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College rugby in the United States
California Golden Bears v Saint Mary's Gaels match in March 2010
Governing body
First played1874
Registered players65,000[1]
Clubs900
Club competitions

College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the United States. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of rugby union are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the auspices of the NCAA and are instead governed by National Collegiate Rugby and USA Rugby, two nationwide governing bodies. 27 women's programs participate in the NCAA.

College rugby is the fastest growing college sport in the US and one of the fastest growing sports in the nation as the number of athletes increased by roughly 350% from 18,500 in 2006 to 65,000 in 2010.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Women's rugby is an NCAA Emerging Sport.[1] Over 900 college teams—male and female—are registered with USA Rugby and hundreds more with National Collegiate Rugby.[9] Over 32,000 college players are registered with USA Rugby, making college rugby the largest section of its membership.[10]

The highest profile college rugby sevens competition is the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC). College club rugby has included several championship competitions since 1980.

Rugby has been played in universities since as early as the 1800s, but in the 1960s rugby found a foothold in colleges, led by Catholic colleges such as Notre Dame and particularly Jesuit universities such as Boston College and St. Joseph's in Philadelphia.[11] Several schools have upgraded their investments in rugby by creating programs with varsity or quasi-varsity status and funding for scholarships.[12]

Alumni from collegiate programs make up much of the United States men's and women's national teams.

Major League Rugby implemented its first collegiate MLR Draft in 2020. Players are eligible for the draft after 3 years in college at 21 years old. Free agents can join teams at age 18.[13][14][15][16]

Governance

[edit]
Pacific Tigers kicking off in a 1961 game

The College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) oversees the top-level men's and women's divisions.[17][18]

27 schools govern their women's teams under applicable NCAA bylaws for recruiting and eligibility, under the NCAA's Emerging Sports for Women program. The NCAA has no authority over men's college rugby.

College rugby is often called a club sport because teams are usually administered by a student club sports department rather than the intercollegiate athletics department. Some schools promoted rugby to varsity status, committing resources for scholarships and paid coaches, or given rugby an elevated status short of full varsity status.

History

[edit]

In the United States, college rugby was traditionally governed by (in descending order of authority): USA Rugby, geographical unions (GUs) and local area unions (LAUs) (e.g., NERFU) and administered by a College Management Committee.[19]

The Ivy Rugby Conference formed in 2009.[20] This move signaled a shift away from the LAUs and GUs as the governing bodies for regional college rugby. By 2011 USA Rugby was urging college rugby programs to adopt new conference structures like the conferences used by their other athletic programs. In 2019, in the wake of USA Rugby's bankruptcy declaration, the College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) formed to oversee the top-level men's and women's divisions.[17][18]

Play and participation

[edit]
Lynchburg College team photo after defeating Emory & Henry College, 35–15. Fall 2015

Winter and spring are the primary seasons for conferences in the Pacific, Northwest, and South regions (e.g., PAC, Southeastern); the fall is the primary season for conferences in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Upper Midwest (e.g., Big Ten, Atlantic Coast). Conferences establish playing schedules in the primary season, while in the secondary season the teams often set up friendly matches or focus on playing rugby sevens.

USA Rugby maintains player eligibility guidelines, administered by the local area unions. College players generally have five years of rugby eligibility from the time they graduate high school.[citation needed] On-field disciplinary issues are generally handled by the local area unions, while off-field disciplinary issues are governed by the academic institution and the local area union. USA Rugby's CIPP insurance program provides liability insurance to players, teams, administrators, and pitch hosts in exchange for an annual dues payment. Roughly one quarter of college rugby programs offer financial aid to their players.[21]

Outstanding college rugby players are recognized as All-Americans.[22] Qualified All-Americans can represent the United States in international tournaments by playing on the United States national under-20 rugby union team or the All Americans rugby union team.

Divisions

[edit]

College rugby competition within USA Rugby's collegiate arm is divided into several tiers:

  • The highest is Division IA for men and women
  • Division IAA for men and Division I for women
  • Division II for men and women

A separate organization, National Collegiate Rugby (NCR), has competition for both men and women in its own defined D1, D2 and small college divisions. National Intercollegiate Rugby Association(NIRA) consists of women's NCAA DI, II and III rugby programs that adhere to NCAA organizational rules under a sanctioning agreement with USA Rugby.[23]

USA Rugby generally allows colleges to select the division in which the college thinks it would fit best. Most schools remain in the same division from year-to-year, but there are exceptions. Schools that have been successful in a particular division may move up but are not required to do so; likewise, poorly performing schools may move down a division, but are not required to. Successful schools may have varied reasons for declining promotion. For example, a school may prefer to remain in its current conference against traditional rivals, or a school with a small budget might resist the additional travel expense that might come from switching divisions and conferences.

Significant movement across men's divisions occurred in 2011 when USA Rugby separated Division I into Division I-A and I-AA.[24] This new arrangement caused Division I schools to choose one or the other, with 31 schools joining Division I-A and the majority of Division I schools joining Division I-AA.[24] Additionally, the creation of Division I-AA caused several successful Division II schools to move up to Division I-A. The evolving division structures caused significant shifts in schools between Divisions I-A and I-AA in the following years, with half of the original 31 D I-A members leaving by the end of 2013, and new schools from lower divisions taking their place.[24]

The governance of collegiate rugby was split and diverged in 2021. The umbrella of the USA Rugby Collegiate Council includes College Rugby Association of America (CRAA), American Collegiate Rugby Association (ACRA), American College Rugby (ACR), and independent conferences.[23] National Collegiate Rugby (NCR), formerly NSCRO, challenged the existing structure and expanded beyond small colleges to include the higher divisions. Men's and women's conferences each chose as individual conferences (in some cases, schools within conferences also chose[23]) to align with USA Rugby or NCR.

Women

[edit]

Twelve women's conferences that played historically in DII left the oversight of USA Rugby to join NCR. Beginning in 2021, women's college rugby within NCR is split between Small College and an Open Division. The Open Division, which NCR now refers to as its DI, is made up of teams from these 12 conferences.[23]

According to Goff Rugby Report, the DI Elite women's teams are part of College Rugby Association of America, and so are most women's DI conferences (eight conferences) and the independents. There are also a couple of DII or hybrid conferences within CRAA.[23][25]

The American Collegiate Rugby Association is a group of four DII-level women's conferences remaining under the aegis of USA Rugby, which included 62 teams as of June 2020.[25][26]

The collegiate women's programs in the NIRA operate their own regular season competition and championship.

