Harvard Business School RFC
| File:HBS Rugby Crest.jpg | ||
| Full name | Harvard Business School Rugby Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Union | USA Rugby | |
| Founded | 1963 | |
| Ground(s) | Harvard Business School | |
| League(s) | NERFU | |
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| Official website | ||
| www | ||
The Harvard Business School RFC is a rugby union team based at Harvard Business School in Boston, MA. The club competes in the New England Rugby Football Union and is comprised of graduate students from throughout Harvard University.
History
At HBS in the fall of 1963, two enterprising Scots knew that six days of class and the dreaded WAC (Written Analysis of Cases) was not a healthy lifestyle. The Harbus sports page was running articles on softball, bowling and ping-pong. To that pathetic mix, Jim Johnstone ´66 and Morris McInnes ´65 brought rugby to the playing fields of Harvard Business School.
Through advertisements, coercion and the promise of female spectators, the first contingent of 40 or so interested men began to train at Soldiers Field. Despite the negative advice of the HBS Dean of Students and an attempt to merge the HBS side with the Harvard College side by force, Jim and Morris persevered. The spring 1964 record of 5-2-1 was the harbinger of a glorious tradition of Eastern rugby strength, melding American athletes with the rugby culture of international players.
An Old Boys touring side formally began with a trip to the Freeport Bahamas Easter Festival in 1978. In 2007, the Old Boys traveled to the World Cup Rugby frenzy in France and completed their 30th annual tour with 2 matches in Provence. In 2008, Grand Cayman Island was the scene for rugby plays and stingrays. Other HBS ruggers have also toured the globe and play for various local sides throughout the world.
HBS Rugby Today
Rugby is the only competitive, extramural team sport at HBS and over 1000 students have trod the pitch wearing some combination of crimson and white. The October Columbus Day weekend at HBS is an annual gathering of all rugby alumni and current students to celebrate a tradition and renew a bond that few others have had at HBS.
The current student team continues that history of success with a full slate of NERFU games each fall and a spring touring calendar that includes London Business School, a rotating Spring Break tour, and the MBA World Championship at Duke University.
Sponsorship
HBS Rugby is supported by The Boston Consulting Group and Tommy Doyle's Irish Pub.
Notable HBS Rugby Alumni
- Sir Wilson Whineray, former captain of the All Blacks
- Sir Ronald Cohen, co-founder of Apax Partners
- Robin Buchanan, Dean of London Business School
- Thomas C. Foley, current United State Ambassador to Ireland
- Chase Carey, President and Chief Executive Officer of DirecTV
- Theodore Roosevelt IV, great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt
External links
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