Yale University Rugby Club

Historical black-and-white photograph of the first rugby team at Yale, featuring players in early 20th-century uniforms, arranged in front of a stone building with some standing and some seated, with a rugby ball on the ground.

A Club with a proud history, And an incredible future

Founded in 1875, the Yale Rugby Club is more than 150 years old.

A group of female rugby players in striped jerseys celebrating on a grassy field.

Founded in 1978, the Yale Women’s Program is one of the oldest in collegiate rugby.

A rugby team celebrating victory by lifting a player with a trophy after a match at night.

Today, Yale Rugby regularly rosters more than 90 student-athletes on nationally-ranked teams that contest for league and national championships, and consistently beat their traditional Ivy League rivals.

the Yale Rugby Culture

What’s the significance of Yale Rugby turning 150 years old? We’ve outlasted car makes, companies, colleges, and countries—there are more than a dozen sovereign nations that have been formed and collapsed in the time Yale Rugby has been played. Why do we persist, when so many other institutions have fallen to the wayside?

It’s the Culture. Our program instills in every Yale Rugby player the tenets of the Yale Rugby Culture, and every player who passes through our program is determined to keep that culture alive for the next generation, and the next one.