Men

[edit]

In 2011 USA Rugby created a new Division 1-A with approximately 30 schools forming a new premier division.[27] Two men's conferences that played DI-A in 2019 joined NCR in 2021, as did three DI-AA conferences. Under NCR, they competed in fall 2021 as DI and DI-AA, with separate postseasons.[23] In 2021, there were five men's DI-A conferences plus independents under USA Rugby/CRAA.[23]

Men's DI-AA was dramatically split in 2021, with both NCR and CRAA-run postseasons in the fall. There was also a CRAA-run postseason in spring 2022. According to Goff Rugby Report, there was no way to have a sole men's DI-AA national champion in 2021–2022.[23]

In 2021, most DII men's rugby conferences aligned with NCR.[23]

Varsity programs

[edit]

Men's varsity

[edit]

Majority of colleges classify their rugby programs as club sports rather than varsity sports. A growing number of universities, however, have begun labeling rugby as a varsity sport, realizing that a successful rugby program can have a net positive effect on university revenue and increase a school's marketability.[28]

Men's College Varsity Programs (arranged by date)
No. College Athletic
affiliation		 Metro area Varsity
since		 National achievements
1 California (Berkeley)[29] D1: Pac-12 Berkeley, CA 1882 26 national championships since 1980, 5 CRC 7s championships
2 Paul Smith's College (USCAA) Paul Smiths, NY 2000 2013 and 2017 ~ NSCRO Ranked Top 40
3 Cal Maritime (NAIA) Vallejo, CA 2001 NSCRO rank #1 (2009, 2010); runner-up (2012)[30]
4 Franciscan University D3: 3RRC Steubenville, OH 2001 NSCRO Ranked #1 (2012); 3rd at Nationals
5 Norwich D3: GNAC Northfield, VT 2008 D2 national playoffs (2013)
6 American International College[31] D2: NE-10 Springfield, MA 2009
7 Davenport University[32] D2: Great Lakes Grand Rapids, MI 2009
8 Life University[33] (NAIA) Marietta, GA 2010 D1-A champion (2013, 2016, 2018, 2019); D1-A runner-up (2014, 2015, 2017)
9 Lindenwood D1: Ohio Saint Louis, MO 2011 D1 7s champion (2015, 2017, 2018), CRC 7s champion (2018); D1-AA runner-up (2013)
10 Wheeling University[34] D2: Mtn. East Wheeling, WV 2012
11 Principia College[35] D3 Elsah, IL Pre-2013 USA Rugby Division 2 7s title champion (2013). NCR D2 National Champs 15s (2022)[36]
12 Army[37] D1: Patriot West Point, NY 2014
13 Bethel College[38] (NAIA) Mishawaka, IN 2015
14 New England College[39] D3: NECC Henniker, NH 2015 NSCRO National Champions VII's (2014), NSCRO National Champion XV's (2015), National runner-up XV's (2014)[40]
15 Marywood University[41] D3 Scranton, PA 2018
16 Queens University of Charlotte[42] D2: SAC Charlotte, NC 2018
17 Southern Virginia University[43] Buena Vista, Virginia 2019
18 Belmont Abbey College[44] Belmont, North Carolina 2019
19 Adrian College[45] Adrian, Michigan 2021
20 McKendree University[46] Lebanon, Illinois 2021
21 Siena College[47] Loudonville, New York 2021
22 Navy[48] D1: Patriot Annapolis, MD 2022
23 Walsh University[49][50] North Canton, Ohio 2024
24 Alfred University[51][52] Alfred, NY 2026
25 Loyola University[53] New Orleans, La 2026
Former Men's College Varsity Programs (arranged by date)
No. College Athletic
affiliation		 Metro area Varsity
duration		 National achievements/notes
1 UCLA[54][55][56][57][58] D1A: Independent Los Angeles 1934-1982 2 national championships: 1972, 1975
2 Alderson Broaddus University[59] DII Philippi, West Virginia 2019-2023
3 Notre Dame College DII South Euclid, Ohio 2012-2024 Walsh University took on Notre Dame College's varsity rugby teams after its closure in 2024.
4 Central Washington DII Ellensburg, Washington 2014-2025 Central Washington University announced it would close its varsity programs at the end of the academic year in 2025 having been varsity since 2014.[60]
Men's College Quasi-Varsity Programs
No. College Athletic
affiliation		 Metro area Status
1 Penn State D1: Big Ten University Park, PA "Team sports" status; member of Athletic Department.[61]
2 BYU D1: West Coast Provo, UT Rugby is one of four extramural sports teams sponsored by the school.[62]
3 Spring Hill College D2: SIAC Mobile, AL Receives support from the athletics department, including a full-time head coach.[63]
4 Kutztown D2: PSAC Kutztown, PA Kutztown rugby has been designated as elite club status.[64]
5 Arizona D1: Pac-12 Tucson, AZ Rugby is in the "Cactus Tier", an elevated level of intercollegiate competition.
6 Mount St. Mary's D1: Northeast Emmitsburg, MD Elevated to "Premier Team Sport" status.[65][66]
7 Dartmouth D1: Ivy League Hanover, NH Men's rugby uses varsity facilities, has full-time coaching staff.
8 Texas D1:SEC Austin, Tx Men's rugby upgraded to 'Olympic sport' designation.
9 Catholic University of America D3:MAC Washington, DC Men's rugby elevated to 'Premier Team Sport'.[67]
10 Eastern University[68] Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Women's Rugby: An NCAA Emerging Sport

[edit]
Logo of NCAA Rugby with the "Emerging Sport" at bottom

The NCAA marked women's rugby as an NCAA Emerging Sports for Women in 2002. Thereafter schools began adding women's rugby as an NCAA sport. An "Emerging Sport" must gain championship status (minimum 40 varsity programs, except 28 for Division III) within 10 years, or show progress toward that goal to remain on the list.[69] Until then, it is under the auspices of the NCAA and its respective institutions. Emerging Sport status allows competition to include club teams to satisfy the NCAA's minimum number of competitions rule.

Growth was initially slow, with only 5 of nearly 350 collegiate teams qualifying.[70] The push for NCAA rugby status received a boost in 2009 when the International Olympic Committee announced that rugby would return to the Summer Olympics in 2016. Although NCAA Division I schools dropped 72 women's varsity sports teams during 2008–2012 due to the recession,[71] women's rugby programs grew in number.

As of the fall of 2022, the NCAA had sanctioned rugby for 27 schools across three divisions, adding Princeton University for the 2022–23 season. In addition, other schools have teams with varsity status that are not under NCAA governance. Current women's varsity rugby programs, as of March 2025, include the following:[72]

Penn State vs West Chester University of Pennsylvania (2008).Nichole Lopes '07 '09 with the ball for Penn State
Women's varsity programs
School Metro area Varsity since NIRA Division
1 Bowdoin College Brunswick, Maine 2004 III
2 West Chester University West Chester, Pennsylvania 2004 II
3 Norwich University Northfield, Vermont 2005
4 Army West Point, New York 2010 I
5 Life University[73] Marietta, Georgia 2010
6 Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts 2013 I
7 Brown University[74] Providence, Rhodes Island 2014 I
8 American International College[75] Springfield, Massachusetts 2015 II
9 Dartmouth College[76] Hanover, New Hampshire 2015 I
10 Sacred Heart University[77] Fairfield, Connecticut 2015 I
11 Vermont State University[78] Castleton, Vermont 2016
12 University of New England[79][80] Portland, Maine 2016 III
13 Wheeling University[81] Wheeling, West Virginia 2016
14 Paul Smith's College[82] Paul Smiths, New York 2016
15 Long Island University[83] Brooklyn, New York 2017 I
16 Mount St. Mary's University[84] Emmitsburg, Maryland 2017 I
17 Queens University of Charlotte[42] Charlotte, North Carolina 2018 I
18 Guilford College[85] Greensboro, North Carolina 2019 III
19 New England College[86] Henniker, New Hampshire 2019
20 Post University[87] Waterbury, Connecticut 2020
21 Adrian College[88] Adrian, Michigan 2021
22 McKendree University[88] Lebanon, Illinois 2021
23 University of New Haven[89] West Haven, Connecticut 2021 II
24 Lander University[90] Greenwood, South Carolina 2021
25 Princeton University[91][92] Princeton, New Jersey 2022 I
26 Navy[48] Annapolis, Maryland 2022 I
27 Davenport University[93] Grand Rapids, Michigan 2022 II
28 Newberry College[94] Newberry, South Carolina 2022 II
29 Siena College[95] Loudonville, New York 2022
30 Warren Wilson College[96] Swannanoa, North Carolina 2023 III
31 Frostburg State University[97] Frostburg, Maryland 2023 II
32 Emory & Henry University[98] Emory, Virginia 2023 II
33 Lindenwood[99] St. Charles, Missouri 2024 I
34 Walsh University[49] North Canton, Ohio 2024
35 La Salle University[100] Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2025 I
36 Thomas College[101] Waterville, Maine 2025 III
37 Alfred University[52] Alfred, New York 2025
38 Loyola University[53] New Orleans, Louisiana 2026

Castleton University merged with several other universities to form Vermont State University in 2023.

