This weekend, the Providence RFC hosted the 22nd annual Cianci 7’s tournament. Last fall, Brown sent one team to compete in this tournament’s social division and that team captured the crown. Looking to improve upon that performance, there were 2 sides from Brown taking the field in this year’s iteration. Special recognition is deserved to 5 of the "Cubs" who were playing in a rugby match for the very first time at this tournament: Emmanuel Chery ’27, Daijin Dorsey-Reyes ’26, Carter Lee ’27, Mateo Navarro ’27, and Luca Vernhes ’27.

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With temperatures reaching 80 degrees, clear sunny skies, and only occasional wind, all in attendance enjoyed a pleasantly unseasonable fall day and perhaps Brown rugby’s best overall performance in any match this fall, against the Yellow Jackets of American International College (AIC) out of Springfield in western Massachusetts.  Brown took the lead early and ran away with the semi-final shutout, 40-0, to advance to the finals against Sienna being played at Fairfield on November 4th.

For their first away match of the 2023 season the Bears faced the #16 ranked Stags of Fairfield University. Fairfield entered this match with their backs against the wall in the conference standings having already registered 2 losses on the season. Given their motivation to avenge last year’s rout at the hands of the Bears, Brown expected to get their host’s best effort, and they did not disappoint. However, Brown came out victorious in the end with a 24-11 win.

Game one of the 2023 Fall season is now in the history books. The first run out of the season saw the Bears run in 71 unanswered points. While far from perfect, the home team was able to control the majority of play throughout the game.

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In the 5th and final home 7s event of the spring season, Brown returned to Marvel field and dominated Vassar College in a short schedule friendly series. The Vassar men’s team traveled with the Vassar varsity women’s rugby team who matched up with the Brown women later in the day.

Brown hosted three teams from Massachusetts and had one team. Normal WR 7's Laws with any needed minor alterations to adapt to the field etc. Brown hosted Bentley, Stonehill and Wheaton. The format was a round robin scores determining who played for the final standings.

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Some say thirteen is an unlucky number. Not on this day as the Brown Bears capped off their 13th and final win of the season beating Queens University 21-5 to capture the National Collegiate Rugby Division 1 National Championship.

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Approaching the finals weeks of the Fall 2022 season, the Cianci 7’s provided an opportunity for the second team and development group to compete with ten other colleagues from the region.   The team played five games winning them all to take the championship trophy in the social category.

Big Green came looking to take back the Cup however the Bears sent them home empty handed. In the highly anticipated re-match from last year’s Ivy League upset victory over the long-standing reigning champions, Brown retained the Ivy League Trophy with a 24-5 victory over our foes from the north.  Missing some players, Brown had to work hard to shut down what we knew would be a highly contested match.  Dartmouth was out for revenge but Brown was ready to defend our home ground and do battle.

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Despite the pouring rain and muddy conditions, there was a lot of excitement from the boys to play against Colgate University. Furthermore, this weekend brought about the highly anticipated return from long-term injury of vice-captain Ollie Corbett (’24) and starting flyhalf Raphael Lansonneur (’25) to an already strong Brown team. This excitement and buzz translated to an 88-0 thrashing of the men from Hamilton, New York.

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The Bears traveled to Syracuse NY to take on the Hammerheads from Syracuse University and bring home the wins 47-13 and 34-0. This was Brown’s first league match of the season, entering the Liberty Conference which was restructured giving Brown the opportunity to participate in a more competetive field of play.  Click here for the full game report.

Brown Men's Rugby celebrates 60 years and kicks off the day with 7s tournament at home.

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Brown Men's Rugby finished off another successful weekend fielding two sides in a home 7’s event.  The second side, after a shaky start last weekend, pulled off two wins and one loss.  The first side went undefeated on the day.

In spite of our 38-14 defeat of Fordham University on September 11 and our defeat of Dartmouth last weekend, the powers that be of National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) determined Brown had to win a “play in” game in order to qualify for the NCR final eight, so today was our opportunity to prove our season to date was no “fluke”.

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Cornell came to Brown for an Ivy League fixture, but Cornell has opted out of the League competition this season. As a result, this match has no effect on Brown’s standing in the League and Brown was free to be a bit more flexible with selections for the Cornell matches, providing approximately 10 players to play in a First XV match.

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Brown’s Ivy League schedule had a bye week this date. With all of the New England teams into their league schedules, coach Laflamme was fortunate to book in the local Bryant University for a non-league fixture.

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Today’s game was the 50th anniversary of Norwich University Rugby.  Norwich christened their new clubhouse but also paid tribute to those that lost their lives in the September 11th attacks 20 years ago.  A moment of silence was held to honor the victims of that horrific day.

Brown’s first side headed down Saturday to William Paterson University for their March 7’s tournament.

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Game Report

A freezing day and a very close match for the Brown Bears.

Brown scored early and often in the first half to take a commanding lead after 40 minutes against a physically hard but somewhat vulnerable Harvard team.

Ithaca College gave this non-conference fixture a good effort but was no match for the Bears who scored a lopsided 59-5 win.

