The Olympic Club RFC is a Pacific Rugby Premiership team based in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, and were the 2019 Division II USA national champions. Known as the OC, or the Winged 'O' ruggers, the

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

team was formed in 1908 under the wing of the

San Francisco Olympic Club The Olympic Club is an athletic club and private social club in San Francisco, California. First named the "San Francisco Olympic Club", it is the oldest athletic club in the United States. Established on May 6, 1860, its first officers were ...

, an athletic club and private social club which had been founded in 1860. Olympic Club Rugby is one of the oldest rugby clubs in California and has produced a number of notable players who have represented the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

national team. These include Olympic gold medal winners from 1920 and 1924, Charles Doe,

Dink Templeton Robert Lyman "Dink" Templeton (May 27, 1897 – August 7, 1962) was an American track and field athlete, Olympic gold medalist in rugby union, college football player, and track coach. Personal Templeton was born in Helena, Montana, and att ...

, George Dixon, and Rudy Scholz. More recent U.S. Eagles representatives include Brian McClenahan and

Colin Hawley Colin Hawley (born April 10, 1987 in Trowbridge, California) is an American former rugby union wing. Hawley was brought into the USA Eagles Player Pool, and began playing for the US national team while he was still in college. He made his test ...

History

Early years

The game of rugby in the Bay Area received a boost in 1906 when, citing concerns about the safety of

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

, the universities of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and Stanford dropped football in favor of rugby. The Big Game was played as rugby from 1906 to 1914. In 1907 an Englishman and rugby devotee named Edgar Pomeroy joined the San Francisco Olympic Club and lobbied for the formation of a rugby team. With the support of the club president and the board, the Olympic Club rugby team was formed in 1908, playing five other teams including Stanford and University of California in the first season. The club won the local championship the next season, in 1909. Pomeroy and fellow Olympic Club member Joseph Hickey became officials with the California Rugby Union. They arranged a series of touring matches to the West Coast for New Zealand's

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

team in 1913. On October 4, the Olympic Club played the champion All Blacks side at St. Ignatius Field. While the OC lost 19–0 it was a closer match than the game played a month later in which the United States national side was defeated 51–3. New Zealander Jim Wylie stayed in California after the tour, later joining the Olympic Club and becoming a coach of the side. The colleges resumed playing American football after 1914 but rugby had gained a toehold in the Bay Area.

1990 onwards

References

External links

* {{Pacific Rugby Premiership Sports clubs and teams in San Francisco Rugby union teams in San Francisco Rugby clubs established in 1908 1908 establishments in California