College rugby is played by men and women throughout colleges and universities in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. Seven-a-side and fifteen-a-side variants of

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

are most commonly played. Most collegiate rugby programs do not fall under the auspices of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

and are instead governed by National Collegiate Rugby and

USA Rugby USA Rugby (officially the United States of America Rugby Football Union, Ltd.) is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. Its role is to achieve and maintain “high levels of quality in all aspects of ru ...

, two nationwide governing bodies. 27 women's programs participate in the NCAA. College rugby is the fastest growing college sport in the USA and one of the fastest growing sports in the nation."Sold-Out Chicago Match Marks Rugby’s Rising Popularity"
, Bloomberg, October 31, 2014. Women's rugby has been classified as an NCAA Emerging Sport since 2002. Between 2004 and 2010, rugby was the fastest growing sport in the United States when its popularity increased by roughly 350% (when the estimated active participants increased from 18,500 in 2006 to 65,000 in 2010)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 . Accessed January 2, 2022.. There are over 900 college teams—male and female—registered with USA Rugby and hundreds more with National Collegiate Rugby.Forbes
"Why Pro Rugby Could Win In The United States"
February 25, 2011. There are over 32,000 college players registered with USA Rugby, making college rugby the largest section of USA Rugby's membership. In 2011 USA Rugby created a new Division 1-A with approximately 30 schools forming a new premier division. There has been increased interest in college rugby (particularly in rugby sevens) from TV since the International Olympic Committee's announcement in 2009 that rugby would return to the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

in 2016. The highest profile college rugby sevens competition is the

Collegiate Rugby Championship The Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) is an annual college rugby sevens tournament. The CRC is the highest profile college rugby sevens competition in the United States, with the tournament broadcast live on NBC from 2010–2017, on ESPN News an ...

(CRC), which began in 2010. College club rugby has included several championship competitions since 1980. Rugby has been played in universities since as early as the 1800s, but it was the 1960s when rugby really found a foothold in colleges, led by the Catholic colleges such as Notre Dame and particularly the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

universities such as

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classified ...

and St. Joseph's in Philadelphia. Several schools have increased their investments in men's and women's rugby programs, by creating rugby programs with varsity or quasi-varsity status and funding for scholarships. Alumni from collegiate programs make up much of the United States men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardle ...

national teams.

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

implemented its first collegiate

MLR Draft The first Major League Rugby collegiate draft was held in 2020. Players are eligible for the draft after 3 years in college or 21 years of age. Free agents can try out to join teams at 18 years old. See also *2020 MLR Draft The 2020 MLR Coll ...

in 2020. Players are eligible for the draft after 3 years in college at 21 years old.

Free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who i ...

s can try to join teams at 18 years old.

Governance

Pacific Tigers kicking off in a 1961 game In the United States, college rugby was traditionally governed by (in descending order of authority):

, geographical unions (GUs) and local area unions (LAUs) (e.g., NERFU) and administered by a College Management Committee. By 2011 USA Rugby was urging college rugby programs to adopt new conference structures like the conferences used by their other athletic programs. The highest profile example was the formation of the Ivy Rugby Conference in 2009.About Ivy Rugby
Ivy Rugby Conference. This move signaled a shift away from the LAUs and GUs as the governing bodies for regional 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 have promoted rugby to varsity status, committing resources for scholarships and paid coaches, or given rugby an elevated status short of full varsity status. The NCAA has no authority over men's college rugby, but 27 schools have opted to govern their women's teams under all applicable NCAA bylaws for recruiting and eligibility, under the NCAA's Emerging Sports for Women program. 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.

Play and participation

Lynchburg College team photo after defeating Emory & Henry College, 35-15

Winter and spring are the primary seasons for conferences in the Pacific, Northwest, and South regions (e.g.,

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Military * Rapid Deployment Force (Malaysia), an armed forces unit * Patriot Advanced Capability, of the MIM-104 Patriot missile * Civil Defense Patrols (''Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil''), Guatemalan militia and paramil ...

Southeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

); the fall is the primary season for conferences in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Upper Midwest (e.g.,

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

, 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.

