The King's College London Rugby Football Club (also referred to as KCLRFC and King's Rugby) is an English

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The club represents

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

in competitions organised by the

British Universities and Colleges Sport British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS; ) is the sports governing body, governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2008, BUCS is responsible for organising 54 inter-university sports in the United King ...

. The team plays its home games at the New Malden Sports Ground in

Berrylands Berrylands is a residential neighbourhood in Surbiton, London, originally forming part of the Municipal Borough of Surbiton, and since 1965 is part of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. It is a suburban development situated south wes ...

Background

KCLRFC runs two competitive sides each entered into the BUCS leagues. The 1st XV compete in the second tier of the South East Region. The 2nd XV upholds a competitive nature in the fourth tier of the South East region. Both teams used to enter the

University of London Union The University of London Union (ULU), known as Student Central after 2014, was the students' union of the federal University of London. Since the closure of its student governance, each student is instead primarily affiliated to a students' unio ...

(ULU) cup competitions before the ULU was dissolved: the 1st XV competed for the Gutteridge Cup which was open to all University of London 1st XVs (including

Imperial College Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums ...

who affiliated to ULU despite the college leaving the federal university in 2007); the 2nd XV competed in the Reserves Plate – open to all 2nd and lower XVs.

The London Varsity The London Varsity is an annual university sporting competition contested between the students of University College London and King's College London, the two founding colleges of the University of London. Established in 2004 as an annual rugby un ...

is an annual match against their closest rivals UCL played in March, and has recently been played at the

Barnet Copthall Barnet Copthall is a publicly owned sports venue on the Hendon-Mill Hill borders in London, which houses several complexes, including a local authority-owned swimming pool and gymnasium facilities, a golf-driving range with 9 hole pitch and p ...

stadium, the home of

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

side

Saracens F.C. Saracens Rugby Club () are an English professional rugby union club based in North London, England, currently playing in Premiership Rugby, which is the highest level of competition in English rugby. Established in 1876, the club has spent mo ...

. It is considered one of the highlights of the University of London's sporting calendar and takes place in front of a crowd of several thousand supporters from both colleges. The winner takes home the George-Bentham Cup, named after

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

and

Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 4 February Dual dating, 1747/8 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.

5 February 1748 Old Style and New Style dates, N.S. 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

– 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of mo ...

, associated with the founding of King's College and University College respectively. The club caters for all standards of players, with players new to the game especially welcome. At the end of each season an annual general meeting is held where club members vote for a new committee who will be responsible for the club the following season. Former head coach John Graves (previously Backs coach for

Esher RFC Esher Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club based in Surrey, England. Esher currently play in the third division of the English league system, National League 1, following their promotion as champions from the 2023–24 National ...

) started coaching at the club from midseason 2007/08. He coached the 1st XV team to progress up two leagues, won the Gutteridge Cup and won the varsity match three times.

Club colours

The 1st XV play in red and navy shirts, navy shorts and red and blue socks. The emblem on the shirts is the university crest and features Reggie the Lion. Below the crest is the club motto which reads 'Sancte et Sapienter' (With Holiness and Wisdom).

Representative honors

Statistics

President/Captain/Treasurer

References

External links

* {{King's College London King's College London University and college rugby union clubs in England Rugby union clubs in London Student sport in London