Brown did not tread lightly on its guests from Northfield, Vermont with a second strong scoring pre-conference tune-up, defeating Norwich University 58-10.

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Having earned a top seed in the NCR national playoffs, for the national quarter-final round, Brown hosted Kutztown University out of Kutztown, PA. The so-called Golden Bears are a varsity program who are national contenders every year in both XVs and 7s, and lay claim to the 2022 CRC 7s National Championship. With many supporters in attendance, enjoying a lovely tailgate atmosphere at Marvel field put on by our hospitable parent’s group, and relishing the sunny weather and temps that got up into the 50s by kick-off time, Brown was ready to take the next step in their title defense campaign.

Each season since 2018, the Ivy League Championship has featured a matchup of Brown and Dartmouth. In 2021, the Bears snapped the Big Green’s streak of 13 years of Ivy supremacy with a legendary 15-12 upset victory. This year, the Bears had the opportunity to 3-peat as Ivy champions, and that they did. Despite the constant rain  Brown defeated the big green once again 38-15 and the second XVs win 20-7 to clench the Ivy Championship Title!

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Brown would overcome an uncharacteristically undisciplined first half, leading to 2 yellow cards late in the first and early into the second, which left them clinging to a meager one-score lead at halftime, to finally assert their will in the latter half of the game and come away with a 45-5 victory over Nazareth.

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This weekend, the top 2 squads traveled to Dartmouth University in Hanover, NH to compete in the Ivy League 7s tournament. It was a windy and cloudy day with temps hovering around 50 degrees, but that didn't stop Brown from coming home winners of the tournament.

In the 4 th home 7s event of the spring season, Brown hosted the Endicott College Gulls (Beverly, MA), the #3 ranked team from the small college ranks of National Collegiate Rugby, and the University of Rhode Island Rams (Kingston, RI) in a 3-team round robin competition.

Brown ventured down to the Keystone state to participate in an early spring 7’s event dubbed as the “Frostbite 7’s”.  Due to a lopsided number of Premier teams, Brown agreed to have both teams compete in the Premier Division against American International College (AIC), Kutztown, Lehigh and Nazareth.

In a hard fought game against defending champions St. Bonaventure, Brown comes out victorious with a 14-9 win and secures a spot in the champoinship game in Houston.  They will face Queens on December 10th - 6pm at Aveva Stadium, home to the Houston Saber Cats, in Houston, Texas.

Full game report coming soon!

What’s better than winning the Ivy League Championship and winning the entire Liberty Conference (with 26 teams in two divisions) … well not much!  It’s been a record season for the Bears going 10-0 since the first game back on September 3rd.  Equally impressive is the fact that the boys have scored a total of 523 points over the course of the year while only conceding 53.  Fun fact… in 8 of the 10 games, we have scored in less that 4 minutes.  Let’s not count our chickens before they are hatched.  We still have more rugby to play.  It’s not time to completely celebrate as things only get tougher…

And that’s a wrap… for now! Brown concluded its fall league play this past Sunday beating the Fordham Rams by a score of 50-0. The Bears were 5-0 in conference play and 7-0 overall. Our combined point differential is 421 points for and 21 points against. Brown sits at the top of the Liberty “Left” side.

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The first league home game was played in front of a large crowd of excited Brown students as they slowly filtered from the tailgate at Brown Stadium across the road looking forward to watching a competitive fixture. Luckily for the students, Brown ended the day with a strong 32-5 win over the traditionally strong Iona College.

The 2022 season kicked off at Marvel field with the Endicott Gulls coming down for a preseason friendly.  Brown comes out the winner on both the A side and the B side 101-0 and 21-12.  Click here for the full game report.

Bears traveled to Indiana to participate in this 7s tournament hosted by Notre Dame University.

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Brown’s first run of the spring happened this past Sunday as the Bears traveled to Bryant University for an indoor 7’s event.  The tournament saw 16 teams competing with half playing from 8:00am until noon and the other half over the second part of the day.  The afternoon’s group was the stronger competition.

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Brown Bears put an end to Dartmouth's reign as Champions! On Saturday, November 6th, on a beautiful, sunny fall day at Dartmouth's Brophy Field in Hanover, NH Brown Men's Rugby defeated Dartmouth for the first time in 25 years to secure the title of 2021 Ivy League Champions!

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“Saturday’s a rugby day” and what a day it was! The Brown Women’s Rugby Team took on and defeated Quinnipiac College 26-20 in the first match of the day. Then the Brown Men’s First and Second XV’s handily defeated Harvard 54-17 and 43-5 respectively in the afternoon.

Brown defeated Salve Regina University 102-7 in a match that replaced our Columbia University fixture forfeited due to Columbia’s Covid protocols. Only one match was played but Brown was able to provide some rugby to 32 Brown players.

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After a week of pre-season, Brown traveled to West Point, NY for a match with the U.S Military Academy’s Second XV. Army is a First Division Collegiate Rugby program and the athletes have been training for a month.

Brown hosted round one of the NEC 7’s with eight teams traveling to Providence to compete for the top position.

Brown concluded the fall 2019 season, coming back from a first match loss with 4 straight victories, to win the Tournament Consolation Final.

