Boston Rugby Football Club (also known as BRFC) 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 ...

. The club was established in 1960, but they would not be recognized as a nationally competitive club until they were accepted into

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 ...

, the premier division of club rugby in the United States. The club has also contributed numerous international players to the United States national side.

History

1970-1998

BRFC was formed in 1960 but was not considered a nationally competitive club until 1996 when Beacon Hill Rugby Football Club, a spawn of BRFC that separated from the parent club in 1968, rejoined BRFC to ensure depth and competitiveness.Official BRFC history
Prior to the merge, the club had been one of the top regional clubs in

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 ...

. From 1970 through 1998, the club won twenty-two New England Rugby Football Union championships, but it was never able to attain consistent success at the national level. During that same time period, it reached the national competition four times and earned fourth-place finishes in both 1983 and 1985. During the 1970s and 1980s, Boston RFC was the home club for many forwards, particularly

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

, who played for the

USA Eagles The United States men's national rugby union team represents the United States in men's international rugby union. Nicknamed the Eagles, it is controlled by USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United Stat ...

in international tests.

1998-present: The Super League Years

The

was formed in 1996 by

to create a national competition amongst the premier clubs in the United States. During its first expansion in 1998, Boston RFC was one of two teams invited to join the competition (the other being

Philadelphia Whitemarsh RFC 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 cur ...

). Since joining the competition, Boston has been one of the weakest clubs in Super League play. The club has amassed a 21-45-2 record through the 2007 season. From 2004 through 2006, Boston recorded a 2-18-0 record, and was outscored by 598 points (an average of thirty points per game). Other clubs that compete in the Premier Division have fared much better than Boston against Super League clubs during that period. Beginning in the Fall of 2007 the club began and continues to experience a major resurgence. The Fall of 2007 saw the club win the NERFU league title with a 7-0 record for both the 1st and 2nd sides. This momentum carried into the 2008 RSL season where Boston finished atop the Blue Conference with a record of 5-0-2 and advanced to the quarter-finals of the league. From the Fall of 2007 to the Fall of 2008, Boston was undefeated in 18 straight regular season games. Despite initially struggling in the Super League competition, BRFC has remained one of the better clubs in regional competitions and tournaments since entering the Super League. They have won six New England Rugby Football Union Division I Championships since becoming a member of the Super League. The club fields three sides, which compete at various regional and national levels. The third XV has been met with some success at the national level, having won the

National Third Division Competition in 2000.

International Tours

Since 1977, BRFC has embarked on several international tours, the most recent being to the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

in 2000. They have also toured

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

(twice),

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

(three times),

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 ...

, France (three times), New Zealand, and Australia.

Honors

Boston RFC has been recognized with many regional honors. In the club's forty-nine year history, Boston has won twenty-six

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 for ...

championships. They have also attained moderate national success, reaching the USA Rugby Premier Division Competition five times, most recently in 2008.

First XV Honors

Premier Division Competition **Fourth place - 1983, 1985 **Eighth place - 1997, 2000 *Division 1

Champions - 1999 *Division 1

Champions - 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 * Eastern Rugby Union Champions - 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988

Third XV Honors

National Third Division Champions - 2000

Sponsorship

Boston RFC has individual sponsorships, such as Pioneer Investments, Harpoon Ale, as well as others. These consist of several secondary sponsorships from local and regional businesses.

Notable players

The following is a list of former and current BRFC players that have earned caps for international tests

Australia

*Bob Egerton, wing, nine international caps

Canada

*Jim Yeganagi, flanker, two international caps

England

*Frank Sykes, wing, four international caps

United States

Wales

*Mike Roberts, lock, eight international caps.Mike Roberts Player Profile on SportsStat

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boston Rfc 1960 establishments in Massachusetts Rugby clubs established in 1960

RFC RFC may refer to: Computing * Request for Comments, a memorandum on Internet standards * Request for change, change management * Remote Function Call, in SAP computer systems * Rhye's and Fall of Civilization, a modification for Sid Meier's Civ ...

Sports in Norfolk County, Massachusetts Weymouth, Massachusetts