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. 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."Need Scholarship? Join Scrum"
New York Times, John Otis, May 21, 2014. Outstanding college rugby players are recognized as All-Americans. Qualified All-Americans can represent the United States in international tournaments by playing on the

United States national under-20 rugby union team The United States national under-20 rugby union team, for sponsorship reasons known as the AIG Men's Junior All-Americans, is the United States' junior rugby team at the national level. The U-20 team has competed at the IRB Junior World Championsh ...

or the All Americans rugby union team.

Divisions

College rugby competition in the USA is divided into several tiers: *The highest is

Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). ...

for men and Division I Elite for women *Division I-AA for men and Division I for women *Division II *Small College *The separate 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. 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."USA Rugby: 'What BYU won ... was a mythical championship'"
, Deseret News, May 17, 2013. 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. 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. 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. 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) to align with USA Rugby or NCR. Women
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. 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. 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. The collegiate women’s programs in the NIRA operate their own regular season competition and championship. Men
In 2021, most DII men's rugby conferences aligned with NCR. Two men’s conferences that played DIA in 2019 joined NCR in 2021, as have three DIAA conferences. Under NCR, they competed in fall 2021 as DI and DIAA, with separate postseasons. Men’s DIAA 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 DIAA national champion in 2021–2022. In 2021, there are five men’s DIA conferences plus independents under USA Rugby/CRAA.

Varsity programs

Men's varsity

Majority of colleges classify their rugby programs as club sports rather than varsity sports. A small but growing number of universities, however, have begun labeling rugby as a varsity sport, realizing that rugby can be profitable, as a successful rugby program can result in national championships and increased marketability.

Women's Rugby: An NCAA Emerging Sport

Since 2002, a growing number of schools have begun adding women's rugby as an NCAA sport. These women's rugby programs have received sanctioning by the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

. The NCAA has identified women's rugby as an

NCAA Emerging Sports for Women NCAA Emerging Sports for Women are intercollegiate women's sports that are recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, but do not have sanctioned NCAA Championships. History In 1994, the NCAA adopted th ...

. An "Emerging Sport" must gain championship status (minimum 40 varsity programs for team sports, except 28 for Division III) within 10 years, or show steady progress toward that goal to remain on the list. Until then, it is under the auspices of the NCAA and its respective institutions. Emerging Sport status allows for competition to include club teams to satisfy the minimum number of competitions bylaw established by the NCAA. The NCAA identified women's rugby as an "Emerging Sport" in 2002 in light of the fact that nearly 350 collegiate women's rugby clubs were active. Growth was initially slow, with only 5 women's NCAA programs forming within the first few years. 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 economic recession, women's rugby programs grew in number during that time frame. As of the fall of 2022, the NCAA has sanctioned rugby for 27 schools across 3 Divisions. Current NCAA women's rugby programs include the following: This league is known as the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) For the 2022–23 season, Princeton University will join as an NCAA D1 team. Nichole F

Division 1 National Championships (15s)

Men's National Championship

Sports Illustrated named Notre Dame national champion in 1966. In 1967, Sports Illustrated named

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

national champions after their 37–3 defeat of Notre Dame.

1980–2012

Except for interruption by the COVID-19 pandemic, USA Rugby has crowned an official national men's champion each year since 1980. After the 2010 season, USA Rugby split Division 1 into two, with the top flight called

Division 1-A Rugby Division 1-A Rugby (formerly known as the College Premier Division) is the highest level of college rugby within the United States and is administered by USA Rugby. Division 1-A rugby is modeled after NCAA athletic competitions, with the 67 D1-A ...

(formerly called the College Premier Division), and the second flight called Division 1-AA. :YEAR; CHAMPION; RUNNER-UP *1980 –

15,

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

9 *1981 – California 6,

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

3 (a.e.t.) *1982 – California 15, Life College 14 *1983 – California 13, Air Force 3 *1984 – Harvard 12,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

4 *1985 – California 31,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

6 *1986 – California 6, Dartmouth 4 *1987 –

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

10, Air Force 9 *1988 – California 9, Dartmouth 3 *1989 – Air Force 25, Penn State 7 *1990 – Air Force 18,

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

12 *1991 – California 20, Army 14 *1992 – California 27, Army 17 *1993 – California 36, Air Force 6 *1994 – California 27,

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

13 *1995 – California 48, Air Force 16 *1996 – California 47, Penn State 6 *1997 – California 41, Penn State 15 *1998 – California 34,

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. S ...