Brown scored a beautiful opening try that gave hope to those gathered for Brown Family Weekend.

Columbia came into the Bear’s lair with high hopes but on a very warm, sunny and dry day Brown dashed any chance the Lion’s might have had.

I'm a paragrapBrown hosted the University of Rhode Island in a pre-season match at the Brown Rugby field on a beautiful Labor Day Weekend Saturday, with a kickoff at 2:00pm.h. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.

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Brown was set to defend their title against D1 debutants Siena College out of Loudonville, NY. The Saints are a varsity program on the rise who earned the #1 seed in the conference with an undefeated and dominant regular season, and boasted the #5 ranking in NCR. This was the first time in program history the Bears have matched up with the Saints, and it was a memorable one. A clear and seasonable night with temperatures in the 50’s were ideal conditions for rugby in November.

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The Bears went into New Rochelle, NY for their send away match of the 2023 season against the #8 ranked Gaels of Iona University.  Brown supporters in attendance included families who were bussed in from campus alongside the team bus, alumni who made the trip north from New York City, and many others who made their way to Iona and watched on the livestream, to remind our boys that this was their Family Weekend too. Brown didn't disappoint, with a 31-23 victory!

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In the first poor weather match of the season, with 5 starters and other usual First XV rostered players unavailable, the Bears gutted out a hard-fought 17-0 victory over a physical Syracuse University side.

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This weekend, a mixed squad of 7s B-side and developmental players traveled to Saratoga, NY to compete in the Saratoga Collegiate Cup 7s tournament hosted by the Saratoga Jockeys rugby club at Gavin Park.

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In the 3rd home 7s event of the spring season, Brown hosted local Rhode Island sides, the Seahawks of Salve Regina University (Newport, RI) and the University of Rhode Island Rams (Kingston, RI) in a 5-team format competition.

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In the first 7s event of the spring season, Brown hosted local small college sides, the Crusaders from The College of the Holy Cross (Worcester, MA) and the Babson College Beavers (Wellesley, MA) in a friendly dual round robin format competition for each clubs’ first and second sides.

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Brown beats Wheeling in the NCR Quarterfinals and advances to Semifinals at Penn State Berks to take on defending champions St. Bonaventure.

Full game report coming soon!

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In November of 2021, Brown finally knocked off Dartmouth after multiple years of dominance by Big Green.  Then, just shy of a year later, Brown would defend that title and win a second consecutive Ivy League Championship.  Through a strange calculation of wins, losses and points, Brown was matched up with their Ivy foe for a second week in a row.  The top four teams (of 12) in the Liberty Conference would do battle this past weekend for the right to play in the Championship game.

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This weekend’s matchup was a much anticipated one by many as NCR #2 team Brown travelled down to Fairfield, CT to hunt down the Stags of Fairfield University. Going into the match, Fairfield was also undefeated. They had shown this season they knew how to score points with convincing wins over U. Buffalo, Iona and Fordham. The scouting report had them as a big, athletic and physical team. Unfortunately, like rock breaks scissors and scissors cuts paper, so too does Bear eat Stag.

Game three is in the books as the Bears traveled up to Mignone Field in Boston to take on Ivy rivals Harvard.  Unfortunately for Harvard, home field advantage did not work to their favor as the visitors would run in nine unanswered tries. Brown wins both First and Second XVs.

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Harvard University hosted this year's Ivy 7s Playoffs in Cambridge, MA for both men and women's rugby.

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American International College hosted Brown University, West Point, Long Island University and Sacred Heart University for a 7s tournament on Sunday, March 20th.

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“One and Done” tournament formats bring drama and ultimately disappointment to all but the ultimate winner of the competition. Yesterday Brown was eliminated from National Collegiate Rugby’s fall season playoffs, but not before the Bear squad through superb team work and a gigantic defensive effort had led Penn State from the 10th to the 74th minute of the match.

The Bears made their longest road trip of the season down to Philadelphia to take on the Quakers for what proved to be a long day for the home side.  The game today was played on a multi-sport turf field riddled with lines making it difficult to find one’s place on the field...BUT this picture speaks to the essence of rugby.  Fight for the win on the field, shake hands and show respect for the opposition off the field.

If you play the lottery don’t forget number 38. Brown rugby enjoyed the symmetry of scoring 38 first half points and matching that score with 38 second half points. Brown overwhelmed the Bulldogs 76-3!

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Brown’s first home rugby match this season on a hot, sultry late summer day was played against a backdrop of the Brown/University of RI football game (the Governor’s Cup) across the street, and a morning Brown Women’s rugby match that preceded the Men’s.

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Brown hosted Round Two of the NEC 7’s with eight teams participating in the day long competition.

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Game Report:  Brown takes on Harvard in our first spring 7's match.

Brown went out to a 40-7 first half lead and then coasted home to a 64-28 victory over the Columbia Lions..

In spite of a rainy week the Brown Rugby field was surprisingly dry and the conditions facilitated a Brown romp over the Yale Bulldogs.

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For a third week in a row, Brown’s first XV came away victorious.

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