The Boston Irish Wolfhounds Rugby Football Club (also known as BIWRFC) is a

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 its m ...

team based in Boston, Massachusetts, US. The club competes in, and is governed by, the

New England Rugby Football Union The New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU) is a Geographical Union (GU) for rugby union teams in New England. Prior to 2013, NERFU had been a local area union ("LAU"), and part of the Northeast Rugby Union (NRU), which is the governing body for ...

(their LAU), the

Northeast Rugby Union The Empire Rugby Football Union Geographical Union ("Empire GU") is the governing body for over 100 men's and women's rugby union clubs and colleges in New York State, Northern New Jersey and Southern Connecticut. History Formation The Empire G ...

(their TAU), 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 rugb ...

. In 2014 it joined the American Rugby Premiership. The club was established in the late 1980s as a social touring side, but was not recognised as an official club until 1992, when they entered the NERFU Division II in 1992. They advanced to the NRU Premier Division in 1995, winning it for the first time in 1998 and entered the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

in 2007. BIWRFC competed in the NERFU Division 1 until 2017. "The Hounds" currently compete in

Division 2 & Division 3. BIWRFC is recognised as one of the leading rugby union clubs in the United States.

History

Founding

The Wolfhounds began as a social touring side of rugby players in the Boston area looking to travel the United States during their off-seasons with their respective clubs. Due to their successes while touring (particularly in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

) and enormous support from the Boston Irish community, the Wolfhounds became an official team and entered into the

(

NERFU The New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU) is a Geographical Union (GU) for rugby union teams in New England. Prior to 2013, NERFU had been a local area union ("LAU"), and part of the Northeast Rugby Union (NRU), which is the governing body fo ...

) Division II in 1992. An

unintended consequence In the social sciences, unintended consequences (sometimes unanticipated consequences or unforeseen consequences) are outcomes of a purposeful action that are not intended or foreseen. The term was popularised in the twentieth century by Ameri ...

of the establishment was the eventual disestablishment of Beacon Hill RFC (lost most of its first XV pack), the end of Mystic River Rugby Club's appearances as a national level club (lost three key first XV), and the relegation of Charles River RFC (lost complete first XV backline) to Division II. During their inaugural season, the first XV suffered only one regular season loss and reached the Northeast Championships. In 1995, the Wolfhounds met enough success to warrant the leap to the Northeast Rugby Football Union (NRU) Premier Division.

2000–present

In 2000, they won the Northeast Championships for the first time. In 2001, they advanced to the USA Rugby Division I National Championship pool for the first time, reaching the Sweet 16 pool. In 2002, they matched their 2001 successes and reached the Sweet 16 for a second straight season. In 2003, the Wolfhounds entered and won a number of local and national tournaments and they were able to win the NERFU Division I Championship as well as the National Championship. Wolfhounds scrumhalf Dave Williams was named tournament MVP. In 2004, the Wolfhounds repeated as both NERFU Division I champions and USA Rugby Division I national champions. Adam Thomas of the Wolfhouds was named tournament MVP. In 2005, the Wolfhounds became NERFU Division I champions for the third straight year and finished in fifth place in the Division I National Championship tournament. In 2006, the Wolfhounds became the first-ever US team to submit two sides to the national championship tournament. Both the first XV and the third XV came in second place (Division I and Division III, respectively). In 2007, the Wolfhounds became USA Division III National Champions in San Diego. Since 2017 the Hounds have competed in

Division 2. In the aftermath of the COVID pandemic the Wolfhounds reintroduced their storied Division 3. In 2022 the Division 2 team won the

championship. The Division 3 team lost in the championship semifinal to eventual winners, Providence Rugby Football Club. The Wolfhounds also field a third XV of "old boys" and new players with little experience. They compete in the New England Rugby Football Union Division III. They have been met with success, winning the NERFU Division III championships in 1996, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2009.

Honors

Club Championships

Premier Division Champions – 2003, 2004 **2nd place – 2006 **5th place – 2005 *Division 1

Champions – 2000, 2002 *Division 1

Champions – 2003, 2004, 2005 *Division 2

Champions – 2022

Tournament Championships

* Ft. Lauderdale Ruggerfest Champions – 2003, 2005 *

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore (known by locals simply as the Shore) is the coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Geographically, the term encompasses about of oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy in the north to Cape May Po ...