Women's College Quasi-Varsity Programs
No. School Metro area Athletic
affiliation		 Notes
1 Eastern University[68] Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Former Women's varsity programs
School Metro area Varsity duration NIRA Division Notes}
1 Quinnipiac University[102] Hamden, Connecticut 2011-2026 I
2 Notre Dame College South Euclid, Ohio 2012-2024 Walsh University took on Notre Dame College's varsity rugby teams after its closure in 2024.
3 Central Washington Ellensburg, Washington 2014-2025 Central Washington University announced it would close its varsity programs at the end of the academic year in 2025.[60]
4 Alderson Broaddus University[59] Philippi, West Virginia 2019-2023

Division 1 Men's National Championships (15s)

[edit]

National Invitational Championship

[edit]
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-upRef.
1972Palmer College of Chiropractic28–17Navy[103][104][105]
1973Palmer College of Chiropractic13–4Illinois[103][106]
1974Texas A&M12–0LSU[103][107]
1975not held[108]
1976LSU21–3Palmer College of Chiropractic[109]
1977moved from fall to following spring
1978Palmer College of Chiropractic19–4LSU[110][111]
1979Palmer College of Chiropractic24–6LSU[112]

USA Rugby 1980–2012

[edit]

Except for interruption by the COVID-19 pandemic, USA Rugby has crowned an official national men's champion each year since 1980.[113] After the 2010 season, USA Rugby split Division 1 into two, with the top flight called Division 1-A Rugby (formerly called the College Premier Division), and the second flight called Division 1-AA.

YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
1980California15 – 9Air Force
1981California6 – 3 (a.e.t.)Harvard
1982California15 – 14Life College
1983California13 – 3Air Force
1984Harvard12 – 4Colorado
1985California31 – 6Maryland
1986California6 – 4Dartmouth
1987San Diego State10 – 9Air Force
1988California9 – 3Dartmouth
1989Air Force25 – 7Penn State
1990Air Force18 – 12Army
1991California20 – 14Army
1992California27 – 17Army
1993California36 – 6Air Force
1994California27 – 13Navy
1995California48 – 16Air Force
1996California47 – 6Penn State
1997California41 – 15Penn State
1998California34 – 15Stanford
1999California36 – 5Penn State
2000California62 – 16Wyoming
2001California86 – 11Penn State
2002California43 – 22Utah
2003Air Force45 – 37Harvard
2004California46 – 24Cal Poly
2005California44 – 7Utah
2006California29 – 26BYU
2007California37 – 7BYU
2008California59 – 7BYU
2009BYU25 – 22California
2010California19 – 7BYU
2011California21 – 14BYU [114]
2012BYU49 – 42Arkansas State

2013–2017

[edit]

In 2013, eight of the top college rugby teams withdrew from the USA Rugby D1A competition and organized their own championship called the Varsity Cup. The media and other rugby commentators viewed the Varsity Cup as equivalent to the USA Rugby D1A championship, given the strength of the teams participating and the fact that the 2013 Varsity Cup finalists—BYU and Cal—finished the spring 2013 season as the consensus #1 and #2 ranked teams in all of college rugby.[115][116][117] Four additional schools joined the Varsity Cup for 2014, bringing the number of teams in that tournament to twelve. The Varsity Cup was successful in gaining media exposure, with the 2014 Varsity Cup final televised live on NBCSN. USA Rugby responded to the successful promotion of its Varsity Cup rivals by signing a ten-year contract in October 2014 with IMG that would focus on the marketing and increase exposure of USA Rugby's Collegiate National Championship.[118] The Varsity Cup folded in November 2017 when the organizer, broadcast partner and a major sponsor, Penn Mutual, withdrew their support.[119]

The lists below show the champions for the Division 1-A Rugby and the Varsity Cup championships for each year, along with the teams' final regular season rankings, as ranked by RugbyMag/RugbyToday.com.

USA Rugby championship
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2013(#3) Life University16 – 14St. Mary's (CA) (#5)
2014(#1) St. Mary's (CA)21 – 6Life University (#3)
2015(#3) St. Mary's (CA)30 – 24Life University (#4)
2016(#3) Life University24 – 20St. Mary's (CA) (#5)
2017(#1) St. Mary's (CA)30 – 24Life University (#2)
Varsity Cup Championship
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2013(#1) BYU27 – 24California (#2)
2014(#2) BYU43 – 33California (#4)
2015(#1) BYU [a]30- 27California (#2)
2016(#1) Cal40 – 29BYU (#2)
2017(#3) Cal43 – 13Arkansas St. (#5)
  1. ↑ In 2016, BYU was stripped of the 2015 title for using an ineligible player.[120]

USA Rugby 2018–present

[edit]
2018–present
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2018Life University60 – 5California
2019Life University29 – 26California
2020cancelled (pandemic)
2021cancelled (pandemic)
2022Army20 – 8St. Mary's (CA)
2023Navy28 – 22California
2024St. Mary's26 – 22Navy
2025California55 – 38Life University
2026 California 36 – 22 Navy

National Collegiate Rugby (Men)

[edit]
Division I
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2021St. Bonaventure19 – 18Penn State
2022Brown21 – 5Queens
2023Notre Dame College33 – 10St. Bonaventure
2024Brown23 – 20Queens[121]
2025 St. Bonaventure 55-19 Queens

Men's Division 1-AA

[edit]

USA Rugby

[edit]
2011–present
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2011Davenport38 – 19UC Santa Barbara[122]
2012Davenport39 – 0San Diego State[123] (Davenport promoted to D-1A for the following season)
2013Central Florida27 – 25Lindenwood[124] (Lindenwood promoted to D-1A for the following season)
2014Central Florida64 – 13Arizona[125]
2015UC Davis18 – 15Central Florida[126]
2016UC Davis17 – 13Notre Dame College[127]
2017Notre Dame College40 – 20UC Davis[128]
2018Mary Washington38 – 30Dartmouth[129]
2018 fallBowling Green19 – 7Saint Joseph's
2019 springDartmouth46 – 5Chico State
2019 fallIowa Central Community College36 – 21Western Michigan[130]
2020 springCancelled (pandemic)
2020 fall
2021 spring
2021 fallTennessee36 – 31Bowling Green (CRAA)[131]
2022 springFresno State22 – 17Kansas (ACR)[132][133]
2023 springSacramento State28 – 24Florida State (CRAA)[134][135]
University of San Diego41 – 19Iowa State (ACR)[136][137]
2024 springUniversity of San Diego38 – 7Iowa State (CRAA)
2025 springSt. Thomas University (Florida)38 – 32University of San Diego

National Collegiate Rugby (Men)

[edit]
Division I-AA
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2021Virginia Tech34 – 22West Chester
2022Virginia Tech24 – 22Louisville
2023Kentucky43 – 28Louisville
2024Kentucky57 – 14Bowling Green[138]
2025Tennessee21 – 15Bowling Green[139]

Division 1 Women's National Championships (15s)

[edit]

USA Rugby Women's Division 1A

[edit]

The following are the results from the Division 1 women's national championship, from 1991 to the present.[140] USA Rugby established a new division called "Division 1 Elite" that began championship competition in 2016, following which the remainder of Division 1 was called "Division 1 Club" (later shortened to "Division 1"). Division 1 Elite became "Division 1A" in the 2024-2025 season.