15 *1999 – California 36, Penn State 5 *2000 – California 62,

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...

16 *2001 – California 86, Penn State 11 *2002 – California 43,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to its ...

22 *2003 – Air Force 45, Harvard 37 *2004 – California 46, Cal Poly 24 *2005 – California 44, Utah 7 *2006 – California 29, BYU 26 *2007 – California 37, BYU 7 *2008 – California 59, BYU 7 *2009 – BYU 25, California 22 *2010 – California 19, BYU 7 *2011 – California 21, BYU 14 *2012 – BYU 49,

Arkansas State Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage la ...

2013–2017

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 Varsity Cup is the collective name for four South African rugby union competitions involving the top rugby playing universities in the country. It was launched in 2008, with eight teams participating in the Varsity Cup competition and each univers ...

. The media and other rugby commentators view 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. 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 NBCSN was an American sports television channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated to programming prim ...

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. The Varsity Cup folded in November 2017 when the organizer, broadcast partner and a major sponsor, Penn Mutual, withdrew their support. 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:'' *2013: (#3) Life University 16 – 14 St. Mary's (CA) (#5) *2014: (#1) St. Mary's (CA) 21 – 6 Life University (#3) *2015: (#3) St. Mary's (CA) 30 – 24 Life University (#4) *2016: (#3) Life University 24 – 20 St. Mary's (CA) (#5) *2017: (#1) St. Mary's (CA) 30 – 24 Life University (#2) ;''

Varsity Cup Championship The Varsity Cup Championship was an American college rugby competition established in 2012 to serve as an invitational championship following the breakaway of several schools from Division 1-A Rugby. The Varsity Cup was organized by United Worl ...

:'' *2013: (#1) BYU 27 – 24

(#2) *2014: (#2) BYU 43 – 33 California (#4) *2015: (#1) BYU 30 – 27 California (#2) *2016: (#1) Cal 40 – 29 BYU (#2) *2017: (#3) Cal 43 – 13 Arkansas St. (#5)

2018–present

* 2018: Life University 60 – 5 California * 2019: Life University 29 – 26 California * 2020: cancelled (pandemic) * 2021: cancelled (pandemic) * 2022: Army 20 – 8 St. Mary’s (CA)

National Collegiate Rugby (Men)

Division I *2021 (fall) – St. Bonaventure 19 – 18 Penn State

Men's Division 1-AA

:YEAR; CHAMPION; RUNNER-UP *2011:

Davenport Davenport may refer to: Places Australia *Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality *Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia **Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta ** District Council of Davenport, former local govern ...

38 – 19 UC Santa Barbara *2012: Davenport 39 – 0

(Davenport promoted to D-1A for the following season) *2013:

Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the ...

27 – 25 Lindenwood (Lindenwood promoted to D-1A for the following season) *2014: Central Florida 64 – 13 Arizona *2015:

UC Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institu ...

18 – 15 Central Florida *2016: UC Davis 17 – 13 Notre Dame College *2017: Notre Dame College 40 – 20 UC Davis *2018: Mary Washington 38 – 30 Dartmouth *2018 fall: Bowling Green 19 - 7 Saint Joseph's *2019 spring: Dartmouth 46 - 5 Chico State *2019 fall: Iowa Central Community College 36 - 21 Western Michigan *2020 spring: cancelled (pandemic) *2020 fall: cancelled (pandemic) *2021 spring: cancelled (pandemic) *2021 fall: Tennessee 36 - 31 Bowling Green (''CRAA'') *2022 spring: Fresno State 22 - 17 Kansas (''ACR'')

National Collegiate Rugby (Men)

