Brisbane City celebrate winning the inaugural NRC © Getty Images

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The National Rugby Championship will kick off for it's second season on Thursday 20 August with a grand final rematch between Brisbane City and Perth Spirit at Ballymore Stadium. In a mouth-watering opening round, the grand final rematch will open the series before the North Harbour Rays host the Sydney Stars at a fiery local derby in Manly.

Similar to last season, the 2015 NRC will once again visit regional areas across the Eastern Seaboard in New South Wales, Queensland and for the first time regional areas in Victoria. This year the competition will be played in Tamworth, Bathurst, Newcastle, Toowoomba, Rockhampton, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Frankston, Morwell and Geelong in order to continue growing rugby in regional areas.

Fox Sports will also continue their live coverage of the competition with the broadcaster televising every Thursday night game.

In 2014, the Australian Rugby Union introduced a host of new law variations and innovations to encourage attacking, free-flowing Rugby. By the end of the inaugural season, there were 358 tries in 39 matches, an average of 9.2 a game.

Round 1

Thursday 20 August: Brisbane City v Perth Spirit; Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane, 7:30pm

Saturday 22 August: North Harbour Rays v Sydney Stars, Manly Oval, Manly, 3:00pm

Greater Sydney Rams v NSW Country Eagles, Merrylands RSL Park, Sydney, 3:00pm

Sunday 23 August: Queensland Country v Melbourne Rising, Bond University, Gold Coast, 3:30pm

UC Vikings BYE

Round 2

Thursday 27 August: Sydney Stars v Queensland Country; Leichhardt Oval, Sydney, 7:30pm

Saturday 29 August: Melbourne Rising v Brisbane City, Harlequin Rugby Club, Melbourne, 2:00pm

NSW Country v Eagles v UC Vikings, Woollahra Oval, Sydney, 3:00pm

Perth Spirit v North Harbour Rays, McGillivray Fields, UWA Park 3:30pm

Greater Sydney Rams BYE

Round 3

Thursday 3 September: North Harbour Rays v Melbourne Rising; Manly Oval, Manly, 7:30pm

Saturday 5 September: UC Vikings v Greater Sydney Rams, Viking Park, Canberra, 2:00pm

Sydney Stars v Perth Spirit, Leichhardt Oval, Sydney, 3:00pm

Sunday 6 September: Queensland Country v Brisbane City, Clive Berghofer Stadium, Toowoomba, 3:30pm

NSW County Eagles BYE

Round 4

Thursday 10 September: Brisbane City v North Harbour Rays; Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane, 7:30pm

Saturday 12 September: NSW Country Eagles v Sydney Stars, Chillingworth Oval, Tamworth, 3:00pm

Greater Sydney Rams v Queensland Country, Foreshaw Park, Sydney, 3:00pm

Perth Spirit v UC Vikings, McGillivray Fields, UWA Park, 3:30pm

Melbourne Rising BYE

Round 5

Thursday 17 September: UC Vikings v Sydney Stars; Viking Park, Canberra, 7:30pm

Saturday 19 September: Melbourne Rising v Greater Sydney Rams, La Trobe City Stadium, Morwell, 2:00pm

Queensland Country v Perth Spirit, Rugby Park, Rockhampton, 6:00pm

Sunday 20 September: Brisbane City v NSW Country Eagles, Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane, 3:30pm

North Harbour Rays BYE

Round 6

Thursday 24 September: NSW Country Eagles v Queensland Country, Newcastle No. 2 Sports Ground, Newcastle, 7:30pm

Saturday 26 September: North Harbour Rays v UC Vikings, Pittwater Rugby Park, Sydney, 3:00pm

Perth Spirit v Melbourne Rising, McGillivray Fields, UWA Park, 3:30pm

Sunday 27 September: Sydney Stars v Greater Sydney Rams, Leichhardt Oval, Sydney, 3:00pm

Brisbane City BYE

Round 7

Thursday 1 October: Greater Sydney Rams v North Harbour Rays; Pirtek Stadium, Sydney, 7:30pm

Friday 2 October: UC Vikings v Melbourne Rising, Viking Park, Canberra, 7:30pm

Sydney Stars v Brisbane City, Leichhardt Oval, Sydney, 7:30pm

Sunday 4 October: Perth Spirit v NSW Country Eagles, McGillivray Fields, UWA Park, 3:00pm

Queensland Country BYE

Round 8

Thursday 8 October: Melbourne Rising v NSW Country Eagles, Simonds Stadium, Geelong, 7:30pm

Saturday 10 October: UC Vikings v Brisbane City, Viking Park, Canberra, 2:00pm

North Harbour Rays v Queensland Country, Pittwater Rugby Park, Sydney, 3:00pm

Greater Sydney Rams v Perth Spirit, Concord Oval, Sydney, 3:00pm

Sydney Stars BYE

Round 9

Thursday 15 October: Queensland Country v UC Vikings; Sunshine Coast Stadium, Sunshine Coast, 7:30pm

Saturday 17 October: Brisbane City v Greater Sydney Rams, Ballymore Stadium, Brisbane, 3:30pm

NSW Country Eagles v North Harbour Rays, Ann Ashwood Park, Bathurst, 4:00pm

Sunday 18 October: Melbourne Rising v Sydney Stars, Frankston Oval, Victoria, 1:30pm

Perth Spirit BYE