Royal Free, University College and Middlesex Medical Students RFC is 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 it ...

club for

UCL Medical School UCL Medical School is the medical school of University College London (UCL) and is located in London, United Kingdom. The School provides a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education programmes and also has a medical educatio ...

, which is part of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

. The rugby club is commonly referred to by its shortened name of RUMS RFC or RUMS Rugby. The club is registered with the

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It prom ...

and plays in the traditional colours of the medical school: blue, yellow and black. RUMS RFC is one of the largest and most successful clubs of

, with over 50 members and three teams competing in the BUCS SE league.

History

The London teaching hospitals began playing rugby union in the 1860s, with many of its members former Cambridge and Oxford graduates. The United Hospitals Rugby Football Club was formed in 1867, before the founding of the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

, and by 1874 had initiated the United Hospital's Challenge Cup, a competition for the rival hospitals. Although Guy's provided far more international rugby players, the United Hospital club saw many notable players join the team, including notable

Barbarian A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less ...

, Brigadier Glyn Hughes. The Royal Free and University College Medical School was formed in 1998 following a series of mergers between a number of existing medical schools: in 1987 the

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

Medical School (founded 1746) merged with University College Medical School (1825) to form the

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

and Middlesex School of Medicine. In 1998 the University College and Middlesex School of Medicine merged with the

Royal Free Hospital The Royal Free Hospital (also known simply as the Royal Free) is a major teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs services at Bar ...

Medical School A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, ...

to form the Royal Free and University College Medical School. In 2008 the medical school changed its name to

; however at a meeting in 2009 all the medical school sports teams voted to alter their traditional name slightly, adding Middlesex, to honour the heritage of the Middlesex medical school. Thus the club name changed to The Royal Free, University College and Middlesex Medical Students (RUMS), not using the new medical school name. The current rugby club is an amalgamation of the rugby clubs of these previous medical schools. Thus the club has an illustrious history and has been competing in the oldest rugby competition in the world, the

United Hospitals Cup The United Hospitals Challenge Cup is contested by the six medical schools in London and is most notable for being the oldest rugby cup competition in the world. History In 1874 the United Hospitals RFC instituted a cup competition, the United ...

, in one guise or another since 1874.

Teams

*1st XV: The 1st XV of RUMS RFC has been competing at a very high level for several seasons. They are currently the highest ranked

sports team A sports team is a group of individuals who play sports ( sports player), usually team sports, on the same team. The number of players in the group depends on type of the sports requirements. Historically, sports teams and the people who pl ...

within

and one of the highest within

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. *2nd XV: This team is also known as 'The Boars', a nickname descending from the

Medical School rugby team. *3rd XV: As of March 2009, a 3rd XV has been created, playing under the name of 'The Piglets'. This team acts as a training buffer for potential Boars.

Competitions

: The 1st XV compete annually in this prestigious competition, first winning the trophy on 6 March 2015 by beating Imperial Medicals 20-6. This was the first time RUMS or any of its constituent medical schools won the trophy in 128 years. The team then went on to win the competition again in 2018 defeating Barts 34-18 in the final. * BUCS SE 1A: The 1st XV competes in the highest university league of the SE area of England. * BUCS SE 4B * BUCS SE 7B * Munich Sevens: RUMS RFC competes annually in this international tournament, entering two teams. The club won the plate competition for 11 years straight, but this succession was broken by Munich RFC in 2007, when RUMS, led by Toby Ikwueke, lost a thrilling final for the first time. This monopoly of the plate competition has led the Bavarian organisers dubbing RUMS RFC as the 'plate specialists'. In the 2009 competition the 1st VII reached the cup final, knocking out hosts Munich in an epic semi-final. The team lost a very close final to the British Army team, 'The Rifles'. *Bill Smith Cup: This is held every December between the first and second years of the medical school. It was named in honour of Prof. Bill Smith who was a great supporter of the rugby club during his time teaching at

Internationals

Over the years the club and its predecessor clubs have fostered a number of international players.

University College Hospital

* Dawson Turner ''(1871-75)''

References

External links

RUMS RFC

Rugby Football Union

United Hospitals RFC
{{United Hospitals Cup Rugby union teams in England Rugby union clubs in London University and college rugby union clubs in England United Hospitals sports clubs Rugby union clubs in Middlesex