The Missouri Rugby Union (MRFU) is the Local Area Union (LAU) for

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

teams in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

and parts of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. MRFU is part of the Mid-America Geographical Union (MAGU), which is of several Geographical Unions (GU's) that comprise

USA Rugby USA Rugby (formally 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 rugby ...

History

Early History. The honor of creating the Missouri Rugby Football Union belongs largely to Harry Langenberg. In 1933, Harry arrived back in St. Louis after attending Princeton University, where he was introduced to rugby. Harry not only played rugby, but also served as an assistant coach for a school club. In St. Louis, Harry joined forces with Edmond St. John Hoogewerf and Hugo Walther to form the Missouri Rugby Football Union. Shortly after the formation of the Missouri Rugby Football Union, Harry founded the first club to become a member, the Ramblers. The Missouri Rugby Football Union is now one of the oldest of the 39 territorial unions operating within the USA

Rugby Union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

, and one of the oldest sports organizations in the

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

area. The Ramblers Rugby Club is the second oldest surviving independent rugby club in the United States. The Ramblers were Missouri Rugby Football Union champions in 1947. Grand Rec. Grand Rec was the first team allowed to keep the Missouri Rugby Football Union trophy for winning the championship three years in a row, in 1950. During its last years a younger team, the Grand Rec Juniors, was formed and also played. After winning permanent possession of the championship trophy, Grand Rec disbanded, and the juniors became just Grand Rec. Paul Birchfield from Grand Rec became coach of the juniors, now Grand Rec, and coached them to a championship. Bill "Terrible" Turk was the only Grand Rec player who played on as a member of the juniors, now just Grand Rec. Among Grand Rec's original team was Rudy Bukich (see Wikipedia entry). All the Missouri Rugby Football Union games during this time were played on the pitch in Forest Park,

St Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. During the original Grand Rec's reign, the champion of the Missouri Rugby Football Union played Princeton for the Missouri Challenge Cup. This series was discontinued when Princeton returned the cup, after having won the game the previous year, saying the scheduled date interfered with studying for exams.

Gateway Ruggerfest

The MRFU has hosted the Gateway Ruggerfest Tournament annually since 1948. The tournament was traditionally scheduled on Easter weekend in Forest Park and was known as the Easter Ruggerfest. In recent years, the tournament has been scheduled the week after Easter and has outgrown the capacity of Forest Park. The 62nd annual Ruggerfest was held on April 10–11, 2010 at

Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park (also called Creve Coeur County Park) is a St. Louis County park located in Maryland Heights, Missouri, United States. The park is the largest in the St. Louis County Parks system and includes Creve Coeur Lake, an ...

in St. Louis County.

Senior Clubs

Men's

Men's Division II * St. Louis Bombers Men's Division III
Kohlfeld Scorpions

St. Louis Hornets Rugby Club

Sunday Morning

St. Louis Royal Ramblers

St. Louis Bombers Rugby

Franklin County Crimson Rugby

Belleville Rowdies Rugby

Women's

Women's Division I
St. Louis Sabres

College Clubs

Men

Collegiate Division I-A *

Lindenwood University Lindenwood University is a private university in St. Charles, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1832 by George Champlin Sibley and Mary Easton Sibley as The Lindenwood School for Girls, it is the second-oldest higher-education institution wes ...

Collegiate Division I-AA *

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

Collegiate Division II *

Missouri University of Science and Technology Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T or S&T) is a public research university in Rolla, Missouri. It is a member institution of the University of Missouri System. Most of its 6,456 students (2023) study engineering, busin ...

Principia College Principia College is a private liberal arts college in Elsah, Illinois. It was founded in 1912 by Mary Kimball Morgan with the purpose of "serving the Cause of Christian Science." Morgan wrote in her book, Education at the Principia that, "Alt ...

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

Southeast Missouri State University Southeast Missouri State University (Southeast or SEMO) is a public university in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In addition to the main campus, the university has four regional campuses offering full degree programs and a secondary campus housing t ...

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

Northwest Missouri State University Northwest Missouri State University (NW Missouri) is a public university in Maryville, Missouri, United States. It has an enrollment of 9,152 students. Founded in 1905 as a teachers college, its campus is based on the design for Forest Park (St. ...

Women's

St. Louis Sabres Women's Rugby

High School clubs

Single School Programs *

Christian Brothers College High School Christian Brothers College High School (CBC High School) is a Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, Lasallian Catholic Church, Catholic University-preparatory school, college preparatory school for young men in Town and Country, M ...

(CBC) *

De Smet Jesuit High School De Smet Jesuit High School is a Catholic college preparatory high school for boys in Creve Coeur, Missouri, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis. The school began classes in the fall of 1967. It was named in honor of the Belgian Je ...

Spartans * Fox High School Warriors * Saint Louis University High School *

Saint Louis Priory School The Saint Louis Priory School is a Catholic secondary day school for boys on a 150-acre campus in Creve Coeur, Missouri, within the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The school is run by the Benedictine monks of Saint Louis Abbey. History The school ...

* Liberty North High school * Liberty High school Multi-School Programs *

Kansas City Junior Blues Kansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named after the Kansas River, in turn named a ...

* Eureka High School *

Jefferson City Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Missouri. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 United States census, ranking as the List of cities in Missouri, 16th most popu ...

Nightmare *

Kirkwood High School Kirkwood High School is a public secondary school in Kirkwood, Missouri, United States. The school is part of the Kirkwood R-7 School District. History Kirkwood High School as an academic institution dates back to 1865, when the Kirkwood Sch ...

Parkway A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare. The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or connecting to a park from which trucks and other heavy vehicles are excluded. Over the years, many different types of roads have been labeled p ...

United
Marquette High School
* Winnetonka Rugby * Park Hill United * Columbia Bandits * Nodaway County R.F.C Maryville High School Girls St. Louis Sirens Nodaway County High School Rugby Club

References

{{reflist

External links

Missouri Rugby Football Union website

MRFU Blog
Rugby union governing bodies in the United States Rugby union in Missouri