Division 1
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
1991Air Force12–0Boston College
1992Boston College12–6Connecticut
1993Connecticut17–0Air Force
1994Air Force7–3Boston College
1995Princeton20–0Penn State
1996PrincetonPenn State
1997Penn StateRadcliffe
1998RadcliffePenn State
1999StanfordPrinceton
2000Penn StatePrinceton
2001Chico StatePenn State
2002Air ForcePenn State
2003Air ForceIllinois
2004Penn StatePrinceton
2005Stanford53 – 6Penn State
2006Stanford15 – 12Penn State
2007Penn State22 – 21Stanford
2008Stanford15 – 10Penn State
2009Penn State46 – 7Stanford
2010Penn State24 – 7Stanford
2011Army33 – 29Penn State[141]
2012Penn State32 – 12Stanford [142]
2013Penn State65 – 10Norwich [143]
2014Penn State38 – 0Stanford
2015Penn State61 – 7Central Washington
Division 1A ("Division 1 Elite" through 2024)
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2016Penn State15 – 5Brigham Young
2017Penn State28 – 25Lindenwood
2018Lindenwood36 – 9Life University
2019Lindenwood36 – 19Life University
2020cancelled (pandemic)
2021Lindenwood54 – 12Life University
2022Lindenwood21 – 0Life University
2022 (fall)Lindenwood17 – 15Life University (CRAA, moved from spring 2023 to fall 2022)
2024Life University44 – 41Lindenwood (CRAA, moved from fall 2023 to spring 2024)
2025Lindenwood19 – 15Life University (CRAA)

USA Rugby Women's Division 1

[edit]
Division 1 (formerly "Division 1 Club")
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2015–16 (fall)Connecticut19 – 12Air Force [144]
(spring)UC Davis30 – 25Virginia[145]
2016–17 (fall)Air Force19 – 8Connecticut[146]
(spring)UC Davis27 – 19Notre Dame College[147]
2017–18 (fall)Davenport89 – 24Notre Dame College [148]
(spring)Chico State54 – 26UCF [129]
2018–19 (fall)Air Force40 – 27Davenport [149]
(spring)BYU48 – 0Virginia Tech [150]
2019–20 (fall)Air Force26 – 10Navy [151]
(spring)cancelled (pandemic)
2020–21 (fall)
(spring)
2021–22 (fall)Navy20 – 12Davenport (CRAA)[152]
(spring)BYU80 – 7Virginia Tech (CRAA)
2022–23 (fall)Navy61 – 28Utah State (CRAA)
(spring)BYUforfeitVirginia (CRAA)
2023–24 (fall)Northeastern42 – 7Colorado Mesa (CRAA)[153]
(spring)Stanford36 – 19Grand Canyon (CRAA)
2024–25Stanford57 – 25California (CRAA)

National Collegiate Rugby (Women)

[edit]
Division 1
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2021 (fall)Life University87 – 3Northern Iowa (For NCR in 2021, Life University fielded a largely freshman and sophomore team.[25])
2022 (fall)Michigan41 – 14Notre Dame College
2023 (fall)Michigan33 – 17Notre Dame College
2024 (fall)Wheeling58 – 17Southern Nazarene[154]

College Rugby Sevens

[edit]

Since the 2009 announcement that rugby sevens will be included in the 2016 Olympics, college rugby sevens has grown more popular. The addition of Rugby 7s to the 2016 Summer Olympics has led to increasing interest from TV and other media coverage, and an increased emphasis in the collegiate ranks on the 7s game. For example, the University of Texas founded its competitive rugby sevens program in 2010.[155] Cal rugby announced in December 2011 that beginning in 2013 it would use the fall term for sevens.[156]

Collegiate Rugby Championship

[edit]

The Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) is the highest profile college sevens rugby championship in the United States. The inaugural CRC, held in Columbus, Ohio in June 2010 was televised live by NBC and NBC Universal.[157] The result was high ratings, with the CRC ratings beating the NCAA lacrosse championship.[158]

The success of the inaugural 2010 tournament led to a second tournament in 2011 at PPL Park in Philadelphia, again televised live by NBC.[159] NBC recognized that rugby is growing in popularity, participation, and interest.[160] In 2014, the Penn Mutual Life Insurance company become the title sponsor of the championship. The tournament grew each year and was signed to a multi-year deal with several large sponsors and Talen Energy Stadium (Formerly PPL Park) for the tournament to be held in Philadelphia for several more years.[161][162]

The National Collegiate Rugby Organization obtained the rights to the CRC in 2020 and in 2021 and 2022 staged its championship 7s matches at the tournament in New Orleans. In 2023, it moved to the Maryland suburbs of Washington DC.

Men's

[edit]
Division I Premier
("Division I" before 2022)
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2010Utah31 – 26California[163]
2011Dartmouth32 – 10Army
2012Dartmouth24 – 5Arizona
2013California19 – 14Life
2014California24 – 21Kutztown
2015California17 – 12 (a.e.t.)Kutztown
2016California31 – 7UCLA
2017California19 – 0Life
2018Lindenwood24 – 7UCLA
2019Lindenwood21 – 12Life
2020cancelled (pandemic)
2021Lindenwood24 – 14Life
2022Kutztown17 – 12Dartmouth
2023Mount St. Mary's19 – 5Indiana
2024Wheeling29 – 12Kutztown
2025Wheeling19 – 5St. Bonaventure
Division I Club
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2022Sam Houston State17 – 15Salisbury
2023University of San Diego15 – 7Clemson
2024Louisville29 – 0North Carolina State
2025North Carolina State12 – 7UNC Charlotte

Women's

[edit]
Division I Premier
("Division I" before 2022)
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2011Army14 – 5Penn State[164]
2012not held
2013Penn State31 – 5Ohio State[165]
2014Penn State29 – 12James Madison
2015Penn State24 – 7Lindenwood
2016Life19 – 10Lindenwood
2017Life17 – 12Lindenwood
2018Lindenwood21 – 12Penn State
2019Lindenwood34 – 12Army
2020cancelled (pandemic)
2021Lindenwood10 – 7Life
2022Lindenwood19 – 7Life (Premier)
2023Brown21 – 19Army
2024Brown12 – 5Army
2025Brown19 – 7Army
Division I Club
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2022Roger Williams12 – 7Wisconsin–Eau Claire
2023Clemson29 – 17Massachusetts
2024Claremont17 – 7Oregon
2025Northeastern15 – 12Iowa

USA Rugby National Championship

[edit]

USA Rugby announced in September 2011 the creation of a new sevens tournament, the USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships.[166] The tournament was held annually at the end of the fall season for its first three years and featured 24 teams. Qualification is based on performance at sevens tournaments during the fall, where tournament winners receive automatic bids, with the remaining places in the 24-team field filled by invitation. Some of the more high-profile qualifying tournaments include tournaments based on traditional conference rivalries, such as the Atlantic Coast 7s (composed mostly of ACC schools), the Southeastern 7s (composed mostly of SEC schools) and the Heart of America 7s (composed mostly of Big 12 schools).

