History
Men's Squad
Rugby first came to Dayton, Ohio in the fall of 1969 when a group of University of Dayton students, led by Bob Borgerding, played their first rugby match. The University of Dayton continues to play rugby to this day, fielding both a Men's and a Women's squad.
Club rugby came onto the scene in 1973 with the founding of the Dayton Triangles RFC, named for the first champion of the National Football League, the Dayton Triangles. This name was soon changed to the Miami Valley Rugby Football Club (RFC), later changing its name to Dayton RFC. Wright State University RFC started in 1976 and lasted until 1981 at which point it moved off campus and turned into a Men's team Gem City RFC. Rugby would not return to Wright State University until 1998.
- At the same time the Wittenberg University RFC and Wright-Patt Jets RFC developed from the Dayton RFC.
In the early 1980s, the Dayton RFC and Gem City RFC merged to form the Dayton Argylls RFC. This arrangement lasted until the early 1990s, when the Dayton Argylls RFC and the Wright-Patt Jets RFC merged.
The current squad logo, which gives the squad its nickname of Flying Pigs, is a winged wild boar, which was chosen as a merger of the Argylls’ boar logo and the Wright Patt Jets' jet aircraft logo.
Over the years, rugby squads in the Dayton area have been very successful. In fifteens competition, the Wright Patt. Jets were Military National Champions. The Argylls, in their final season, placed third in the Midwest Division II Championship. The Flying Pigs qualified for the Midwest Division II Championships in both 1994, 1995, and 2011, placing second in 1994. Dayton has had success in rugby sevens as well, qualifying for the national championship in 1984 and 1985.
In 2016 Dayton added a second team, and currently compete in Midwest Divisions III & IV.
Women's Squad
The first women's squad was started in 1979 and lasted into the next decade. The Women's squad was reformed in 1999 by Lola Akinmade. The squad has been very successful, winning the Midwest Division II Women's Championship and finishing third in the nation in 2002. During part of its existence, the squad was merged with the women's squad of the Cincinnati Kelts; after a few years as the joint Cincinnati-Dayton Women's squad the team split in 2006 to rejoin their respective city clubs.
Venues
The club has lived up to its current name over the years, using many different venues around the Greater Dayton area. Before the team secured the use of green space for the permanent placement of at Eastwood, in 2007, venues they have used have included Dayton's Carillon Park and Centerville's Leonard E. Stubbs Memorial Park.
In January 2012, the independent Five Rivers Youth Rugby Foundation, (FRYRF), was formed in Dayton. Led by Chris Schreel and Frank Harris, FRYRF purchased the Fenner Fields baseball complex in north Dayton, renaming the facility as Dayton Rugby Grounds (DRG). The rugby community of the Dayton Area worked to turn the seven baseball diamonds into rugby pitches. Much of the work was carried out by volunteers from the club, which has established a Use Agreement with FRYRF to use DRG as their home pitch and beginning Fall of 2013.
In 2013, DRG finish leveling their second pitch and began use in the Fall of 2015.
The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby.
Murrayfield Wanderers Football Club is a rugby union side based in Edinburgh, Scotland, founded by the merger of Edinburgh Wanderers and Murrayfield RFC in 1997.
The Boston Irish Wolfhounds Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team based in Boston, Massachusetts, US. The club competes in, and is governed by, the New England Rugby Football Union, the Northeast Rugby Union, and USA Rugby. In 2014 it joined the American Rugby Premiership.
Highfield Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Cork, Ireland, playing in Division 1B of the All-Ireland League. The club was founded in 1930 and was elevated to senior status in the province of Munster in 1953. Before moving to its present grounds at Woodleigh Park, the club was based in fields off Magazine Road between Highfield Avenue and Highfield West, where the team derived its name. The current ground is now located near a park called Highfield Lawn. The club currently fields teams in Division 1B of the All-Ireland League. Irish Rugby union International, Donncha O'Callaghan, is a product of the Highfield Youth system.
Charlotte Rugby Club, nicknamed the "Old Originals", are a rugby union team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They currently play in USA Rugby Division II, and are members of the USA Rugby South. They play home games at Skillbeck Athletic Grounds.
