The Rugby Network is slated to carry the Collegiate Men’s National Championship hosted by National Collegiate Rugby. The Tigers are slated to play the semifinal match on Friday, December 8th at 6:00pm (Central) against Northern Iowa Panthers. The Tigers are currently ranked 3rd in the nation and the Panthers are ranked first.
I hope this message finds you in as high of spirits as the Tigers are!
I am reaching out to you on behalf of an incredible group of dedicated student-athletes who have earned the honor of competing in the Final Four Tournament in Houston, TX on December 7-10th, 2023. This is a momentous occasion for our team, and we need your support to make this dream a reality!
The Tigers are undefeated this year with regular season wins over Valdosta, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Georgia Tech #33, and Auburn #8. In the playoffs we have defeated Tennessee Tech #39, Wisconsin-Whitewater #6, and Georgetown #4. The Tigers are currently ranked as the #3 DII team in the country, our highest ranking ever for 15s!
The University of Memphis Rugby Team has demonstrated exceptional skill, sportsmanship, and teamwork throughout the season, earning their spot in the prestigious Final Four Tournament. This is an incredible achievement for our student-athletes, and we are eager to see them showcase their talents on a national stage.
Midwest Champions
However, the cost of travel, accommodation, and other associated expenses can be significant, and that’s where we need your help. We have set up this GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to ensure that every member of the team can make the trip to Houston without financial burden. Your contribution will directly support the players, covering expenses such as transportation, lodging, meals, and tournament fees.
As a club sport, the University provides us with practice facilities and just $1,000 per year in funding. The players pay $550/year to play rugby which covers about half of our regular season costs the rest comes from the generous support of our alumni, fans, friends and family.
Here’s how you can help:
Make a Donation: Every contribution, no matter the size, brings us one step closer to our goal. Your support will not only help our athletes attend the tournament but also show them that their hard work is recognized and appreciated. You can donate here!
Share our Campaign: Spread the word! Share this GoFundMe campaign on social media, email, and any other platforms to reach a wider audience. The more people who know about our cause, the closer we get to achieving our goal.
Encourage Others to Contribute: If you have friends, family, or colleagues who share a passion for rugby or supporting student-athletes, encourage them to join our cause.
We believe that with your generosity, the University of Memphis Rugby Team can make a lasting impact at the Final Four Tournament. Your support goes beyond financial contributions; it sends a powerful message to these young student-athletes that their hard work and dedication are valued by their community.
Thank you for being a crucial part of our team’s journey. Let’s come together and make this opportunity a reality for these deserving student-athletes. Go-Tigers-Go!
Here is where you can follow the Tigers in their Elite 8 match in the National Collegiate Rugby Conference on Sunday November 19, 2023, 12:00 Eastern time.
Please support the Tigers in their post season run. Thanks for your help. We need all Tiger Rugby to help out.
Since we are off to the playoffs. Please make a kind donation to our post season play expenses. Here is a link where you can help and thanks for any amount that you can spare. We need everyone to pitch in at this critical time.
Do you have a Kroger Card? If so, Kroger will give the Tigers free money if you sign up and tell them to do so. Here is how you can get free money for the Tigers. Please link your card today. If you don’t have a Kroger card you can get one from for free from any Kroger store.
You can financially support the Tigers by donating at this link. We need your help and any dollars you give move the Tigers toward a win. Thanks for anything you can do.
The Tigers won their sweet 16 match against Wisconsin-Whitewater, a team that beat us by two points in an Elite 8 match in South Carolina 2021…. And we won big today.
We beat Whitewater 47-19. The Tigers won the toss, took the wind and kept the pressure on Whitewater through the early minutes. Intermittent, but gusty winds helped push the Tigers to a 35-0 first half score.
Tigers dominated in all phases of play. Scrums and lineouts were amazing (Thanks Tony Brooks) and back line play was first class (thanks Phil Beck and Bryan Colbridge), with the excellent foot of Connor, keeping Whitewater pressed against their goal line, the tigers scored repeatedly. The Tigers suffered a red card early in the second half, but hung on to win the match 47-19. (The red card has been appealed.) Three cheers to Dave Hill who has coached our team to this exceptional win.
Now the Tigers face Georgetown RFC on Sunday at 12:00 eastern. Please Support the Tigers in this important match. Keep an eye on this posting to see the link for the match.
Your Tigers have had a hell of a season this fall 2023. As you know, we compete in the Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference (SCRC). This year our overseeing body, National Collegiate Rugby, changed the ranking rules and Memphis was placed in the D2 division, since we had less than 10,000 males in attendance at our university. We were pleased that we continued to compete against our common rivals, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. We lost Auburn to D1aa, but all other teams stayed in the D2 division.
September 9 – Our first match this fall was postponed due to hurricane Idalia that hit Florida east of Tallahassee and disturbed the pitch at Valdosta State. The match was moved to October 21.
