The Harvard Business School RFC 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 it ...

team based at Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts. The club formerly competed in the New England Rugby Football Union (

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 ...

) and is composed of graduate students from throughout

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

History

HBS Rugby began in the fall of 1963. Prior to the team's founding, the Harvard Business School sporting culture was dominated by softball, bowling, and ping-pong. Dissatisfied with these options, two Scottish MBA students, Jim Johnstone '65 and Morris McInnes '65, founded the HBS Rugby Club. Through advertisements, coercion and the promise of female spectators, the first contingent of forty or so interested men began to train at Soldiers Field. Despite the negative advice of the HBS Dean of Students and an attempt to merge the HBS side with the Harvard College side by force, Johnstone and McInnes persevered. The spring 1964 record of 5-2-1 was the harbinger of a glorious tradition of Eastern rugby strength, melding American athletes with the rugby culture of international players. Since its inception, more than 1500 men have played for HBS Rugby.

Old Boys

An HBS Old Boys touring side formally began with a trip to the Freeport Bahamas Easter Festival in 1978. The Club was initially organized by Rowland Moriarty with Michael Rush and Eugene Skowronski assisting in the early days. In 2007, the Old Boys traveled to the World Cup Rugby frenzy in France and completed their thirtieth annual tour with two matches in Provence. In 2008, Grand Cayman Island was the scene for rugby plays and stingrays. The Fall of 2011 found us at the World Cup in New Zealand. Spring, 2012, we played in Bermuda. In June, 2013, the OB's travel to France. Other HBS ruggers have also toured the globe and play for various local sides throughout the world. October 2015 featured a tour to the UK for the Rugby World Cup, and in 2019 the HBS Olde Boys toured Japan in conjunction with the 2019 World Cup in Japan, playing two games vs Keio University and Doshisha University.

Sponsorship

HBS Rugby is supported by

The Boston Consulting Group Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) is an American global management consulting firm founded in 1963 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the Big Three (or MBB, the world’s three largest management consulting firms by rev ...

, Harpoon Brewery, Gibson Guitars, Mousse Partners, and Tommy Doyle's Irish Pub.

Notable HBS Rugby alumni

* Robin Buchanan, former dean of

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degrees in management and finance, MBA and PhD). Its motto is " ...

Chase Carey Chase Carey (born 22 November 1953) is an Irish-born American executive. He is the former chief executive officer and executive chairman of the Formula One Group. He has previously worked for News Corp, DIRECTV, 21st Century Fox and Sky plc. ...

, CEO and Executive Chairman of

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Sir Ronald Cohen Sir Ronald Mourad Cohen (born 1 August 1945) is an Egyptian-born British businessman and political figure. He is the chairman of The Portland Trust and Bridges Ventures.Klion Forum with Sir Ronald Cohen: "Why Do We Need Social Capital Market ...

, co-founder of

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Ray Dalio Raymond Thomas Dalio (born August 8, 1949) is an American billionaire investor and hedge fund manager, who has served as co-chief investment officer of the world's largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, since 1985. He founded Bridgewater i ...

, founder of

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Patrick Fitzgerald Patrick J. Fitzgerald (born December 22, 1960) is an American lawyer and partner at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom since October 2012. For more than a decade, until June 30, 2012, Fitzgerald was the United States Attorney ...

, lead prosecutor in

Scooter Libby Irve Lewis "Scooter" Libby (born August 22, 1950) is an American lawyer and former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney known for his high-profile indictment. From 2001 to 2005, Libby held the offices of Assistant to the Vice President ...

, Conrad Black, and Rod Blagojevich trials *

Thomas C. Foley Thomas Coleman Foley (born January 9, 1952) is an American politician and businessman. He served as the United States Ambassador to Ireland from 2006 to 2009 and was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Governor of Connecticut in 2010 and 20 ...

, former United States Ambassador to

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 ...

* Rowland T. Moriary, Chairman Emiratis of CRA

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Theodore Roosevelt IV Theodore Roosevelt V ( ) (born November 27, 1942), also called Theodore IV, is an American investment banker and managing director at Barclays Investment Bank. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Economic Club of New York, ...

, great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt * Sir Wilson Whineray, former captain of the All Blacks * Brian Burke, NHL executive, Stanley Cup champion Sir Martin Sorrel, Chairman WPP

External links

Official siteHarbus coverage of HBS RugbyUSA Rugby
{{Massachusetts Sports Rugby union teams in Boston Harvard Business School Rugby clubs established in 1963 1963 establishments in Massachusetts