Jacksonville Rugby Football Club

Last updated
Jacksonville RFC
JRFC Glossy.png
Full nameJacksonville Rugby Football Club
Union Florida Rugby Union
Founded1972
Ground(s)Wurn Park , Jacksonville
PresidentMike Lucic
Coach(es)Ryan Cox

Patrick Murphy

Donald Alexander

Michael Connolly
League(s) USA Rugby Division III
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long.svg
Team kit
Official website
www.jaxrfc.com

Jacksonville Rugby Football Club (Jacksonville RFC) are a men's rugby union team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They are members of the Florida Rugby Union, the organizational body for rugby in the state of Florida, and currently play in USA Rugby Division III. The club was founded in 1972.

History

Jacksonville RFC was founded in 1972. [1] The original roster largely consisted of former college rugby players and a handful of locals. [2] Among their biggest events in the early years was playing in front of 50,000 spectators as part of the events surrounding the 1989 Gator Bowl. [1] After years of sporadic success, the team established itself in the 1990s under a string of British coaches, winning the 1996 state championship and going to the national championship. [2] [3] More recently they have made the Florida Cup finals, won the Florida matrix, and played in the National Final 8. [2] In 2008 they won the USA Rugby South Division II Championship, and played in the national Final 16, ultimately finishing sixth in the country out of the 1,300 Division II teams. [4]

The team currently plays its home matches at Bob Hayes Park in Jacksonville.

The club has been involved with a variety of other rugby teams including assisting founding Jacksonville Women's Rugby Club, Jacksonville Youth Rugby Club, and players have played with the Jacksonville Axemen.

Related Research Articles

Rugby union in Cornwall is Cornwall's most popular spectator sport with a large following. The followers of the national side are dubbed Trelawny's Army. In 1991 and 1999 Cornwall won the County Championship final played at Twickenham Stadium, beating Yorkshire and Gloucestershire respectively to win the Cup. They had another strong spell in the 2010s, reaching seven of the eight finals contested between 2013 and 2022, winning four of them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pontypool RFC</span> Welsh rugby union club, based in Pontypool

Pontypool Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in the town of Pontypool, which plays in the WRU Premiership. Since the regionalisation of Welsh rugby in 2003, Pontypool RFC is now a feeder club to the Dragons regional team. Pontypool play their home matches at Pontypool Park. Their traditional home kit is a red, white and black-hooped shirt and socks with white shorts, although they did gradually shift to wearing black shorts post-2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston Irish Wolfhounds</span> Rugby team

The Boston Irish Wolfhounds Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Canton, Massachusetts, US. The club competes in, and is governed by, the New England Rugby Football Union, the Northeast Rugby Union, and USA Rugby. In 2014 it joined the American Rugby Premiership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacksonville Axemen</span> Semi-professional US rugby league club

The Jacksonville Axemen are a semi-professional rugby league team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They currently play in the USA Rugby League (USARL). They play their home games at the North Practice Soccer Fields at the University of North Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boston RFC (United States)</span> Rugby team

Boston Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Weymouth, Massachusetts, US. The club competes in, and is governed by, the New England Rugby Football Union, the Northeast Rugby Union, and USA Rugby.

Charlotte Rugby Club, nicknamed the "Old Originals", are a rugby union team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They currently play in USA Rugby Division II, and are members of the USA Rugby South. They play home games at Skillbeck Athletic Grounds.

Philadelphia - Whitemarsh Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. They are currently members of the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union, the organizational body for the sport in eastern Pennsylvania, and currently play in USA Rugby Men's Club Division II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Monica Rugby Club</span> Rugby team

Santa Monica Rugby Club is a rugby union club from Santa Monica, California, United States. The club teams, known as the Dolphins, compete in the Southern California Rugby Football Union (SCRFU) a territorial union of USARugby, currently fielding teams in the following divisions: Division 2 (men), Division 1 (women), Division 3 (men), U18 boys, U16 boys, U14 boys, U12 boys, U10 coed, and U8 coed. Santa Monica's top men's team competes in the Pacific Rugby Premiership competition: the top club rugby competition in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgetown University Rugby Football Club</span> Rugby team

