Furman to host USA Rugby National Championships Dec. 5-6

Furman will be home to some of the very best college rugby has to offer Dec. 5-6 when the university hosts the USA Rugby Men’s Division II National Championship, as well as the Women’s DI and DII Fall Championship.

In all, 10 colleges and universities representing seven states will participate over two days, culminating with three champions being crowned Sunday. Most of the games will be held at John S. Roberts Field, which is located adjacent to Paladin Stadium.

Participating in the Men’s DII National Championship will be University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (Whitewater, WI), Towson University (Baltimore, MD), University of Minnesota-Duluth (Duluth, MN) and Salisbury University (Salisbury, MD). The Women’s D II field includes Davenport University (Grand Rapids, MI), Bloomsburg University (Bloomsburg, PA), Winona State University (Winona, MN) and Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY). On Sunday, the University of Connecticut will square off against the United State Air Force Academy at 1 p.m. ET for the Women’s DI Fall Championship.

Furman hosted the Men’s DII National Final Four in 2013 and 2014.

“Furman has served the rugby community well as a host location for championship events,” USA Rugby National Championship Series and Competitions Manager James Wilber said. “Players that have been there in the last few years know the quality of Furman’s facilities, and we’re excited to have one of our biggest weekends of domestic rugby in South Carolina.”

Furman Rugby Coach John Roberts, who founded the Furman Rugby Team in 1998 and has served as its only head coach, said the University is honored to host the USA Rugby event.

“We are proud of our facility and our championship history, but we are proudest of the way we treat the game,” he said. “We hope that pride resonates throughout this event.”

Dec. 5’s four Semifinal matches will be aired live on USA Rugby TV beginning with the Women’s DII Semifinal kicking off at 9 a.m. ET. On Sunday, the Women’s DI and DII Fall Championship Finals, as well as the Men’s DII National Championship will be aired on USA Rugby TV. For a complete schedule of matches, visit USARugbyTV.com.

Furman’s men’s team finished as the sixth ranked DII team in 2014, but narrowly missed qualifying for the 2015 playoffs and finished with a 5-2 fall record.

The complete schedule:

* Game to be hosted at North Village Field