*2021 fall: Virginia Tech 34 – 22 West Chester

Women's College Club Division 1

The following are the results from the D1 women's club national championship, from 1991 to the present. USA Rugby established a new division called "Division I Elite" that began championship competition in 2016. Division I Elite *2016 – Penn State 15, Brigham Young 5 *2017 – Penn State 28, Lindenwood 25 *2018 – Lindenwood 36, Life University 9 *2019 – Lindenwood 36, Life University 19 *2020 – cancelled (pandemic) *2021 – Lindenwood 54, Life University 12 *2022 – Lindenwood 21, Life University 0 *2022 (fall) – Lindenwood 17, Life University 15 (CRAA, moved from spring 2023 to fall 2022) Division I *1991 – Air Force, runner-up Boston College *1992 – Boston College, runner-up Connecticut *1993 – Connecticut, runner-up Air Force *1994 – Air Force, runner-up Boston College *1995 –

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...

, runner-up Penn State *1996 – Princeton, runner-up Penn State *1997 – Penn State, runner-up Radcliffe *1998 – Radcliffe, runner-up Penn State *1999 – Stanford, runner-up Princeton *2000 – Penn State, runner-up Princeton *2001 – Chico State, runner-up Penn State *2002 – Air Force, runner-up Penn State *2003 – Air Force, runner-up Illinois *2004 – Penn State, runner-up Princeton *2005 – Stanford 53, Penn State 6 *2006 – Stanford 15, Penn State 12 *2007 – Penn State 22, Stanford 21 *2008 – Stanford 15, Penn State 10 *2009 – Penn State 46, Stanford 7 *2010 – Penn State 24, Stanford 7 *2011 – Army 33, Penn State 29 *2012 – Penn State 32, Stanford 12 *2013 – Penn State 65, Norwich 10 *2014 – Penn State 38, Stanford 0 *2015 – Penn State 61, Central Washington 7 *2015–16 (fall) Connecticut 19, Air Force 12 :(spring)

30,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

25 *2016–17 (fall) Air Force 19, Connecticut 8 :(spring) UC Davis 27, Notre Dame College 19 *2017–18 (fall) Davenport 89, Notre Dame College 24 :(spring) Chico State 54, UCF 26 *2018–19 (fall) Air Force 40, Davenport 27 :(spring) BYU 48, Virginia Tech 0 *2019–20 (fall) Air Force 26, Navy 10 :(spring) cancelled (pandemic) *2020–21 (fall) cancelled (pandemic) :(spring) cancelled (pandemic) *2021–22 (fall) Navy 20, Davenport 12 (''CRAA'') :(spring) BYU 80, Virginia Tech 7 (''CRAA'')

National Collegiate Rugby (Women)

Division I *2021 (fall) – Life University 87, Northern Iowa 3 (For NCR in 2021, Life University fielded a largely freshman and sophomore team.)

College Rugby Sevens

Since the 2009 announcement that rugby sevens will be included in the

2016 Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

, 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 The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

founded its competitive rugby sevens program in 2010. Cal rugby announced in December 2011 that beginning in 2013 it would use the fall term for sevens.

Collegiate Rugby Championship

The

(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.Bleacher Report
"Rugby: NBC's Collegiate Sevens Championship Preview"
The result was high ratings, with the CRC ratings beating the NCAA lacrosse championship. The success of the inaugural 2010 tournament led to a second tournament in 2011 at PPL Park in Philadelphia, again televised live by NBC. 2011 USA Sevens Collegiate Rugby Championship NBC recognized that rugby is growing in popularity, participation, and interest. 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. The success of the tournament in 2016 showed how popular this collegiate level event had become. The National Collegiate Rugby Organization obtained the rights to the CRC in 2020 and since 2021 has staged its championship 7s matches at the tournament in New Orleans.