The Georgetown University Rugby Football Club is the intercollegiate men's rugby union team that represents Georgetown University in the Mid-Atlantic Rugby Conference of National Collegiate Rugby, Division II. They have twice reached the USA Rugby National Tournament Final Four, in 2005 and 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairfield Yankees RFC</span> Rugby team

The Fairfield Yankees Rugby Football Club is a Division II and IV Men's and Division II Women's Rugby Club based in Fairfield, Connecticut. Founded in 1975, the club consists of many teams, two Men's sides and one Women's side, as well as teams for Summer Sevens and Youth and High School Teams with the Fairfield Rugby Club. The Yankees have fielded teams in the Metropolitan New York Rugby Union as well as the New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU), and currently are members of the Empire Geographical Union. The Yankees won the USA Rugby Division II Men's Club National Championship in 2004, and the Division III Men's Club National Championship in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UCF Knights</span> Athletic program of the University of Central Florida

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tampa Bay Krewe</span> Rugby team

The Tampa Bay Krewe, or Krewe Rugby, are a rugby union team based in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. They are members of the Florida Rugby Union, the organizational body for rugby union in Florida, and Division II side in USA Rugby, plus a youth side and a social side. Krewe Rugby was founded in 1991 by ten Tampa Bay area professionals who had previously been members of different novice to semi-professional level rugby union teams. The Krewe plays other Division- II Rugby Clubs from cities across Florida, including Jacksonville, Orlando, Naples, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami.

Miami Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club in Miami, Florida. According to rankings in Rugby Magazine, Miami is amongst the top five clubs in the Southeastern United States. They have regularly won the Florida State Championship. Miami Rugby traces its origin to 1969 when it was founded by Keith Cooksy and Reverend John Howells, the Anglican priest at the University of Miami, who wanted to provide visiting British Royal Navy ships and teams in the Bahamas with competitive rugby. Miami Rugby competes in the USA Rugby South against clubs from Florida, as well as touring African, Argentine, British, French, German, Uruguayan, and West Indies Clubs. Miami Rugby has also toured the Americas.

The Los Angeles Rugby Club, founded in 1958, is a premier First Division amateur rugby team that competes in the Southern California Rugby Football Union (SCRFU) that reports to USA Rugby—the national governing body for the United States Rugby Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Las Vegas Blackjacks RFC</span> Rugby team

The Las Vegas Blackjacks Rugby Football Club was a rugby union team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. They were members of the Southern California Rugby Football Union and competed in the Senior Men's 1st (Red) Division of USA Rugby.

Jacksonville is home to a number of professional sports teams, and the city has a long history of athletics. The Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) compete at the major league level. Additionally, the PGA Tour is headquartered in the suburb of Ponte Vedra Beach, where it hosts The Players Championship every year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flint Rogues Rugby Club</span> Sports club

The Flint Rogues Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from Flint, Michigan and member of USA Rugby, Division III Midwest Rugby Eastern Conference, Northern League and Division III of the Michigan Rugby Football Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trident (Miami) Rugby Football Club</span> Rugby team

The Trident Rugby Football Club is a Miami, Florida based men's rugby union team. Since its founding in 1972, Trident has been one of the preeminent Miami rugby club. Admitted in 1973, Trident competes within the Florida Rugby Union and currently fields a competitive top division team as well as a developmental team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USA Rugby League</span> Official governing body for rugby league in the United States

The USA Rugby League (USARL) is the official governing body for rugby league, a code of rugby football, in the United States.

The Austin Huns Rugby Football Club is a Men's Rugby Club American rugby union team based in Austin, Texas. In June 2017 they became U.S. Division 1 National Champions beating New York Athletic Club RFC 27-23 in the final match.

References

  1. 1 2 Mark Woods (October 22, 2003). "Love of game bonds rugby individualists". The Florida Times-Union . Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 "About Jacksonville RFC". jaxrugby.com. 2007. Archived from the original on December 30, 2010. Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  3. Ben Watkins (October 24, 1998). "Rugby club in market for funds, field and players". The Florida Times-Union . Retrieved December 14, 2010.
  4. Brian Kosoy (May 31, 2008). "Rugby report:". The Florida Times-Union . Retrieved December 14, 2010.