page_title: Notre Dame Rugby Football Club
section_title: Founding and Early Years
hierarchical_section_title: Notre Dame Rugby Football Club / History / Founding and Early Years
caption_attribution_description: English: Captain Bob Mier passing the ball to fly-half Buzz Breen (not pictured) to start an offensive charge for the Irish
context_page_description: The Notre Dame Rugby Football Club is the official rugby football club at the University of Notre Dame. It is the oldest collegiate rugby club in the Midwest and currently plays in the Division 1-A Rugby, one of the highest levels of college rugby in the U.S.
context_section_description: Evidence of rugby matches being played at Notre Dame's Carter Field date back to the 1890s marking the sports origin at the university contemporaneous to that of the university's football team. The modern Notre Dame Rugby Football Club was founded in 1961 as one of the first collegiate rugby clubs in the Midwest. In the spring of 1962, Notre Dame narrowly defeated Wisconsin in the first club rugby match played in the Midwest.
  In 1963, the Notre Dame Rugby Football Club was officially founded as a club sport.  The team was founded by Bob Mier, a student who participated in the Wisconsin game the previous spring.  With supervising faculty member and acting head coach Kenneth Featherstone, the team formed and competed in the Midwest Conference.
  In April 1968, the Fighting Irish, chaperoned by Professor Peter Brady, traveled to Ireland for several exhibition matches.  They went 2-3 against Irish teams, including losses to the Dublin League Champions, Navan, and runner-up, Delvin.  Notre Dame was also defeated by University College Cork but gained victories over the Limerick Rovers and Thurles.  The Fighting Irish traveled to Ireland again in March 1974.  On this trip, Notre Dame went 2-2, losing to Tralee and again to University College Cork while defeating another Limerick team, the Bohemians, and University College Dublin.
caption: Captain Bob Mier passing the ball to fly-half Buzz Breen (not pictured) to start an offensive charge for the Irish.
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