubs). The club sought affiliation with all Harlequin Rugby Clubs but this was overruled by SARU, who requested a District type name. The Club decided on the name ONKAPARINGA, as it was the intention to procure a playing ground from the local council near to the Onkaparinga estuary.

The team started training without a ground, coach or jumpers, 25 people turned out for the first session and the training ground was the beach. Mike Smith was elected captain as he had the most illustrious playing career with Cardiff, RAAF and Harlequins.

Playing guernseys were borrowed from the State Team training set as money was raised to buy a second-hand set.

The Harlequins (Onkas) first game was played in the West Parklands on 6th April 1968 against Woodville II - This was actually a Division 3 game with a promotion at half season for the top team. Experienced State breakaways, Desfontaines and Meyer devastated Woodville's pattern and Onkas won 22 to 11. The quote from the Advertiser read "This team must be considered strong contenders for Div. 2 half way through the season."

After this game Desfontaines (Secretary) and Robinson (Chairman) were asked to appear on the Channel 10 Saturday morning sports show and this gave the club a player boost with 35 players at the next beach training session.

Alan Desfontaines was the youngest player and a senior State player (also reputed to be the youngest ever player at that time to play against the New Zealand All Blacks). Alan Taylor was the oldest player, playing alongside his son.

The Club’s next challenge was to procure its own ground, and the local council offered a rare piece of Real Estate on the edge of the council dump near the banks of the Onkaparinga River. The offer was accepted and the ground was graded flat by Matulick Earthmovers. There it stood. Flat, no grass and "only" money needed. The club never played on its new ground, instead playing home games at Bailey Reserve, training on the Beach. As winter approached, the club began training at Morphett Vale Primary School’s playing field under the light of a single street lamp. The field was nicknamed the “Cabbage Patch”

The club won the 1968 middle season trophy and was promoted to second division.

During the next few years, some of the big names of the club appeared on the scene: Graeme Burrows, Keith Wright, George Griffiths, Frank Ortiz, Colin Talbot, Alan Wright, John Pritchard, Bill Ramsay, John Hudson and Tom Astle are but a few.

Several premierships were won during this period the most enjoyable being "A" grades in Div.3 (1969), and Div.2 in 1975 and 1976. The two latter games were victories over Flinders University. (Notable performances came from Bryan Robinson, John Pritchard, Alan Wright, Roger Drew and Gavin Shepherd). Shepherd was selected to play for the state side during this time.

In 1970 the club and SARU negotiated with the local council to occupy O'Sullivan Beach Reserve, after looking at grounds in Christie Downs and Willunga. Some of the negotiators were J. Case, Colin Talbot, Brian Purdell, Dave Hurrell and Graeme Burrows. Onkas took over the lease of those grounds in 1973.

1973 was the first year that Onkas fielded junior teams in under 14 and 16.

In the next few years many good juniors started to play for the "Red Devils" and became prominent in senior ranks later. Richard Cooke, Tony Morton, Mark Tucker, Steve MacDonald, Dick Hughes, Greg Jardine and David Stewart are but a few. Records from 1976 show that in under 16s, Steve MacDonald was top scorer with 182 points, and in under 14, Simon Doughty scored 36 tries and Mark Robinson scored 24 tries.

In 1976 the U18s won the premiership, U14s finished second and U16s finished 3rd. The club’s Reserve grade reached the semi-finals and the Premier Grade (in Div 2) won the premiership.

SARU promoted Onkas to Division I in 1977. The club struggled and was beaten on the ground, but not in spirit, winning just one game that year.

That year, nine of the previous season’s under 18 side played in the first team, and Dick Hughes and Andrew Talbot are two of those players. The following few years saw the club gradually raise its position on the Div. 1 table to about halfway and players of the high caliber of Alan Wright, Sonny Tawera, Mike Severn, John Hudson, Dick Hughes, Martin Pritchard, Brian Jeffriess, Steve MacDonald, Tom Astle and Henk Hendriks were prominent.

1979 saw the club in a push for its own grounds at Morphett Vale. A strong fundraising committee was formed and about $46000 was raised to enable the club to build the original clubrooms at Wilfred Taylor Reserve on council lands. This was to be a turning point in the clubs' fortunes.

A young player to appear in the senior club colours was Simon Doughty. He won the Don Smith trophy in 1980 and went on to captain the State team for 5 seasons from 1985- 1989. It was in 1982 that Steven Balls made his senior club debut and went on to make a huge impact in the State side as a back row forward.

Player Fees at the start of 1980 were $25 for a senior player, plus a $5 membership fee for the O’Sullivan’s Beach Sports Ground.

In 1984, David Inglis was enticed away from Randwick to Onkas to captain/coach the A side. (John Pritchard was the main negotiator). David's then innovative style of coaching was immediately successful and the club played in its first Div.l finals. The enthusiasm Dave brought into the club that year proved to just the tonic the club needed. The following year Dave decided to "play only" and the club procured Mick Coffey from Brighton to coach the side (Mick was a former Glenelg and State hooker having played for the State side against the All Blacks in 1974).

Success was almost immediate and the A team reached its first ever Div1 grand final in 1985 only to lose narrowly to a Jerry Satala inspired Brighton side (14-12) in front of the largest ever grand final crowd. But the club was at last making its presence felt. Satala came "up the Hill" the next season to play with Onkas.

Onkas went in "hangover mode" the following year and then won the Premiership in 1987 under coach K. (Sonny) Tawera. This was a dual premiership year as Alan Wright captained/coached the 2nd team to the top also. David Bruce was the first team captain but missed the final game due to a broken ankle.

David Bruce coached the A grade team to successive grand finals in 1990 & 1991 but the club lost both times.

1994 saw Onkas meet Brighton in the Grand Final. The final was the first for many years that was drawn and was to be replayed the following week. The first game was the most entertaining final played for a very long time. Brighton raced away to an early lead and Onkas pulled back to be level and just failed to win despite many scoring chances in the last few minutes of the game. Brighton won the anti-climatic replay. Sonny Tawera was Onkas coach and Alex Lawson and Shane Cotton were joint captains.

Many very good players played for Onka juniors and progressed to senior State ranks. Among those are Simon Doughty, Steven Balls, Greg Jardine, Keith Ramsay, Neil Ramsay and Alex Lawson. Lawson left the club to further his promising rugby career in Brisbane and then in Wales. Previously he was captain of the Australian Div2 Schoolboys team to tour Japan in 1993. Neil Ramsay and Rino Panozzo were in the side also. Other National Schoolboy reps. were Alan Lord, Steven Balls and Shane Warren. Steven Balls played in 1982 & 1983 and Shane Warren in 2002.

In 1998 the club fielded its first Women’s team, coached by Jimmy Jones and captained by J Hart. The team, nicknamed “The Divas” went on to win the 2012, 2013 and 2020 premierships, before breaking up for the 2021 season.

In 2022 the women’s team reformed and continues to compete in the Premier Women’s Division

In 2008 the clubrooms at Wilfred Taylor Reserve were expanded to incorporate additional changerooms and more inside viewing space

In 2015 the club won its second Premier Grade Trophy, defeating Old Collegians 39-10.

Onkaparinga Rugby Club History