Tournament Champions – 2004 * Mad River Invitational Champions – 2004, 2007, 2008 *

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

10s Champions – 2003, 2005 * Newport 7s Champions – 2005 * Newport 15s Champions (Division I) – 2006, (Division 2) 2016, (Division 3) 2021 *

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

7s Champions – 2004 *Thompson Island Tournament Champions – 2003 *Vermont Invitational Tournament **2nd place – 2005 *

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

7s Champions – 2003

Third XV Honors

Club Championships

*USA Rugby National Division III Competition **2nd place – 2006 *Division III New England Rugby Football Union Champions – 1996, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009

Tournament Championships

*Lansdowne RFC

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

St. Patrick's Day Tournament Champions – 1998, 1999 *

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

Culliton Tournament Champions – 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 * Newport 15s Champions (Division III) – 2006 * Saranac Lake Can-Am Tournament – 1996

Individual Honors

*2003 USA Rugby National Division I Championship Tournament MVP – Dave Williams *2004 USA Rugby National Division I Championship Tournament MVP – Adam Thomas

Sponsorship

The Wolfhounds have several individual sponsorships. Notable primary sponsors include The Somers Group including Paddy O's. The club also has several secondary sponsorships from local and regional businesses.Official Wolfhounds Sponsors
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Recruiting

The Wolfhounds have been able to provide hospitality, housing, and career opportunities for players coming to Boston to play for the Hounds. This is one of the reasons they have been able to maintain success on the field. The team is composed of Americans, but there is also a large contingent of foreigners. Many countries are represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. BIWRFC has established relationships with local

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

and college sides, which become feeder teams for the Wolfhounds. This allows the Wolfhounds to maintain a large player pool of young athletes. Members of the Wolfhounds have coached

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

RFC, a nationally ranked Division I college side, Boston College, Harvard University, MIT and University of Notre Dame. Wolfhounds players also coach the Boston collegiate select-side All-Star team, which won the NERFU collegiate all-star tournament last spring. The Wolfhounds also coach

Boston College High School , motto_translation = ''So they may know You.'' , address = 150 Morrissey Boulevard , city = Boston , state = Massachusetts , zipcode = 02125 , country ...

RFC, which is perennially one of the best high school teams in the country, as well as Belmont High School Rugby which is four time MIAA state champions. Wolfhound alumni also coach at

The 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 recent years, the Wolfhounds have sent some of these young collegiate athletes abroad to gain experience by playing professionally. As of April 2006, there are two Wolfhounds playing in the NPC league in

. As of April 2006, members of the Wolfhounds include a current USA Rugby U19 National Team player, two former U19 National Team players, and the current captain of the USA Rugby Collegiate All-Star team. The Wolfhounds were a key player in organizing the Boston Rugby Consortium which consists of all NERFU clubs in the city of Boston. The club lent their administrative expertise to secure practice pitches from the city's Parks and Recreation department on a regular basis for the clubs. They have also initiated several coaching clinics and courses to build rugby in the Boston area among all clubs.

Notable Wolfhounds

* Dave Williams, former Wolfhounds scrumhalf, USA Rugby National Team *Brian Lemay, Wolfhounds

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

, USA Rugby National Team *Mark Tutton - Wolfhounds scrumhalf,

South Canterbury South Canterbury is the area of the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand bounded by the Rangitata River in the north and the Waitaki River (the border with the Otago Region) to the south. The Pacific Ocean and ridge of the Southe ...

provincial team (2002–2012),

New Zealand Heartland XV The Heartland XV is one of several New Zealand representative rugby union teams, although it is at a lower level than the All Blacks and the Māori All Blacks. The side is drawn exclusively from players for provincial unions that compete in the He ...

2007 *Thomas Lee, former Wolfhounds

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

, 1992 USA Rugby National U19 Team (US High School Development XV)

References

External links

* {{Massachusetts Sports Irish Wolfhounds Rugby clubs established in 1989 1989 establishments in Massachusetts Irish-American culture in Boston Irish-American culture in sports