Men's

:YEAR: CHAMPION; SCORE; RUNNER-UP *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

31 – 26

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

: Dartmouth 32 – 10

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

: Dartmouth 24 – 5

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

: California 19 – 14

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energy ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

: California 24 – 21 Kutztown *

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

: California 17 – 12 (a.e.t.) Kutztown * 2016: California 31 – 7

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

* 2017: California 19 – 0

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

: Lindenwood 24 – 7

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

: Lindenwood 21 – 12

* 2020: cancelled (pandemic) *

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

: Lindenwood 24 – 14

* 2022: Kutztown 17 – 12 Dartmouth (Premier)

Women's

–

14, Penn State 5 * 2012 – not held *

– Penn State 31, Ohio State 5 *

– Penn State 29, James Madison 12 *

– Penn State 24, Lindenwood 7 * 2016 –

19, Lindenwood 10 * 2017 –

17, Lindenwood 12 *

– Lindenwood 21, Penn State 12 *

– Lindenwood 34, Army 12 *2020 – cancelled (pandemic) *

– Lindenwood 10, Life 7 * 2022 – Lindenwood 19, Life 7 (Premier)

USA Rugby National Championship

USA Rugby announced in September 2011 the creation of a new sevens tournament, the USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships. 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. 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. In the first three years, strong teams that won bids have declined to participate.

Men's Division I

*2011: Life University 22–17 Central Washington *2012:

21–7 Life University *2013:

32–12 Saint Mary's (CA) *2014: (moved from fall 2014 to spring 2015) *2015: Lindenwood 28–10

*2016: Saint Mary's 7–5 AIC *2017: Lindenwood 26–5 Saint Mary's *2018: Lindenwood 26–12 California *2019: Lindenwood 36–0 AIC *2020: cancelled (pandemic) *2021: cancelled (pandemic) *2022: Life University 24–19 (a.e.t.) Lindenwood

Men's Division IAA

*2019: Lindenwood-Belleville 19–5 Western Michigan *2020: cancelled (pandemic) *2021: cancelled (pandemic) *2022: San Diego 28–14 Harvard

Women's

*Division 1 Elite: **2018: Lindenwood 20–0 Penn State **2019: Lindenwood 24–7 Dartmouth **2020: cancelled (pandemic) **2021: cancelled (pandemic) **2022: Lindenwood 32–0 Dartmouth *Division 1 **2011: Norwich University 34–5 Boston College **2012: Norwich University 17–5 Navy **2013: Norwich University 17–10 James Madison **2014: (moved from fall to spring) **2015: Penn State 47–26 Central Washington **2016: Life 10–0 Lindenwood **2017 (Open, all divisions): Lindenwood 31–12 Life **2018 (Open to DII): Air Force 20–17 Chico State **2019: Air Force 21–5 Virginia Tech **2020: cancelled (pandemic) **2021: cancelled (pandemic) **2022: Davenport 24–17 Navy

American Collegiate Rugby Championship Sevens

The American Collegiate Rugby Championship Sevens (ACRC7s) is an annual college sevens tournament played in between April and May. For some D1 teams, the ACRC7s is the first spring opportunity to play elite-caliber sevens rugby in the run-up to the Collegiate Rugby Championship. In its first three years, the tournament has taken place at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Men's Division 1 ACRC7s Champions

* 2014: American International College 38–17 Kutztown University * 2015: Kutztown University 36–27 American International College * 2016: Naval Academy 17–14 Kutztown University

Conference membership

Team rankings are in parenthesis, based on Goff Rugby Report rankings, current as of January 2017.

Division I-A

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

Division I-AA

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

American college rugby is governed by

. 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.

Conferences and conference tournaments

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. 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

The Ivy Rugby Conference was formed and had its first full season in 2009. The IRC was formed to foster better competition among rugby teams from the Ivy League schools and to raise the quality of play.Ivy Rugby, http://www.ivyrugby.com/about-ivy-rugby The IRC has had consistent success in attracting commercial interests. The IRC formed committees to manage the league, independently of the LAUs and TUs. 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

In December 2010, a core group of founding schools formed the

Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference The Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference (SCRC) is an annual college rugby competition played every spring among 10 universities from the Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference ...

(SCRC). By April 2010, the SCRC had expanded to 11 schools, comprising the entire membership of the NCAA's

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) at that time except for

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

. 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. 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 Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

won the conference title in the inaugural season, defeating

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

in the championship match. Although the SEC has since expanded to 14 schools, the SCRC membership remains at 11.

