Rugby union at the 1920 Summer Olympics was played in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Two nations entered the

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 ...

event at the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1920; nl, Olympische Zomerspelen van 1920; german: Olympische Sommerspiele 1920), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIe olympiade; nl, Spelen van ...

—

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and 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 territorie ...

. The French team were thought to be assured of the gold medal and came in as raging favourites in the event. However, the United States team surprised everyone when defeating France by eight points to nil.

Summary

The rugby football Olympic tournament consisted of only one match. It was played between the United States and France. The US squad was made up 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 with ...

players from California universities, notably Stanford,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, and Santa Clara. Due to American football becoming an increasingly violent sport, these and other west coast universities chose to instead play rugby union from 1906-1914. On the other side, the French team was composed of players from four clubs near

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

: Racing Club, Olympique, Club Athlétique des Sports Généraux, and Sporting Club Universitaire. United States player Rudy Scholz wrote about the match: After the Olympic competition, the US team toured England and France in 1924, playing three games in England as preparation for the 1924 Olympic competition. On 19 September, in Lyon, United States defeated a team representing the southeast of France 26–0. The American team also achieved victories against a southern French team (in Toulouse) and a southwest side at Bordeaux. United States was later defeated by France 14–5 in Paris.Rugby at the 1920 Antwerpen
on Sports Reference

Match details

Medal summary

Medal table

Medalists

Notes

Rugby Commissioner and President of the California Rugby Union, Harry Maloney, was Coach and Trainer of the team. * James Fitzpatrick is missing in the IOC medal database but he did compete in the match. * James Winston is listed in the IOC medal database but he did not participate. * Bill Muldoon was also a squad member of the American team but did not compete (and is not listed in the IOC medal database). * Raymond Berrurier is listed in the IOC medal database but he did not participate. * Constant Lamaignière, Eugène Soulié, and Robert Thierry were squad members for the French team but they did not play (and were not listed in the IOC medal database). *

Morris Kirksey Morris Marshall Kirksey (September 13, 1895 – November 25, 1981) was an American track and field athlete and rugby union footballer who won two gold medals at the 1920 Summer Olympics. He is one of four athletes to win gold medals in two differe ...

also won gold for the United States in the 4x100 metre relay at these games.

References

External links

* {{EventsAt1920SummerOlympics 1920 Summer Olympics events 1920

Oly Oly may refer to: * Oly, informal name for Olympia, Washington, United States * OLY (: ), postnominals granted to participants in the Olympics People with the name * Oly (born 1992), American singer-songwriter and musician * Oly Hicks (born 1968 ...