The Brigham Young University Men's Rugby Team participates in the Rocky Mountain division of Division 1-A Rugby. They won the D1-A National Championship in 2009 and 2012. From 2013 to 2016 they participated in the Varsity Cup Championship, where they won three championships (2013, 2014, and 2015), defeating rival powerhouse Cal each time.
BYU Rugby normally hosts its home matches at South Field on BYU campus in Provo, Utah. The stadium now features a grandstand with seating capacity up to 4,200 spectators, with additional standing room for larger crowds.
BYU Rugby finished the 2019 season ranked 8th nationally,Final Rankings of 2019 Season losing in the quarter-finals to Saint Mary's.
History
Early years The Brigham Young University Rugby team was founded by John Seggar in 1962 while a student. In 1967, after graduating from BYU, Seggar became Head Coach of the newly formed program, a position he held on and off for 15 seasons.
In the 1980s, players David Smyth, Mark Ormsby, and Dean Ormsby helped build up the BYU Rugby team to compete in national playoffs. However they were never able to advance past the quarterfinal round.
Post-season absence In 1987, the National Collegiate Tournament changed the schedule of playing from Friday-Saturday to Saturday-Sunday. This change in schedule and the team's affiliation with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints kept them from competing for a national championship because they would not compete on Sundays. The change in the championship format also led Seggar to retire as the head coach.
Over the next few years, BYU Rugby continued to participate in regular season matches, but they participated in no post-season. David Smyth, Mark Ormsby, and Dean Ormsby acted as co-coaches, but they seemed unable to capture the zeal that Coach Seggar had inspired among his players. While under Smyth, Ormsby, and Ormsby the team never finished above .500. The three passed the program on to Vernon Heperi, the new BYU dean of students, who would later become the head coach.
After a temporary stay in the United Kingdom, Smyth returned to Utah in 1991 and once again assumed coaching responsibilities at BYU. Smyth left for the second time in 2002.
National championships In 2004, USA Rugby returned post-season tournament play to a Friday-Saturday format, and BYU Rugby began playing again in the national tournament.
Under Head Coach Jared Akenhead — who took over from Smyth as head coach in 2002 — the BYU Rugby team made it to the national collegiate playoffs. Several of his players received All-American awards and National Team selection honors.
In 2005, Akenhead left the BYU Rugby program and Smyth once again assumed head coaching responsibilities, with Kimball Kjar, Wayne Tarawhiti, Brian Westenskow, Justen Nadauld, and Jeff Hullinger as assistant coaches.
In his 20+ seasons as head coach at BYU, Smyth has coached several USA National Rugby Team Members, Collegiate All-Americans, and Pacific Coast All-Stars. He has also led the Cougars to five collegiate championships: 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. Smyth retired from BYU Rugby at the end of the 2018 season. On August 13, 2018, it was announced Steve St. Pierre would become the new rugby head coach.
Rivalries Each year BYU competes in the Wasatch Cup, an annual rivalry match against the University of Utah. Since 2007 the symbol of victory has been a large loving cup style trophy with the match history inscribed in its base.
As of 2014 BYU participates in the West Coast Cup. The series features a home-and-home series between BYU and Saint Mary's. The match title comes from the fact that both teams compete in the West Coast Conference in most NCAA sanctioned sports.
Other matches that BYU participates in annually include the Champions Challenge, featuring BYU against a previous season semi-pro championship team, and the Rugby Bowl.
While not a regular rival on the schedule, BYU and Cal are regarded currently as being the top rugby rivalry in the nation. Since 2006 the Cougars and Bears have met in every season, except 2012, in the collegiate postseason tournament. Cal did not participate in any post-season collegiate rugby in 2012. Before 2006 the schools met in 1981, 1983, 1984, and 2001. 2015 marked the ninth time BYU and Cal have met for the national championship.
National championships
Results BYU has had several successful seasons, finishing as the top or one of the top teams in the country in post-season tournaments and in national rankings.
Season Post-season Tournament Tournament Finish National Ranking Ref 2005 National Championship 3rd 2006 National Championship 2nd 2007 National Championship 2nd 2008 National Championship 2nd 2009 National Championship 1st 2010 National Championship 2nd 2011 Division 1-A 2nd 2nd 2012 Division 1-A 1st 1st "Final 2012 D1-A College Rankings" , Rugby Today, May 201, 2012. 2013 Varsity Cup 1st 1st "All Divisions College Top 25 May 22, 2013, presented by Selective Service" , Rugby Today. Retrieved October 9, 2014. 2014 Varsity Cup 1st 2nd "Men's DI College Top 25, May 15, 2014" , Rugby Today. Retrieved October 9, 2014. 2015 Varsity Cup 1st 1st 2016 Varsity Cup 2nd 2nd 2017 Division 1-A 3rd 3rd
Division 1-A Rugby
The following table shows the Division 1-A national championships where BYU reached at least the semifinals. In addition to the years listed below, the Cougars made the quarterfinals in 1999, 2018, and 2019 and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in 2004. YEARLOCATIONCHAMPIONSCORERUNNER-UP3rd PLACE4th PLACE2005 Stanford, CA California 44-7 Utah BYU / Navy2006 Stanford, CA California 29-26 BYU Utah / Penn State2007 Stanford, CA California 37-7 BYU Navy / Penn State2008 Stanford, CA California 59-7 BYU Saint Mary's / Colorado2009 Stanford, CA BYU 25-22 California Army / San Diego State2010 Stanford, CA California 19-7 BYU Arkansas State / Army2011 Sandy, UT California 21-14 BYU Utah / Arkansas State2012 Sandy, UT BYU 49-42 Arkansas State Life / Saint Mary's2017 Moraga, CA St. Mary's (CA) 30–24 Life University BYU / Arizona
Varsity Cup
The following table is a list of each of the Varsity Cups in which BYU has reached at least the semifinals.