Pacific Athletic Conference

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

Other conferences

Nine D1A rugby programs currently compete in the

Big Ten Universities Big Ten Universities is a Division 1-A college rugby conference founded in summer 2012 by ten of the twelve schools that then made up the Big Ten Conference (which has since expanded to 14 members). The Big Ten Universities was formed to improve ...

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 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

. The Southwest Conference (SWC) was created in 2011 with charter members from seven Texas schools. University of Texas was immediately added, and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

won the conference in the inaugural 2011–12 season.

Other competitions: rivalry trophies

College rugby includes rivalry trophies such as the World Cup between the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

and the University of British Columbia (Canada), the Wasatch Cup between BYU and

, the University Cup between Texas and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, the Koranda Cup between

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

and

, and the Common Wealth Shield between

and

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

Other competitions: Bowl Series

The ACRC Bowl Series annual championship 15s tournament takes place in November. College conference champions and select elite sides participate. The tournament provides an opportunity for teams to play outside of their conferences and is therefore important to establishing final fall 15s college rankings.

Division II

Division II is governed by USA Rugby.

Men

*1994 – Lock Haven University *1995 – Lock Haven University; runner-up – Salisbury *1996 – Salisbury; runner-up – Coast Guard *1997 – Salisbury; runner-up – Bates *1998 – UC San Diego; runner-up – Oregonhttps://174.132.42.136/past-champions/216-past-champions-men.html *1999 – UC San Diego 21,

Chico State California State University, Chico, or commonly, Chico State, is a public university in Chico, California. Founded in 1887, it is the second oldest campus in the California State University system. As of the fall 2020 semester, the university had ...

18 *2000 –

Sacramento State California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...

49, Claremont 3 *2001 – Baylor 29,

16 *2002 – Stanford 26,

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

15 *2003 – Radford 32, Northern Colorado 22 *2004 –

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

43, Arkansas State 24 *2005 – Northern Colorado 24, Humboldt State 22 *2006 –

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

17, Northern Colorado 12 *2007 – Middlebury 38, Arkansas State 22 *2008 – Radford 25, Utah Valley State 14 *2009 – Middlebury 27,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

11 *2010 – Claremont Colleges 25,

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

19 (Claremont promoted to Div. 1) *2011 – UW-Whitewater 7, Middlebury 3 *2012 – Lindenwood 50, Salisbury 12 (Lindenwood promoted to Div. 1-AA) *2013 (Spring) – Salisbury 34, Minnesota-Duluth 17 * 2013 (Fall) – Minnesota-Duluth 31, Salisbury 7 * 2014 – Minnesota-Duluth 24, UW-Whitewater 14 * 2015 – Minnesota-Duluth 25, UW-Whitewater 19 * 2016 – UW-Whitewater 29, Furman 13 * 2017 – UW-Whitewater 34, VMI 27 * 2018 –

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The univers ...

57, UW-Whitewater 12 * 2019 – Queens University (NC) 74, UW-Whitewater 8 * 2020 – cancelled (pandemic) * 2021 – Auburn 31, Montana State 12 (''CRAA'') National Collegiate Rugby
Men * 2021 fall – Thomas More 21, Adrian College 17

Women

*2000 –

Plymouth State Plymouth State University (PSU), formerly Plymouth State College, is a public university in the towns of Plymouth and Holderness, New Hampshire. As of fall 2020, Plymouth State University enrolls 4,491 students (3,739 undergraduate students ...

, runner-up East Stroudsburg *2001 – Northern Iowa, runner-up Nevada-Reno *2002 – Northern Iowa, runner-up Minnesota *2003 – Dayton, runner-up Northern Iowa *2004 – Temple 17, Providence 7 *2005 – Providence 15, Temple 10 *2006 – UC Santa Cruz 22, Plymouth State 10 *2007 –

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

26, UC Santa Cruz 19 *2008 –

Shippensburg Shippensburg is a borough in Cumberland and Franklin counties in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Settled in 1730, Shippensburg lies in the Cumberland Valley, southwest of Harrisburg, and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan ...

