# Army Rugby Football Club

The Army Rugby Football Club was founded in 1961 and for over 50 years the Army Black Knights have been a leader in USA Collegiate Rugby. The Army Ruggers are West Point's most successful team.
In 1980 the USA Rugby Collegiate Championship playoff system was established. Since then, the Army Rugby team has qualified for every national playoff tournament, has reached more than ten semifinals, and has finished second in the nation 3 times. In 2022, Army won the CRAA D1A National Championship.
All Cadet classes play and the team currently has over 60 members drawn from the United States Corps of Cadets fielding four rugby sides.
The Division-1 A and B sides battle for dominance in the Division 1-A Eastern division, while the C and D sides typically challenge local clubs every year.

## History

Army rugby plays college rugby in the Division 1–A Eastern Conference. The Black Knights play their home games at the Anderson Rugby Complex on the campus of West Point. Rugby is a relatively popular sport at West Point; for example, the 2012 game against Air Force was attended by 2,000 fans. Army is currently led by Head Coach Matt Sherman, the Cadets first full-time head coach. Sherman was an All American player at Cal, leading the Bears to 4 National Championships and was previously head coach at San Diego St and Stanford.
Army has one of the most successful college rugby teams in the country. Army played in three consecutive national championship games from 1990 to 1992. Army reached the national semi-finals four consecutive years from 2000 to 2003, and twice in a row in 2009 and 2010.
Under Head Coach Rich Pohlidal, Army joined the newly formed College Premier Division (late renamed Division 1-A) in 2010. Army reached the CPD quarterfinals in 2011 before losing to Utah, and again reached the quarterfinals in 2013. Army's rugby team was briefly suspended in 2013 after several team members violated the Army's code of conduct by forwarding inappropriate emails.
In 2014, Army reached the ACRC Bowl final, before falling to Life University.
Army also plays in rugby sevens tournaments, including the Collegiate Rugby Championship, the highest profile college rugby tournament in the U.S., reaching the finals in 2011. The Collegiate Rugby Championship is played every year in early June at PPL Park in Philadelphia, and is broadcast live on NBC. Army has established a rivalry against Navy at the CRC 7s tournament. They won the inaugural Military Memorial Cup tournament at the Collegiate Rugby Championship tournament in 2012 and won the Bowl Final in 2016 with a 10-0 victory over Maryland. Their rivalry with Navy brought them to victory in 2016 where they evened out the tournament wins against Navy 2-2.

## Club honors

* Division 1-A
** Champions: 2022 (National), 2011 (East Conference)
** Runners-up: 1990. 1991, 1992
* RugbyEast Fall
** Champions: 2018

## Head Coach/Director of Rugby

* Matt Sherman — 2015 - Current
* Mike Mahan — 1987–2004, 2013–2014
* Rich Pohlidal — 2005-2011

## Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.
| Player | Position | Union |
| Ryan McCollum (Ohio) | Prop | United States |
| David Evans (New York) | Prop | United States |
| Greg Walker (Georgia) | Prop | United States |
| Donny Goff (Massachusetts) | Prop | United States |
| Dominic Mori (Oregon) | Prop | United States |
| Vince Raimondi (USA) | Prop | United States |
| Brock Langley (Florida) | Prop | United States |
| Ben Lemon (USA) | Prop | United States |
| Nick Tengtio (Washington) | Hooker | United States |
| Eric Houston (Georgia) | Hooker | United States |
| Tucker Jennings (Kansas) | Hooker | United States |
| Joseph Pervall (Virginia) | Hooker | United States |
| Jamison Geracci (Texas) | Hooker | United States |
| Jeff Ferebee (Tennessee) | Lock | United States |
| Ben Foley (Minnesota) | Lock | United States |
| John Sproul (USA) | Lock | United States |
| John Lake (USA) | Lock | United States |
| Connor Parker (California) | Lock | United States |
| Sean Berry (Ohio) | Lock | United States |
| Jake Christensen (Washington) | Flanker | United States |
| Max Gordon (Arizona) | Flanker | United States |
| Tyler Glasz (Texas) | Flanker | United States |
| Collum Magee (Missouri) | Flanker | United States |
| Nick Satwicz (Massachusetts) | Flanker | United States |
| Sam Speer (Texas) | Flanker | United States |
| Andrew Yoon (California) | Flanker | United States |
| Zachary Boeckmann (Missouri) | Flanker | United States |
| Nick George (Iowa) | Number 8 | United States |
| Jack Ireland (California) | Number 8 | United States |
| Dominic Plantamura (Maryland) | Number 8 | United States |
| Player | Position | Union |
| Aaron Bush (Texas) | Scrum-half | United States |
| Jake Banarhall (New Hampshire) | Scrum-half | United States |
| Blake Hunnewell (New York) | Fly-half | United States |
| Eric Curwin (Ohio) | Fly-half | United States |
| Cody Brown (North Carolina) | Fly-half | United States |
| Matt Kaiser (California) | Fly-half | United States |
| Andy Ashton (Iowa) | Centre | United States |
| Matt Barber (Colorado) | Centre | United States |
| Alex Savusa (Hawaii) | Centre | United States |
| Dan Myers (West Virginia) | Centre | United States |
| Peter Basnight (Maryland) | Centre | United States |
| Cam Hargis (Texas) | Centre | United States |
| Logan Weiland (USA) | Centre | United States |
| Andrew Fargo (California) | Centre | United States |
| Gabe Chrismon (North Carolina) | Wing | United States |
| Alex Abia | Wing | Rwanda |
| George Levy (Texas) | Wing | United States |
| Logan Pearce (Ohio) | Wing | United States |
| Joe Dlugosh (Idaho) | Wing | United States |
| Raaqim Rispress (USA) | Wing | United States |
| Luke Heun (Alaska) | Wing | United States |
| David Huff (Alaska) | Wing | United States |
| TJ Rowe (Illinois) | Fullback | United States |
| Andrew Borer (California) | Fullback | United States |
| Joseph Chabries (USA) | Fullback | United States |