YEARLOCATIONCHAMPIONSCORERUNNER-UP3rd PLACE4th PLACE2013 Provo, UT BYU 27–24 California Central Washington / Navy2014 Sandy, UT BYU 43–33 California Central Washington / Navy2015 Sandy, UT BYU 30–27 California Central Washington / Navy2016 Provo, UT California 40–29 BYU Arkansas State / Central Washington
Awards
USA National Team Ormsby, Mark - 1983, 1 cap Kjar, Kimball - 2001-2007, 19 caps, 12 points (2 tries), 2003 World Cup Sika, Salesi - 2003-2009, 29 caps, 25 points (5 tries), 2003 & 2007 World Cup Hullinger, Elwood (Jeff) - 2006, 5 caps, 30 points (6 tries) Tuilevuka, Pate - 2006-2010, 10 caps, 12 points (2 tries) Bloomfield, Henry - 2007-2008, 5 caps, 2007 World Cup Davies, Shaun - 2012-current, 25 caps, 23 points, 2019 World Cup Sumsion, Kyle - 2014-2015, 5 caps Jensen, Matt - 2017, 2 caps, 5 points (1 try) Lasike, Paul - 2018-current, 16 caps, 25 points, 2019 World Cup
Collegiate All-Americans Smyth, David - AA Head Coach (1990-2003) (2006 - 2007) Kjar, Kimball - Backs Coach (2010)
Nadauld, Taylor - 2001 Kjar, Kimball - 2001, 2002, 2003 Stearns, Ned - 2002 Sika, Salesi - 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 Blaser, John - 2004 Poelman, Michael - 2005 Hullinger, Jeff - 2006 Taumoepeau, Ikani - 2006 Tuilevuka, Alipate - 2006 Kjar, Taylor - 2006, 2007 Clark, Craig - 2006, 2007 Smith, Derek - 2006, 2007, 2008 Havea, Morris - 2007 Ngakuru, Duran - 2007 St. Pierre, Steve - 2007, 2008, 2009 Malani, Apenisa - 2009 Qaqa, Vito - 2009 Su'a, Manti - 2009 Folau, Byron - 2009, 2010 (HM) Davies, Shaun - 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Su'a, Mikey - 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 Lubbe, Dylan - 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 (HM) Lasike, Paul - 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014 Sumsion, Kyle - 2009 (HM), 2012 (HM), 2013, 2014, 2015 Vimahi, Viliami - 2010 (HM) Allred, TJ - 2010 (HM), 2012 Roundy, Ryan - 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Bonham, Mark - 2011 Kofe, Hoseki - 2011, 2012, 2013 Forrester, Ray - 2011,2012, 2013 (HM) Leaaetoa, Hynie - 2012 Wernli, Chris - 2013 (HM) Linehan, Jonny - 2013 (HM), 2014, 2015 Collins, David - 2014 (HM) Pikula, Joe - 2014 (HM) Mendenhall, Zane - 2014 (HM) Whippy, Josh - 2014, 2015, 2017 Whippy, Jared - 2014, 2015, 2016 (HM), 2017 Elkington, Arawa - 2014 (HM), 2015 (HM), 2016 (HM) Mocke, Luke - 2015, 2016 (HM) Laei, Tua - 2015 (2nd Team), 2016, 2017 Jensen, Matt - 2016, 2017 Vorster, Alex - 2016, 2017 Whiting, Calvin - 2016, 2017 Kaka, Jackson - 2016 (2nd Team), 2017 Kevin Schofield - 2017 Zach Webber - 2017 Wilcox, Tosh - 2018 (HM) Mocke, James - 2019 (HM)
HM = Honorable Mention
Pacific Coast All-Stars Michael Poelman- 2005 Derek Smith- 2006, 2007, 2008 Craig Clark- 2006, 2007 Taylor Kjar- 2006 Steve St. Pierre - 2007, 2008, 2009
See also Haka performed by non-New Zealand sports teams § Brigham Young University Mike Leach - prominent American football coach who played rugby at BYU from 1979 to 1983
References
External links