47, Minnesota-Duluth 0 *2009 – Shippensburg 29, Stonehill 5 *2010 – Washington State 37, Temple 0 *2011 – Radcliffe 22, University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN) 10 *2012 –

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

82, Winona State 12 *2013 –

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...

60, Winona State 5 *2014 – Mary Washington 36, Cal State, Northridge 22 *2015 – Notre Dame College 69, UC-Riverside 10 *2016 – Davenport 61, USC 0 *2017 – Davenport 71, Kennesaw State 5 *2017–18 (fall) Winona State 38, Vassar 36 :(spring) Tulane 31, Claremont Colleges 14 * 2018–19 (fall) Vassar 50, Winona State 13 :(spring) Fresno State 25, Salisbury 19 * 2019–20 (fall) Winona State 19, Colorado School of Mines 10 :(spring) cancelled (pandemic) * 2020–21 (fall) cancelled (pandemic) :(spring) cancelled (pandemic) * 2021–22 (fall) Vassar 74, Temple 5 (''ACRA'') :(spring) Claremont 22, San Diego State 7 (''CRAA'')

Division II Sevens

;USA Rugby ;Men *2013: Principia def. UW–Stout *2014: (moved from fall 2014 to spring 2015) *2015:

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

40–22 Wisconsin–Whitewater *2016: Minnesota–Duluth 17–5 Saint Louis *2017: Wisconsin–Whitewater 26–5 UNC Charlotte *2018: UNC Charlotte 38–10 Wisconsin–Whitewater *2019:

28–12 Wisconsin–Whitewater *2020: cancelled (pandemic) *2021: cancelled (pandemic) *2022: USC 29–7 Memphis ;Women *2016: Davenport 24–14 Bloomsburg *2017: eligible for open division *2018: eligible for open division *2019: Bryant 22–19 Fresno State *2020: cancelled (pandemic) *2021: cancelled (pandemic) *2022: San Jose State 22–0 St. Mary’s ; National Collegiate Rugby ;Men * 2022 –

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) is a public research university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. As of fall 2021, the university enrolled 7,044 undergraduates and 1,865 postgraduates, for a total enrollment of 9,009 students. The uni ...

17–7

Lander Lander may refer to: Media and entertainment * ''Lander'' (computer game), computer game published by Psygnosis in 1999 * ''Lander'' (game demo), the 3D game demo provided with the Acorn Archimedes computer * Lander (Transformers), a fiction ...

Small Colleges

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

*2002 –

Western Carolina University Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU was founded ...

, runner-up

Stonehill College Stonehill College is a private Roman Catholic liberal arts college in Easton, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1948 by the Congregation of Holy Cross and is located on the original estate of Frederick Lothrop Ames Jr., with 29 buildings that ...

*2003 – Furman University, runner-up Stonehill College *2004 – Furman University, runner-up

Central Connecticut State Central Connecticut State University (Central Connecticut, CCSU, Central Connecticut State, or informally Central) is a public university in New Britain, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1849 as the State Normal School, CCSU is Connectic ...

*2005 – Furman University, runner-up

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist Jam ...

*2006 –

Bentley University Bentley University is a private university focused on business, accountancy, and finance and located in Waltham, Massachusetts. Founded in 1917 as a school of accounting and finance in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, Bentley moved to Waltham ...

, runner-up

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one of six senior military colleges in the United States. ...

*2007 – Bentley University 11 – 10 Furman University *2008 – Plymouth State Univ 22 – 15 Furman University *

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

–

Coastal Carolina Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, it became an in ...

36 – 15 SUNY Oswego *2010 – Penn State Berks 11 – 6 Keene State *2011 –

Longwood University Longwood University is a public university in Farmville, Virginia. Founded in 1839, it is the third-oldest public university in Virginia and one of the hundred oldest institutions of higher education in the United States. Previously a college, Lo ...

36 – 27

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

*2012 –

Salve Regina The "Salve Regina" (, ; meaning 'Hail Queen'), also known as the "Hail Holy Queen", is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. The Salve Regina ...

22 – 15 Cal Maritime *2013 – St. John's (Minn.) def. Duke *2014 – St. John's (Minn.) def.