The inaugural Championship tournament was held December 16–17, 2011 in College Station, Texas, and was contested by 24 teams that qualified based on performance in qualifying tournaments throughout the fall of 2011. The 2011 tournament was won by Life University, defeating Central Washington 22–17 in overtime.[167] Tim Stanfill of Central Washington was the tournament MVP, Derek Patrick of Miami was the tournament's leading try scorer, and Colton Caraiga of Life University was the tournament's leading points scorer.[168] In the first three years, strong teams that won bids have declined to participate.[169][170][171]

Men's Division I

[edit]
Division I
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2011Life University22 – 17Central Washington
2012Arkansas State21 -7Life University
2013Arkansas State32 – 12Saint Mary's (CA)
2014(moved from fall 2014 to spring 2015)
2015Lindenwood28 – 10Davenport
2016Saint Mary's7 – 5AIC[172]
2017Lindenwood26 – 5Saint Mary's[173]
2018Lindenwood26 – 12California
2019Lindenwood36 – 0AIC[174]
2020cancelled (pandemic)
2021cancelled (pandemic)
2022Life University24 – 19 (a.e.t.)Lindenwood[175][176]
2023Life University28 – 17Lindenwood
2024cancelled (not enough teams)[177]
2025not held

Men's Division I-AA

[edit]
Division I-AA
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2019Lindenwood-Belleville19 – 5Western Michigan[174]
2020cancelled (pandemic)
2021cancelled (pandemic)
2022San Diego28 – 14Harvard[176]
2023Iowa State20 – 10Nebraska (ACR)
2024Western Washington21 – 0Oregon (CRAA/ACR)
2025St. Thomas University (Florida)42 – 12Iowa (CRAA)

Women's

[edit]
Division I Elite/Premier
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2018Lindenwood20–0Penn State
2019Lindenwood24–7Dartmouth[174]
2020cancelled (pandemic)
2021cancelled (pandemic)
2022Lindenwood32 – 0Dartmouth[175][178]
2023Life17 – 12Lindenwood
2024Harvard17 – 12Lindenwood
2025Dartmouth31 – 0Life University
Division I/College Club
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2011Norwich University34–5Boston College[179]
2012Norwich University17–5Navy[179]
2013Norwich University17–10James Madison[179]
2014(moved from fall to spring)
2015Penn State47–26Central Washington
2016Life10–0Lindenwood[180]
2017 (Open, all divisions)Lindenwood31–12Life[181]
2018 (Open to DII)Air Force20–17Chico State
2019Air Force21–5Virginia Tech[182]
2020cancelled (pandemic)
2021cancelled (pandemic)
2022Davenport24 – 17Navy[178]
2023Northeastern19 – 5Air Force
2024 (Open to DII)Western Washington12 – 7Colorado State
2025 (Open to DII)Stanford19 – 7California

Conference membership

[edit]

Team rankings are in parentheses, based on Goff Rugby Report rankings, current as of January 2017.[183]

Division I-A

[edit]

The conference champion is invited to the D1A playoffs along with several at large bids for independents or other highly ranked teams.[184]


California
St. Mary's (3)
Santa Clara
Cal Poly SLO (20)
San Diego State (23)
UC Santa Barbara
Grand Canyon

PAC
California (1)
UCLA (17)
Arizona (21)
Utah (18)

Rocky Mountain
Colorado (38)
Air Force (32)
Colorado State (31)
New Mexico
Wyoming
Utah State
BYU

Mid-South
Life (2)
Lindenwood (9)
Davenport (10)
Arkansas State (12)

East
Army (11)
Navy
Penn State (6)
Big Ten Universities
Wisconsin (14)
Illinois
Ohio State (15)
Michigan
Michigan State

Red River
Oklahoma (40)
Texas A&M
Baylor (45)
Texas
TCU
Texas Tech
North Texas

Division I-AA

[edit]

Italics indicate second teams of clubs competing in D I-A. These teams are ineligible for Division I-AA playoffs.[185][186]

Atlantic Coast
North Carolina St.
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Mid Atlantic
Maryland
Virginia
Virginia Tech
Georgetown
James Madison (26)
Mary Washington
Mount St. Mary's (39)
Salisbury
Towson
East Coast (defunct)
AIC (16)
Albany
Boston College (27)
Connecticut
Massachusetts
New England College
Northeastern
Fairfield
Empire
Stony Brook (25)
Binghamton
Brockport
Colgate
Fordham
Merchant Marine
Syracuse
Gold Coast
Claremont
Long Beach (24)
San Diego
Santa Barbara CC
Fullerton
Azusa Pacific
Grand Canyon
Heart of America
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Minnesota
Missouri (44)
Oklahoma State
Nebraska
Washington (MO)
Truman State
Ivy
Dartmouth (34)
Cornell
Brown
Columbia
Harvard
Penn
Princeton
Yale
Keystone
Rutgers
St. Joseph's (48)
Millersville
Pittsburgh
Lock Haven
Temple
Villanova
West Chester
MAC Schools
North South
Bowling Green (13)Cincinnati
Kent StateDayton
Central MichiganLouisville
Northern IllinoisMiami (Ohio)
Western MichiganOhio
NCRC
Oregon
Boise State
Washington (43)
Eastern Washington
Western Oregon
Western Washington (42)
Washington State
Gonzaga
OSU
Pacific Western[187][188]
Chico State
Sacramento State (50)
Fresno State
San Francisco State
San Jose State
Stanford
Nevada
UC Santa Cruz
Humboldt State
Mountain States
Idaho State
BYU B Team
Salt Lake CC
Snow College
Southern Utah
Weber State
UNLV
Utah Tech
Utah Valley
South Independent Rugby Conference
North South
Middle Tennessee Central Florida
Kennesaw State Florida International
Memphis Florida State
Georgia Tech South Florida
Georgia Southern Northern Florida
SCRC
West East
Alabama (35) South Carolina (41)
Auburn Georgia
Florida Kentucky (37)
Mississippi Tennessee (36)
Mississippi State Vanderbilt
Southwest
Rice
Saint Edward's
Stephen F. Austin
Texas State
Independent
Cent. Washington (5)
Notre Dame (30)
East Carolina
New England College
Notre Dame College (7)
Lindenwood-Belleville (25)

Former Conferences:

  • The Mid-Eastern conference disbanded in summer 2012, as most members went to the D1-A Big Ten Universities or to the D1-AA Mid-America conference.
  • The Midwest conference disbanded in summer 2012, as most members went to the D1-A Big Ten Universities or to Division 2.

Organization and conferences

[edit]

American college rugby is governed by USA Rugby. In the past, college rugby competitions have been governed by local unions.

The structure of the college game has evolved significantly in recent years. To increase the marketability of the game, many traditional rivals have been consolidated into conferences resembling major NCAA conferences such as the Pac-12 and Big Ten.[189][190][191]

Conferences and conference tournaments

[edit]

Beginning around 2010, college rugby programs began realigning into conference structures that mirror the traditional NCAA conferences used by the member schools' other athletic programs. The first high-profile example was the formation of the Ivy League Rugby Conference in 2010.[20] Following the organization of the Ivy League schools, the members of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southeastern Conference followed suit in 2010.