Serhab a natural leader
September 16 – Mississippi State University (State) traveled to Memphis for their second match. They had been beaten by Auburn the previous week 75-13 match. We knew that State was rebuilding, but the Tigers knew to be prepared. State can be big and have always put up a contest when coming to Memphis. However, State was overmatched by the Tigers from the kickoff. It felt like the Tigers could score at will, which I guess they really did. Speed and ball handling were our main assets. Final score was Tigers over State 104 to 13.
September 23 – The Tigers traveled to Georgia Tech who had always been tough to beat at their house. We had traded home wins over the past few years and we knew to not take them lightly in Atlanta. Strangely, I got a call from their captain on Friday afternoon (While our players were on the way to Atlanta) that they could not find a referee for the match. They asked me what to do???) Coach Dave Hill came to the rescue and came up with a referee for the match and we beat Georgia Tech 57-14. With this win we could tell that the Tigers were a special team this year.
September 30 – Tennessee Tech, reporting conflicts and injuries decided to forfeit the match. There were too many forfeitures in the SCRC this year and Commissioner Martin Bradley and the SCRC leadership team are going to explore punishment options for teams who fail to meet their playing commitment in the 2024 season. Tigers 20-Tech 0 (This is a default score for a forfeit.)
I love running down hill!
October 6 (Friday Night Lights) – The Tigers invited Ole Miss to come to Memphis on a Friday night to play under the lights. Too much fun for all. We knew that Ole Miss were weak since they had some difficulty winning their matches. They had some infrastructure problems and were still rebuilding from the Covid years. Coach Dave hill challenged the players and Tiger supporters in a fund raiser. The challenge was for donors to pay a $ figure for each point scored by the Tigers. Well, the fund raiser was a great success since the Tigers scored 118 points in one match. Referee Eric Flemming kept wondering why the Tigers had their foot on the gas and found out when he was informed about the fund raiser. Final score Memphis over Ole Miss 118 to 3.
Connor leads the backs and kicks the points
October 21 – Memphis traveled to Valdosta, Georgia to take on Valdosta State to make up the game originally cancelled by the Hurricane. Valdosta had played some good rugby the previous year and we were hoping for some good competition. Valdosta had also won a few matches in the conference (Ole Miss and Mississippi State), not by big margins, but they were a winning team. The Tigers had a great time and won the match handily. Final score Memphis over Valdosta State 74-7.
October 28 – Auburn came to Memphis to play and there was great excitement surrounding the game. Last year, Auburn had beaten the Tigers to wing he conference championship. Auburn had not lost a match so far this year so we figured this would be the first real test of the Tigers ability to handle pressure. And handle pressure, the Tigers did. Auburn fell to the Tigers 35 to 7.
A beast with his prize!
SCRC Conference playoffs, November 11 – Hendersonville, TN – The SCRC D2 #1 is scheduled to take on the SCRC D2 #2 team. That would have been Auburn with one loss, but they were forced to move up to D1aa since they have more than 10,000 male students in their school. Auburn opted to play down a division so they could continue to play the teams that they had been playing and to limit their travel budget. As a consequence, they were prohibited from advancing to the playoffs. Valdosta State would have been the second-place team but they had some paperwork problems and had to forfeit some matches due to playing ineligible players. So, the conference declared that Tennessee Tech was the D2 #2 team that would play in the playoffs. Based on Tennessee Tech’s performance, we were confident that we would get through the next game but we had to prove it on the field. Which we did. The Tigers beat Tennessee Tech 93 to 12 and the match was called 5 minutes early by a sympathetic referee observing the defeated and demoralized Tennessee Tech defense. The Memphis Tigers are SCRC D2 Champions and will be advancing to the National Collegiate Rugby Playoffs which will start on Friday, November 24 in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Solid coaching makes the difference.
Success this year has been built on a solid organizational foundation that has been building for the past 15 years. From Coaches Rick Cole, Steve Swatzyna, Tony Lubiani, Marc Holley, Blake White, and now with Coaches Dave Hill, Phil Beck, Tony Brooks, and Bryan Colbridge, the Tigers have had solid coaching and the development of a winning style of play. Tiger Foundation board members Kevin Roedel, Steve Swatzyna and Steve Willilams continue to provide invaluable support for the organization and the team. Importantly, thousands of people have stepped up in support of the Tigers financially which has been critical for the support of the team. Our close ties with the Memphis high school rugby teams have provided a steady stream of prepared and motivated players who like to win. Finally, we are very grateful for the Tiger Rugby alumni, friends and family members. We would not have been able to accomplish what we have without your support.
Since we are off to the playoffs again. Please make a kind donation to our post season play expenses. Here is a link where you can help and thanks for any amount that you can spare. We need everyone to pitch in at this critical time.
o you have a Kroger Card? If so, Kroger will give the Tigers free money if you sign up and tell them to do so. Here is how you can get free money for the Tigers. Please link your card today. If you don’t have a Kroger card you can get one from for free from any Kroger store.
You can financially support the Tigers by donating at this link. We need your help and any dollars you give move the Tigers toward a win. Thanks for anything you can do.
