Since the foundation of Raleigh Rugby Football Club in April 1981, we have provided athletic and educational opportunities relating to rugby football for Triangle area residents on a local, national, and international level. We are a non-profit corporation and recognized as a tax-deductible charitable organization by the IRS.
In 1996 the club purchased 15.5 acres of red clay and pine trees, with the goal of developing a first-class rugby facility to include two full-size pitches. August 2001 saw us begin play on a pitch complete with Bermuda sod and 60-foot tall posts. The second pitch followed shortly after. With two full-size pitches, Raleigh Rugby hosted regional tournaments and select-side competitions on a regular basis.
As one of the premier clubs in the Southeast, the Raleigh Rugby Club competes in the North Carolina Youth Rugby Union and the Mid-Atlantic Conference. With a playing membership of over 300 men, women and youth, we are able to field competitive sides in the Men’s, Women’s, Boys and Girls divisions and consistently post winning records.
In October 2024, the NC DOT completed an eminent domain purchase of the World Class Facility at Poole Road. The era of Raleigh Rugby at the Poole Road facility ended abruptly. Undaunted, the board of directors has leveraged the resulting capital infusion to motivate a search for the eventual development of World Class Facility 2, which will stand as a beacon of rugby prosperity in the Raleigh area upon its completion.
In the meantime, rugby continues. Each sub-organization of the Raleigh Rugby Club is responsible for management of their game and practice locations. To know where the rugby is being played on a given weekend, the most efficacious method is to reach out to the team you’re interested in watching, directly. Otherwise, the teams’ Instagram accounts (and club account; @raleighrugbyclub, @raleighrugby_men, @raleighrugby_venom, @raleighrugby_youth) are generally kept up to date as the “source of truth” for up-to-date times and locations.