Ivy Rugby Conference

[edit]

The Ivy Rugby Conference was formed and had its first full season in 2009.[192] The IRC was formed to foster better competition among rugby teams from the Ivy League schools and to raise the quality of play.[193] The IRC has had consistent success in attracting commercial interests.[189] The IRC formed committees to manage the league, independently of the LAUs and TUs.[193] Prior to formation of the IRC, clubs from the eight Ivy League schools had competed in the Ivy Rugby Championship Tournament since 1969.

Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference

[edit]

In December 2010, a core group of founding schools formed the Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference (SCRC). By April 2010, the SCRC had expanded to 11 schools, comprising the entire membership of the NCAA's Southeastern Conference (SEC) at that time except for Arkansas. Tennessee won the 2010 Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Sevens Championship beating LSU 19–17, and repeated in the 2011 SCRC Olympic Sevens Championship, beating Florida 26–14 in the final. Similar to other conferences, the SCRC has also enjoyed commercial success, announcing in fall 2010 that the SCRC had formed commercial partnership agreements with Adidas and the World Rugby Shop.[194]

The Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference, formed by the aforementioned 11 SEC schools, was created in late 2010 and began play in the 2011–12 season. Florida won the conference title in the inaugural season, defeating Tennessee in the championship match. Although the SEC has since expanded to 14 schools, the SCRC membership remains at 11.

Pacific Athletic Conference

[edit]

Several members of the Pac-12 conference agreed in spring 2012 to form a conference beginning play in the 2012–13 season.[195]

Other conferences

[edit]

Nine D1A rugby programs currently compete in the Big Ten Universities conference, which was founded in 2012. The Red River Conference, which replaced the Allied Rugby Conference in 2014–15, is composed mostly of teams from what had been the Big 12 South from 1996 to 2011. The Southwest Conference (SWC) was created in 2011 with charter members from seven Texas schools. University of Texas was immediately added, and Texas won the conference in the inaugural 2011–12 season.

Other competitions

[edit]

College rugby includes rivalry trophies such as the World Cup between the University of California, Berkeley and the University of British Columbia (Canada),[196] the Wasatch Cup between BYU and Utah,[197] the University Cup between Texas and Texas A&M,[198] the Koranda Cup between Yale and Princeton,[199] and the Common Wealth Shield between Virginia and Virginia Tech.[200]

The ACRC Bowl Series championship 15s tournament took place annually for three years from 2014 until 2016. College conference champions and select elite sides participated. The tournament provided an opportunity for teams to play outside of their conferences and was therefore relevant to establishing final fall 15s college rankings.[201]

Division II XVs

[edit]

Until 2021, Division II was solely governed by USA Rugby.

USA Rugby

[edit]

Men

[edit]
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
1994Lock Haven University[202]
1995Lock Haven UniversitySalisbury[132]
1996Salisbury[203]Coast Guard[132]
1997Salisbury[203]Bates[132]
1998UC San DiegoOregon[204]
1999UC San Diego21 – 18Chico State[204]
2000Sacramento State49 – 3Claremont
2001Baylor29 – 16Arkansas State
2002Stanford26 – 15Northern Iowa
2003Radford32 – 22Northern Colorado
2004Salisbury43 – 24Arkansas State
2005Northern Colorado24 – 22Humboldt State
2006Coast Guard17 – 12Northern Colorado
2007Middlebury38 – 22Arkansas State
2008Radford25 – 14Utah Valley State
2009Middlebury27 – 11Wisconsin
2010Claremont Colleges25 – 19Temple (Claremont promoted to Div. 1)
2011UW-Whitewater7 – 3Middlebury[205]
2012Lindenwood50 – 12Salisbury[206] (Lindenwood promoted to Div. 1-AA)
2013 (Spring)Salisbury34 – 17Minnesota-Duluth[207]
2013 (Fall)Minnesota-Duluth31 – 7Salisbury[208]
2014Minnesota-Duluth24 – 14UW-Whitewater
2015Minnesota-Duluth25 – 19UW-Whitewater
2016UW-Whitewater29 – 13Furman [209]
2017UW-Whitewater34 – 27VMI[210]
2018North Carolina State University57 – 12UW-Whitewater[211]
2019Queens University (NC)74 – 8UW-Whitewater [130]
2020cancelled (pandemic)
2021Auburn31 – 12Montana State (CRAA)[212]
2022none (NCR only)[213][214]
2023
2024
2025Southern California29 – 10North Florida (CRAA)
2026 North Florida (CRAA) 46 – 20 California Lutheran

Women

[edit]
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2000Plymouth StateEast Stroudsburg
2001Northern IowaNevada-Reno
2002Northern IowaMinnesota
2003DaytonNorthern Iowa
2004Temple17 – 7Providence
2005Providence15 – 10Temple
2006UC Santa Cruz22 – 10Plymouth State
2007Iowa State26 – 19UC Santa Cruz
2008Shippensburg47 – 0Minnesota-Duluth
2009Shippensburg29 – 5Stonehill
2010Washington State37 – 0Temple
2011Radcliffe22 – 10University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN)[215]
2012Norwich82 – 12Winona State[216]
2013Washington State60 – 5Winona State[217]
2014Mary Washington36 – 22Cal State, Northridge[218]
2015Notre Dame College69 – 10UC-Riverside
2016Davenport61 – 0USC[a][219]
2017Davenport71 – 5Kennesaw State [220]
2017–18 (fall)Winona State38 – 36Vassar [148]
(spring)Tulane31 – 14Claremont Colleges [129][221]
2018–19 (fall)Vassar50 – 13Winona State [222]
(spring)Fresno State25 – 19Salisbury [150]
2019–20 (fall)Winona State19 – 10Colorado School of Mines [151]
(spring)cancelled (pandemic)
2020–21 (fall)
(spring)
2021–22 (fall)Vassar74 – 5Temple (ACRA)[223]
(spring)Claremont22 – 7San Diego State (CRAA)
2022–23 (fall)Vassar71 – 24Coast Guard (CRAA/ACRA)
(spring)Claremont47 – 5Howard (CRAA)
2023–24 (fall) – not held (NCR only)[224]
(spring)Cal Poly San Luis Obispo104 – 5Eckerd College (CRAA)
2024–25Cal Poly San Luis Obispo64 – 7UC-Irvine (CRAA)
2025–26 San Jose State 31 – 12 UC-Irvine (CRAA)
  1. ↑ USC substituted for Tulane, who qualified for the final but could not participate.