The Tigers left Memphis early (5:00am) on Thursday the 27th of April, so they had some time to check out Washington DC on their way to the host hotel. Below are a few pics for you to enjoy.
Tigers invade the CapitolCongressman Cohen hosted the Tigers for 35 minutes with lively banter! The Museum of Natural History was an escape from the rain! Tigers stretching their hands before warmups!
Do you have a Kroger Card? If so, Kroger will give the Tigers free money if you sign up and tell them to do so. Here is how you can get free money for the Tigers. Please link your card today. If you don’t have a Kroger card you can get one from for free from any Kroger store.
You can financially support the Tigers by donating at this link. We need your help and any dollars you give move the Tigers toward a win. Thanks for anything you can do.
Memphis Tigers arrived in Washington on Thursday 27th April.
After checking into the Hotel and a spot of lunch we headed to the Capitol where the office of Congressmen Cohen had organized a private tour.
The Tour was better than we thought seeing a lot of history and being able to see the Old Supreme Court Chamber, Old Senate Chamber and the Magna Carta replica which became such an integral part of the US constitution. We were also very lucky to see Paris Hilton, who was also touring and blew the Tigers a kiss, although there is debate on where she was aiming the kiss.
After an hour and a half of the Capital, we were escorted to the office of Congressmen Steve Cohen, where he spent 30-40 minutes talking to the players and answering any questions put to him.
Friday was game day and our first game at 10:00am was against Washington St Louis. An early try by Colin and converted by Conor settled our nerves and we were able to win 21-10 with Tries from Colin, Jason and Conor, with Conor converting all 3.
Our next game was just after 2pm against NC State. As the day went on the rain and the wind had picked up so much that most teams were in their cars or vans unless they were playing. Our first half saw NC State score an unconverted try making it 5-0 at the half. Second half opened with Conor tying up the game making it 5-5. Long into the 2nd half NC State were able to break through to score another try and convert making the score 12-5.
The conditions were so bad including hail and as our next game was around 5pm we headed back to the Hotel to clean kit and get warm. However, we were advised as we were getting ready to go back to the field, that all games were cancelled for the rest of the day and our final game that we would have played would take place on Saturday.
Friday night at approximately 11.35pm we were notified we were to play at 08:55am against Towson.
The weather was much better on Saturday. And whilst it took us a little while to get into our rhythm, Towson had put in a quick try making it 5-0. Jalen made a great breakaway try with Conor converting giving us a 2-point advantage and we did not look back after that with Jason, Conor and Tyler all putting in tries to make the score 28-5. Tries were by Jalen, Jason, Conor, Tyler and Conor converting all 4.
Unfortunately, the communication was not so great at Nationals, but we were to meet Georgetown in the quarterfinals after 2pm.
Georgetown were a very large side and could move the ball and with only a couple of mistakes made by the Tigers put us 14-0 in the first half. Tigers had been in this position before and came back fighting in the second half with Nick getting our first try and then Sehrab quickly put in our second try. Tyler had a great breakaway try making the score 15-14 Tigers.
We knew that time was up and just needed to hold on or get the ball off the field for us to move onto semifinals. However, a penalty was given for not releasing, 12 yards off our try line. Unfortunately, one of the Georgetown players fell awkwardly in a great tackle that caused a 20-minute break and when we returned, we were on our goal line and knew we had to get Georgetown to make a mistake and the game was ours, but at the tap penalty they took a well-executed drop goal and ended winning 17-15.
We would have one more game although unofficial. We played for 5th and 6th place against University of North Iowa and what a final performance it was with Joaquin as our Captain.
We went straight into typical Tigers sevens and racked up a very good lead in the first half 24-0. The second half was no different with Joaquin taking leadership opened up the middle of the field scoring under the posts and was able to convert his own try. Tyler and Emilio had not finished and Tyler took the score to 36-5 and Emilio finished it off by splitting UNI down the middle and scored his 2nd try of the game to give us a convincing 41-5 win.
Tries by Emilio 2, Tyler 2, Christian, Joaquin, Jalen. Conversions from Mat 2, Joaquin 1.
Apart from Auburn we did not know any other team in any of the pool games and Tigers did not let us down and played extremely well. I believe that we will be back again next year.
From the coaches standpoint it was a huge pleasure coaching the Tigers this season and both on and off the field Memphis Tigers were a force to be reckon with.
We are forever grateful for Tiger Rugby Nation getting behind our national championship run. We were honored and humbled by the outpouring of support from our families, friends, and alumni. Thanks so very much for your sacrifice and for your support. This opportunity to test ourselves against some of the best teams in the nation was a once in lifetime opportunity for many of our players. You have left an important mark on the lives of our young men. Thanks so much!
You can financially support the Tigers by donating at this link. We need your help and any dollars you give move the Tigers toward a win. Thanks for anything you can do.
Do you have a Kroger Card? If so, Kroger will give the Tigers money if you sign up and tell the to do so. Here is how you can get free money for the Tigers. Please link your card today. If you don’s have a Kroger card you can get one from for free from any Kroger store.
You must be logged in to post a comment.