New England College New England College (NEC) is a private liberal arts college in Henniker, New Hampshire. As of Fall 2020 New England College's enrollment was 4,327 students (1,776 undergraduate and 2,551 graduate). The college is regionally accredited by the ...

*2015 – New England College 32-15 Mt. Saint Mary's (MD) *2016 – Mt. Saint Mary's (MD) 26-19 Claremont Colleges *2017 – Claremont Colleges 65-0 Tufts *2018 – Iowa Central Community College 64-11 Claremont Colleges *2019 – Claremont Colleges 57-17 Christendom College *2020 – cancelled (pandemic) *2021 – Christendom College 34-29 New Mexico Tech

Women

* 2002–03 – College of New Jersey; Runner Up:

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifie ...

* 2003–04 –

Fordham University Fordham University () is a private Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its original campus is located, Fordham is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit un ...

; Runner Up: Susquehanna University * 2004–05 – Castleton State; Runner Up: Susquehanna University * 2005–06 – Babson University; Runner Up:

Ursinus College Ursinus College is a private liberal arts college in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1869 and occupies a 170-acre campus. History 19th century In 1867, members of the German Reformed Church began plans to establish a college wh ...

* 2006–07 (Spring) –

; Runner Up: Penn * 2007 (Fall) – Stonehill College; Runner Up:

Marist College Marist College is a private university in Poughkeepsie, New York. Founded in 1905, Marist was formed by the Marist Brothers, a Catholic religious institute, to prepare brothers for their vocations as educators. In 2003, it became a secular in ...

* 2008 –

Bryant University Bryant University is a private university in Smithfield, Rhode Island. It has two colleges, the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Business, and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. History Butler ...

; Runner-Up:

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a private liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about 2,600 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women. ...

* 2009 – MIT; Runner-Up:

East Stroudsburg University East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania (ESU) is a public university in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. It is one of ten state universities that compose the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). History What today is East ...

* 2010 –

; Runner-Up:

Drexel University Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, ...

* 2011 – Carleton * 2012 – Wayne State (Nebraska) * 2013 – Wayne State (Nebraska) * 2014 – Roger Williams 45-10 Sacred Heart * 2015 – MSU-Moorhead 44-24 Colgate * 2016 – Wayne State (Nebraska) 11-0 Colgate * 2017 – Wayne State (Nebraska) 46-26 Bentley * 2018 – Wayne State (Nebraska) 67-12 Catholic University * 2019 – Wayne State (Nebraska) 90-14 Endicott College * 2020 – cancelled (pandemic) * 2021 – Wayne State (Nebraska) 72-10 SUNY–Cortland

Men's 7s

Women's 7s

Division IV

The National Small College Rugby Organization conducted a Women's only Division IV championship from 2006 to 2011. * 2006 –

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Isla ...

; Runner Up:

* 2007 –

Roger Williams University Roger Williams University (RWU) is a private university in Bristol, Rhode Island. Founded in 1956, it was named for theologian and Rhode Island cofounder Roger Williams. The school enrolls over 5,000 students and employs over 480 academic sta ...

; Runner Up:

* 2008 –

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest in ...

; Runner Up:

Albright College Albright College is a private liberal arts college in Reading, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1856. History Albright College traces its founding to 1856 when Union Seminary opened. Present-day Albright was formed by the mergers of several ins ...

* 2009 –

; Runner-Up:

Wentworth Institute of Technology Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT) is a private institute of technology in Boston, Massachusetts. Wentworth was founded in 1904 and offers career-focused education through 21 bachelor's degree programs as well as 13 master's degrees. Histo ...

* 2010 –

Lock Haven University Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania (LHU) is a public university in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The main campus consists of and the branch campus covers . It offers 69 undergrad ...

; Runner-Up:

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

* 2011 – Johnson State College; Runner-up:

Injuries

In the USA, college rugby has much higher injury rates than

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

. Rugby union has similar injury types to

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

but with more common injuries of arms.

References

External links

College
at USA Rugby
National Collegiate Rugby

NIRA Rugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rugby (college) College rugby union in the United States

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...