National Collegiate Rugby

[edit]

Men

[edit]
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2021Thomas More21 – 17Adrian
2022Principia47 – 16Indiana (PA)
2023Indiana (PA)27 – 19Memphis
2024Indiana (PA)38 – 29Northern Iowa[225]

Women

[edit]
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2022Wisconsin–Eau Claire78 – 0Marquette
2023Wisconsin-Eau Claire32 – 29Vassar
2024Vassar24 – 5Wisconsin-Eau Claire[226]

Division II Sevens

[edit]

USA Rugby

[edit]

Men

[edit]
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2013Principia27-12UW–Stout[227]
2014(moved from fall 2014 to spring 2015)
2015James Madison40 – 22Wisconsin–Whitewater[228]
2016Minnesota–Duluth17- 5Saint Louis[172]
2017Wisconsin–Whitewater26 – 5UNC Charlotte[229]
2018UNC Charlotte38 – 10Wisconsin–Whitewater[230]
2019North Carolina State University28 – 12Wisconsin–Whitewater[231]
2020cancelled (pandemic)
2021cancelled (pandemic)
2022Southern California29 – 7Memphis[175][176]
2023none[232]
2024
2025

Women

[edit]
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2016Davenport24 – 14Bloomsburg[233]
2017eligible for open division
2018eligible for open division
2019Bryant22 – 19Fresno State[234]
2020cancelled (pandemic)
2021cancelled (pandemic)
2022San Jose State22 – 0St. Mary's[175][178]
2023Colorado Mesa19 – 14San Jose State
2024eligible for Division I/College Club tournament
2025eligible for Division I/College Club tournament

National Collegiate Rugby

[edit]

Men

[edit]
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2022Indiana University of Pennsylvania17 – 7Lander
2023Indiana University of Pennsylvania12 – 7North Carolina State
2024Maine19 – 15Georgetown
2025UNC-Wilmington24 – 12Montana State

Women

[edit]
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2023Roger Williams10 – 5Colorado Mines
2024UW–Eau Claire22 – 5Roger Williams
2025Coast Guard17 – 5Roger Williams

Small Colleges

[edit]

Small College Rugby, formerly known as Division III, is governed by the National Collegiate Rugby Organization, formerly the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO). In 2020, NSCRO re-branded as National Collegiate Rugby. The National Small College Rugby Organization was created to give a competitive outlet to small colleges which would not otherwise have an opportunity to compete on a national stage. Each year, the NSCRO hosts rugby tournaments for men's and women's college teams, and during 2006–2011 it also conducted a Division IV Women's college tournament.

Men's 15s

[edit]
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2002Western Carolina UniversityStonehill College
2003Furman UniversityStonehill College
2004Furman UniversityCentral Connecticut State
2005Furman UniversityDuke University
2006Bentley UniversityThe Citadel
2007Bentley University11 – 10Furman University
2008Plymouth State Univ22 – 15Furman University
2009Coastal Carolina36 – 15SUNY Oswego
2010Penn State Berks11 – 6Keene State[235]
2011Longwood University36 – 27Occidental College[236]
2012Salve Regina22 – 15Cal Maritime[237]
2013St. John's (Minn.)31 – 16Duke[238]
2014St. John's (Minn.)37 – 25New England College[239]
2015New England College32 – 15Mt. Saint Mary's (MD)
2016Mt. Saint Mary's (MD)26 – 19Claremont Colleges[240]
2017Claremont Colleges65 – 10Tufts[241]
2018Iowa Central Community College64 – 11Claremont Colleges
2019Claremont Colleges57 – 17Christendom College[242]
2020cancelled (pandemic)
2021Christendom College34 – 29New Mexico Tech
2022Cal Poly Humboldt20 – 15Wayne State
2023Babson27 – 23Wayne State
2024Wayne State27 – 8Holy Cross[243]

Women's 15s

[edit]
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2002–03College of New JerseyUniversity of Maine
2003–04Fordham UniversitySusquehanna University
2004–05Castleton StateSusquehanna University
2005–06Babson UniversityUrsinus College
2006–07 (Spring)Stonehill CollegePenn
2007 (Fall)Stonehill CollegeMarist College
2008Bryant UniversityGettysburg College
2009MITEast Stroudsburg University
2010Bentley UniversityDrexel University[244]
2011CarletonLock Haven
2012Wayne State (Nebraska)Roger Williams
2013Wayne State (Nebraska)Smith
2014Roger Williams45 – 10Sacred Heart
2015MSU-Moorhead44 – 24Colgate[245]
2016Wayne State (Nebraska)11 – 0Colgate[246]
2017Wayne State (Nebraska)46 – 26Bentley
2018Wayne State (Nebraska)67 – 12Catholic University[247]
2019Wayne State (Nebraska)90 – 14Endicott College[151]
2020cancelled (pandemic)
2021Wayne State (Nebraska)72 – 10SUNY–Cortland[248]
2022Endicott24 – 12Lee University
2023St. Bonaventure22 – 17Wisconsin-Platteville
2024Endicott22 – 15Colorado School of Mines[249]

Men's 7s

[edit]
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2013Occidental28 – 15North Florida[250][251]
2014New England College[252][253]22 – 14New Mexico Highlands
2015New Mexico Highlands22 – 19New England College
2016New Mexico Highlands31 – 7St. Mary's College (MD)[254]
2017Christendom College24 – 19 (OT)St. Mary's College (MD)
2018Claremont Colleges17 – 0Salve Regina
2019 vacated, ineligible players[255]New Mexico Highlands17 – 12Claremont Colleges
2020cancelled (pandemic)
2021cancelled (pandemic)
2022New Mexico Tech26 – 10Christendom College
2023Babson17 – 0Springfield
2024Slippery Rock19 – 12St. Thomas (Minn.)
2025UW-Eau Claire22 – 0Springfield

Women's 7s

[edit]
YearChampionMatch scoreRunner-up
2014Wayne State College (Nebraska)[256][257]24 – 7South Dakota State
2015Wayne State College22 – 17Mt. Saint Mary's
2016Wayne State College20 – 0Colorado College [258]
2017Colgate15 – 12Wayne State College [259]
2018Wayne State College24 – 5Lee
2019Wayne State College31 – 7Rochester [260]
2020cancelled (pandemic)
2021cancelled (pandemic)
2022Chicago10 – 5South Dakota [261]
2023Endicott15 – 10Lee [262]
2024Yale31 – 7Gannon University
2025Endicott32 – 0Baldwin Wallace

Division IV

[edit]

The National Small College Rugby Organization conducted a women's-only Division IV championship from 2006 to 2011.

YearChampionRunner-up
2006University of Rhode IslandUrsinus College
2007Roger Williams UniversityGettysburg College
2008College of the Holy CrossAlbright College
2009Drexel UniversityWentworth Institute of Technology
2010Lock Haven UniversityMount Holyoke College
2011Johnson State CollegeAlbright College[263]

Injuries

[edit]

