Domestic competitions .28Division 1.29 Rugby union in the United States

1 domestic competitions (division 1)

1.1 super league (1997–2012)
1.2 regional premierships (2014–present)
1.3 professional rugby (2016)
1.4 club sevens championship

domestic competitions (division 1)

the governing body world rugby lifted rugby union’s ban on professional rugby following 1995 rugby world cup. since time, other nations have professionalized rugby within countries, usa rugby has struggled transition sustainable professional rugby club competition.

super league (1997–2012)

the rugby super league national premier division 1 rugby amateur club competition ran 1997 2012. super league created in 1996 major territorial unions within usa rugby intention of creating competitive national competition. inaugural season of competition saw 14 teams divided 2 seven-team divisions: western-pacific conference , midwestern-east conference.

aspen won first championship. belmont shore successful club, appearing in finals every year 2002 2008, until club left competition. san francisco golden gate led league, appearing in finals every year 2009 2011.

the size of league fluctuated on years. inclusion of sub-par clubs , exclusion of top-performing clubs controversial issue since inception of super league, called question whether usa s premier competition.

following demise of super league, usa rugby formed elite cup in 2013 among top 8 clubs previous season’s national division club championship. competition divided 2 pools of 4 teams: east, consisting of boston, life running eagles, new york athletic club, , old blue of new york; , west, consisting of denver barbarians, glendale raptors, san francisco golden gate, , seattle opsb. however, competition lasted 1 year, 3 of 4 western members affiliated pacific rugby premiership.

regional premierships (2014–present)

in 2013, 7 western clubs announced formation of pacific rugby premiership, consisting of 3 teams southern california, 2 northern california, , 2 colorado. prp division 1 competition began play in spring 2014. season runs february may, 12-game regular-season schedule in teams play each other team twice, culminating in one-game championship match in may. teams competing are:

in july 2014, 5 eastern clubs announced formation of american rugby premiership, consisting of 2 teams new york, 2 boston, , 1 atlanta. competition schedule involves 8 matches played in split season, first half of season during september–october, winter break, , remaining half of season in april–may, culminating in challenge match between champions of pacific , atlantic competitions. in 2016, mystic river rugby club became full member of arp, replacing life rfc in reformatted competition. teams competing are:

in 2015 8 midwestern clubs announced formation of midwest rugby premiership, consisting of 2 teams chicago, 2 ohio (cincinnati , columbus), , 1 each kansas city, milwaukee, minneapolis, , davenport, ia. mrp division 1 competition began play in fall of 2015. season runs september may, 14-game regular-season schedule in teams play each other twice, playoff semi final, culminating in one-game championship match in may. in november 2015, in conjunction red river premiership metropolis rfc, kansas city rfc, austin blacks rfc , dallas reds rfc took part in inaugural usa rugby sanctioned first round of gold cup. teams competing are:

professional rugby (2016)

the development of domestic professional rugby competition seen key step in growth of rugby in united states. usa rugby ceo nigel melville predicted in 2012 professional rugby come united states 2015. melville quoted in 2014 saying can in 2 years, city-driven , start 6 [teams] , go there. u.s. national team assistant coach justin fitzpatrick said in 2015 2016 u.s. have resolved create professional domestic rugby competition.

griffins rugby, based in dallas, announced goal of becoming professional rugby club. jake abbott became first professional player join griffins english club worcester warriors, , 2015 club had signed 4 professional players.

in november 2015, professional rugby organization (pro rugby) announced launching usa rugby-sanctioned professional competition in 2016. teams played @ medium-size venues, 12-match schedule april july 2016. 5 teams denver, ohio, sacramento, san diego , san francisco. on december 21, 2016, league announced investors has pulled funding , league operations suspended indefinitely.

club sevens championship

the usa rugby club 7s national championship top annual american rugby sevens competition organized usa rugby. best sixteen clubs in country participate each year. successful club in competition san diego based ombac, has won 6 titles.