Anyone out there ever play rugby at Yale, or know anything about their program? I want to know if rugby was ever a varsity sport at Yale, or always a club sport.
Ken “Cornell '80” Lehner
http://www.waltercamp.org/history5.htm
Ken, not sure if this what you are looking for, but I dimly recall from a story in my Bathroom Reader (an invaluabe source of information) I read a while ago. From I can remember and from the above it would seem that rugby was played in some form or another, and there were Ivy league games played under an evolving set of rules during the transition from rugby/soccer to the game I don’t understand now - does that count as varsity? Maybe not.
Hope this helps,
Nick
it was a club sport when my team from Amherst pounded them 2x/year from 1992-96. Same as all the other ivies. To my knowledge the only true varsity rugby program in US is Cal Berkeley. Certainly none in NE. Dartmouth has a great program with a fairly good size endowment but it too is club.
What would you say about the following statement:
‘I played for a year…and it was the varsity.’
if referencing, say, the early '70s? Would anyone who actually played on the ‘A’ squad refer to it as the varsity, if it were indeed a club sport?
By the way, I played one game of rugby at Cornell, and it was a hoot. Had a housemate who had some teeth knocked loose (but not out) doing same.
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~rugby/
click on history - there is a section a little way down describing the formation of the New England League around about that time. I don’t think Dartmouth rugby has ever been varsity (don’t know the criteria for that either) - they certainly aren’t now.
Nick
I would check with the NCAA or NAIA to see if rugby was ever “sanctioned” by them. I’m not sure something can be called “varsity” unless one of the major athletic associations sanctions it.
Edit: Webster’s defines varsity as: a first team representing a college, school, or club. Therefore, technically, I guess it could be a sanctioned or non-sanctioned team as long as it was the “first” team. NCAA and NAIA websites make no mention of rugby. Sounds like this guy is trying to embellish somewhat without being technically incorrect.
Sounds like this guy is trying to embellish somewhat without being technically incorrect.
You don’t think George W. Bush would do something like that, do you?
Was it League or Union?
Kinda like Kerry and “ribbons” v. “medals”? No one’s innocent of embellishment.
Ivy Clubs are very well funded privately, but still Club sports. I played for Brown 91-95 (John, we definitely played each other; I was a front row, what position did you play?)
Brown gives rugby a “Club Varsity” designation; we got to use all the facilities (except for the varsity weight room and the trainer), but we funded ourselves.
I played as both an under grad and grad student. In both schools, it was a club sport. NCAA did not sanction it. Berkely certainly had a great team, but it was still a club sport. It was played in some high school leagues in Nor. Cal and had a solid college presence throughout the state.
The toughest teams I ever played against were the club teams with no school affiliation. It were I first learned the truth of the statement. “Youth and ability will always be defeated by cunning and treachery” Anybody ever go to the UC Santa Barbara Tournament or OMBAC?
Mfreeman, are you sure you played rugby, you can’t have been a whole front row 
.
Well, “technically” I could say “I rowed singles at Harvard” and I wouldn’t be lying. (I was there for an executive-level course and went down to the boat house a couple of times and checked out a single scull.) But, I wouldn’t put it on my resume. I personally assume “varsity” to mean teams officially sposored by the school that offer scholarships. But, it looks like other people can have a different interpretation and still be correct.
By the way–good setup. I’ll try to get the hook out of my lip later.
This was not meant to be a setup; I was sincerely looking for this information (I have outstanding email to the president of the Yale Rugby Club). I couldn’t resist when you made your statement. For that, I apologize. Hope the bait was tasty, though.
The quote I posted is from a review of Karen Hughes’ new book. Either she’s misremembering, or Bush misspoke, or…
Admittedly, I have lost some weight since my playing days. But I considered myself “front row” as at one point or another, I rotated in as both props, and occasionally at hooker (can’t wait to see the replies on this one). For that matter, I think I’ve played every position in the pack.
i was the #8. andrews my name; johns just a handle taken from brave new world. because i came from england and had played since i was 11 I played a-side (not “varsity”) all 4 years. brown was quite good in 92-94, I think tide turned my junior & senior year when we beat you (kinda fuzzy now though). The only guy i remember was this really good tall flanker (or did he play #8) who might have been your year or a year above with long brown hair. My buddy/teammate teaches in RI now and sometimes coaches brown team. he told me that amherst is still on your fixture list. Now i’m 30 pounds lighter and can swim bike and run faster, but I wouldn’t like to meet my old self in a ruck! played mens rugby for a while after college but just not the same thing. call me crazy but after college getting my eye gouged or head butted on a saturday afternoon and then chugging cheap beer and singing songs about the s&m man just didnt have the same allure…
Fun to remember the old rugby times on this board of all places. Tufts Univ. 8-man 90-94. Sadly I will add one of my rugby highlights was “almost beating” Brown at a sevens tourny in Providence Spring '94. I remember them having one player- a wing fastest person I’ve ever seen. BTW- Rugby has never been recognized by the NCAA- thus never Varsity- at any program
google “cal rugby varsity”
“Another factor separating Cal-Berkeley from other collegiate rugby teams is its varsity status. The Golden Bears are the only varsity rugby team in the country…”
I played 2 years of B-side rugby at Dartmouth, 1988-1989. At the time, it was purely a club sport, though we did import a “coach” from Aus or NZ. A-side played at the UCSB tourney all the time. B-side drank a shitload. I started playing at 2nd row until I blocked a kick with my face and then moved to outside center. Great damn game.
My two sons play high school level rubgy. It isn’t a sanctioned high school sport in Hawaii but their school lets them have a club with players from other schools. They recently went to Northern California over Spring Break to play Lamorinda HS, Davis HS and third HS whose name I can’t recall at the moment. They also visited with the Stanford, Cal Berkeley and US Davis teams and watched a tournament at Berkeley. Older son (Thing 1) is looking at colleges after he graduated next year and his #2 priority is “do they have rugby?”. #1 priority is D2 football. Any college suggestions are welcome, but not of Ivy level.
I knew NOTHING about rugby until they played. I’m more fearfull of them playing football than rugby because of the hitting. After watching my first match I realized why they love it so much. It’s basically everything I have yelled at them to stop doing every night for 16+ years. It’s roughhousing, with a ball, and some rules. Plus I know about the party attachment to the sport.