In the US, college rugby has much higher injury rates than college football. Rugby union has similar injury types to American football but with more common injuries of arms.[264]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 See Chadwick, SS, Semens, A, Schwarz, E, Zhang, D. Economic impact report on global rugby part III: strategic and emerging markets. Researched and prepared by the Centre for the International Business of Sport Coventry University. 2010 http://www.irb.com/mm/Document/NewsMedia/MediaZone/02/04/22/88/2042288_PDF.pdf Archived 2011-06-26 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed January 2, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Rugby Scholarships USA".
  3. ↑ "Fuse Explores the Surge in Sports Participation: Why Teens Play and Why They Don't". businesswire.com. July 12, 2018.
  4. ↑ Ramsammy, Andrew (July 19, 2018). "Rugby: Fastest growing sport in the U.S. also one of the oldest". Global Sport Matters.
  5. ↑ "Rugby is now the fastest growing sport in the U.S. and BIG changes to high school rugby – Your Hub". March 21, 2012. Archived from the original on March 21, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Sold-Out Chicago Match Marks Rugby's Rising Popularity" Archived January 11, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Bloomberg, October 31, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Economic Impact Report on College Rugby, Part III – Strategic and Emerging Markets" (PDF). irb.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 26, 2011.
  8. ↑ Forbes, "Why Pro Rugby Could Win In The United States", February 25, 2011.
  9. ↑ USA Rugby, "Membership Statistics, 2010–2011".
  10. ↑ Delco Times, "Notre Dame and Boston College to Represent Catholic College Rugby in National Sevens Championship"[link removed], June 2, 2011.
  11. ↑ "WV Metro News – Sports".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  12. ↑ "Questions And Concerns About MLR Draft". Goff Rugby Report. April 16, 2020.
  13. ↑ "2020 MLR Collegiate Draft Summary". June 14, 2020.
  14. ↑ "MLR Draft Picks 2020". Major League Rugby.
  15. ↑ "MLR Draft 2020: What you need to know". Utah Warriors Rugby.
  16. 1 2 Goff, Alex (29 November 2019). "Major Developments In DIA Says Official". Goff Rugby Report. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  17. 1 2 Goff, Alex (10 April 2020). "Entire Nation Of College Rugby Looking For A Home". Goff Rugby Report. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  18. ↑ College Contacts Archived 2013-07-08 at the Wayback Machine, USA Rugby.
  19. 1 2 About Ivy Rugby, Ivy Rugby Conference.
  20. ↑ "Need Scholarship? Join Scrum", New York Times, John Otis, May 21, 2014.
  21. ↑ USA Rugby, College Archived 2007-04-29 at the Wayback Machine
  22. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Goff, Alex (14 July 2021). "Who Plays Where and How? Our College Rugby Update". Goff Rugby Report. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  23. 1 2 3 "USA Rugby: 'What BYU won ... was a mythical championship'" Archived 2015-01-13 at the Wayback Machine, Deseret News, May 17, 2013.
  24. 1 2 3 Goff, Alex (24 November 2021). "Making Sense of Women College Playoffs This Fall". Goff Rugby Report. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  25. ↑ Goff, Alex (12 June 2020). "ACRA Officially Relaunches With 4 Conferences, 62 Teams". Goff Rugby Report. Retrieved 2021-12-15.
  26. ↑ Royall Rugby, "College Premier Division Set to Launch" Archived March 24, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  27. ↑ Rugby Mag, College Rugby State of the Union: Part Deux, Oct. 12, 2011, http://rugbymag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2303:college-rugby-state-of-the-union-part-deux&catid=101:op-eds&Itemid=302 Archived 2011-12-19 at the Wayback Machine
  28. ↑ "Three UC Berkeley athletic teams to be preserved", Berkeley News, February 11, 2011.
  29. ↑ Cal Maritime, Cal Maritime's Highly Successful Rugby Coach Announces Departure, August 25, 2010, http://www.csum.edu/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=1a48d66d-7506-4e55-aec4-88776bcd4a14&groupId=61902 Archived 2011-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ↑ AIC Rugby Archived 2015-10-29 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed October 14, 2015. ("We're a young varsity model program that enjoys full time coaching, and all the other trimmings of varsity collegiate athletics.")
  31. ↑ "Varsity Rugby Team Accepted into Midwest Rugby League". 12 June 2009.
  32. ↑ "Varsity Rugby Team Runs Over South Carolina" [permanent dead link], Life University, February 4, 2015.
  33. ↑ "Bayer Named Head Coach of WJU Rugby Program" Archived 2015-09-10 at the Wayback Machine, Wheeling Jesuit University, August 28, 2015. ("the first full-time head coach of the varsity program.")
  34. ↑ Johnson, Nick. "Rugby opens conference play this weekend". Principia College Athletics.
  35. ↑ "Thunder Chickens crowned Division 2 National Champions". Principia College Athletics. 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2023-10-30.
  36. ↑ "Army Makes Varsity Move Official" Archived 2014-08-08 at the Wayback Machine, Rugby Today, August 1, 2014.
  37. ↑ "Bethel Athletics Introduces Three New Programs" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, October 24, 2014.
  38. ↑ "Men's Rugby Picks up First Victory of the Season – New England College". Archived from the original on 2018-05-20. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
  39. ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-treece-37933890/ [self-published source]
  40. ↑ "Marywood University To Start Varsity Rugby Programs". Goff Rugby Report. August 14, 2017.
  41. 1 2 "Queens University of Charlotte Adds Rugby", March 6, 2017.
  42. ↑ "Men's Rugby".
  43. ↑ "Crusader Rugby Set to Move to New Conference in 2024-25".
  44. ↑ https://adrianbulldogs.com/
  45. ↑ "Graduate Rugby Assistant Positions Open at McKendree University | Goff Rugby Report".
  46. ↑ "Siena men's rugby wins national championship". 12 December 2021.
  47. 1 2 "Naval Academy Elevates Men's and Women's Rugby from Club to Varsity Status". 16 May 2022.
  48. 1 2 "'They really want our whole program?': Notre Dame College rugby players find new home at Walsh".
  49. ↑ "NDC Rugby Announces Coach Terry Han Addition to Staff". 8 January 2014.
  50. ↑ "Men's rugby program to move under Athletics Department as varsity sport | Alfred University News". 27 February 2024.
  51. 1 2 "Alfred University breaks ground on Saxon Hill Sports Complex | Alfred University News". 10 May 2024.
  52. 1 2 "Loyola University New Orleans Announces Varsity Rugby Programs | Goff Rugby Report".
  53. ↑ "UCLA Joins Varsity Cup", Rugby Today, Pat Clifton, December 7, 2012.
  54. ↑ "Bruinrugby.com". Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  55. ↑ "Rugby Mag, UCLA Joins Varsity Cup, December 7, 2012". RugbyMag.com. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  56. ↑ Rugby Mag, Bruins Hope to Return to Glory at CRC, May 7, 2013, http://www.rugbymag.com/tournaments-special/crc/7982-bruins-hope-to-return-to-glory-at-crc.html
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  255. ↑ "National Small College Rugby Organization LLC: NSCRO 7s: NSCRO's Inaugural Women's 7s National Championship – A Big Success". 2014-05-07. Archived from the original on 2014-05-14. Retrieved 2014-05-12.
  256. ↑ Young, Wendy (May 15, 2014). "NSCRO's Inaugural Women's 7s National Championship – A Big Success". Retrieved 2025-05-21.
  257. ↑ "2016 NSCRO Women's 7s National Champions, Wayne State College". Archived from the original on 2016-06-16. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  258. ↑ "Colgate Claims NSCRO 7s Trophy". The Rugby Breakdown. May 3, 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-05-11. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
  259. ↑ "Wayne State College Crowned 2019 NSCRO Women's 7s National Champion". USA Rugby. May 2019. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
  260. ↑ "Women's small college 7s". May 1, 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
  261. ↑ "Schedule & Results". Collegiate Rugby Championship. Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  262. ↑ "Johnson State Rugby: From Zeroes To Heroes". onlyagame. Dec 3, 2011. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
  263. ↑ Willigenburg, Nienke W.; Borchers, James R.; Quincy, Richard; Kaeding, Christopher C.; Hewett, Timothy E. (March 1, 2016). "Comparison of Injuries in American Collegiate Football and Club Rugby: A Prospective Cohort Study". The American Journal of Sports Medicine. 44 (3): 753–760. doi:10.1177/0363546515622389. PMID 26786902. S2CID 21829142 – via SAGE Journals.
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