The Seattle Rugby Club is a rugby union club based in Seattle. The club travels throughout the US and into Canada. In 2014 the club was ranked as the number one US club while also playing in a Canadian league based in British Columbia (BCRU). Old Puget Sound Beach was a charter member of the now defunct USA Super League in the Pacific Coast USA Rugby territory.
San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in San Francisco, California. SFGG's first side competes in the Northern California Rugby Football Union's Men's Division I, Women's Division II, and Pacific Rugby Premiership. The SFGG Youth Program includes high school Varsity, Junior Varsity, Frosh-Soph teams as well as U-12, U-10 and U-8 (non-contact) youth teams. SFGG also fields nationally competitive Rugby Sevens squads over the summer. The SFGG Old Boys team, the Señors, feature in occasional matches.
The Fairfield Yankees Rugby Football Club is a Division II and IV Men's and Division II Women's Rugby Club based in Fairfield, Connecticut. Founded in 1975, the club consists of many teams, two Men's sides and one Women's side, as well as teams for Summer Sevens and Youth and High School Teams with the Fairfield Rugby Club. The Yankees have fielded teams in the Metropolitan New York Rugby Union as well as the New England Rugby Football Union (NERFU), and currently are members of the Empire Geographical Union. The Yankees won the USA Rugby Division II Men's Club National Championship in 2004, and the Division III Men's Club National Championship in 2016.
The Alamo City Rugby Football Club is an American rugby union club that is based in San Antonio, Texas. Alamo City RFC plays in the Texas Rugby Union Men's Division 2 league. Home matches are held at the Bowie Field rugby pitches located inside Brooks Park in southeast San Antonio, TX. The nickname for Alamo City Rugby is "The Defenders".
The Notre Dame Rugby Football Club is the official rugby football club at the University of Notre Dame. It is the oldest collegiate rugby club in the Midwest and currently plays in the National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) D1, one of the highest levels of college rugby in the U.S.
The Chicago Griffins RFC rugby union team was founded in 1973. The team competes in the National Division I Midwest League, USA Rugby's top tier, after the demise of the USA Super League and play their home games at Riis Park in Chicago, Illinois, US.
The Los Angeles Rugby Club, founded in 1958, is a premier First Division amateur rugby team that competes in the Southern California Rugby Football Union (SCRFU) that reports to USA Rugby—the national governing body for the United States Rugby Union.
Charles River Rugby Football Club, nicknamed The Rats, is an American rugby union club based in Boston which currently competes in the New England Rugby Football Union. Charles River has also a women's section.
The Flint Rogues Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from Flint, Michigan and member of USA Rugby, Division III Midwest Rugby Eastern Conference, Northern League and Division III of the Michigan Rugby Football Union.
Jacksonville Rugby Football Club are a men's rugby union team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They are members of the Florida Rugby Union, the organizational body for rugby in the state of Florida, and currently play in USA Rugby Division II. The club was founded in 1972.
The Baton Rouge Rugby Football Club, founded in 1977, is a men's rugby union team based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. The club competes in and is governed by the True South and USA Rugby.
Chicago Blaze Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Lemont, Illinois. The Blaze's first side competes in the Midwest Rugby Football Union's Division II class.
Harlequins Women, formerly known as Harlequins Ladies, are a women's rugby union club based in Guildford, Surrey, England and in Twickenham, Middlesex, England. They were founded in 1995 as the women's team of Harlequin F.C. and rebranded in 2017 after merging with Aylesford Bulls. In 2017, they were selected as one of the franchises for the new Premier 15s league, but they also cater for new, aspiring and social players within their 3rd XV squad.
Cowal RFC is a rugby union side based in Dunoon, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The club was founded in 1976. They play their home games at Dunoon Stadium.
The Inverleith Sports Ground is a rugby union stadium in Inverleith, Edinburgh, Scotland which is the home ground of amateur club Stewart's Melville RFC and was the home ground of the Scotland national rugby union team between 1899 and 1925.
