Campus Recreation
Club Sports: Rugby
Pepperdine Rugby History
Pepperdine Rugby was initiated into SCRFU on September 1955. Pepperdine Rugby was started when the Pepperdine Football team was retired and the players wished to continue on with athletics. Virgil Clarke was the founder of the new rugby club. Clarke was a football player at George Pepperdine College. The club in three short years of existence won the SCRFU Championship of 1958. However, the club was disbanded in the 1980s due to lack of funding by the University.
In 1990 the club reformed from huge interest from the student body. Pepperdine Rugby was formed and mainly consisted of former football players, soccer players , and wrestlers. These students all wished to represent their school through athletics. Currently Pepperdine Rugby is enjoying strong support from the student body, the University, and from financial supporters.
Current Status
In U.S. Collegiate Rugby there are now officially two divisions - Division One and Division Two, and a new Division Three). Every spring in both Division's I and II there are playoffs that entail regional and national championships played in the latter weeks in April.
Due to its success in recent years and its high ranking in the Southern California Rugby Football Union (SCRFU) Collegiate Division II, Pepperdine Rugby Football Club has been assigned to the Upper Levels of SCRFU Division II, "The University Division." This Division includes four clubs from Division I reassigned to join with the four top-ranked Division II finalists to form a "stronger" Collegiate Division II that will be better able to compete at national level.
Pepperdine's fall 2008 record was a sparkling 8-1. And for the second year in a row, Pepperdine has qualified for the 2009 SCRFU Division II Playoffs...all this in a division so competitive that only three of the nine teams had winning records.
Fall 2008
Pepperdine 29 Loyola Marymount 15
Pepperdine 27 USC 21
Pepperdine 20 UC Irvine 15
Pepperdine 24 Cal State Long Beach 45
Pepperdine 36 Pepperdine Alumni 31
Pepperdine 48 Cal Lutheran 12
Pepperdine 50 Occidental 15
Spring 2009 (in progress)
Pepperdine 48 UC Irvine 15
Pepperdine 30 Claremont 36
Pepperdine 34 UCSD 6
Pepperdine 0 Arizona State 34
Pepperdine 26 USD 21
Pepperdine 15 Cal State Long Beach 20
2007-2008 Season Matches and Record
In terms of pure improvement of the club franchise and reputation, the 2007-2008 Season proved to be one of the best ever for Pepperdine Rugby. Despite increasingly tough competition, including a SCRFU Division II Playoff, Pepperdine amassed an impressive 10-4 record, two of its four losses coming in close, hard-fought matches against Division I teams, and a fall victory over the eventual Division II Champions, Loyola Marymount University.
Despite its promotion to the University Division, Pepperdine RFC fully expects to continue to equal the match records (from 2005-2008) that includes a respectable 31 wins, 8 losses, 1 tie.
Fall Season
Pepperdine 10 UC Fullerton 0
Pepperdine 40 APU 17
Pepperdine 21 USC 14
Pepperdine 12 Cal State Long Beach 14
Pepperdine 10 USD 17
Pepperdine 12 Loyola Marymount 5
Pepperdine 28 Cal Lutheran 12
Spring Season
Pepperdine 48 APU 12
Pepperdine 77 UNLV 0
Pepperdine 22 Cuesta College 12
Pepperdine 12 Occidental 22
Pepperdine 37 Cal Lutheran 17
Pepperdine 17 UC Irvine 24
Pepperdine 20 Occidental 17
2006-2007 Season Matches and Record
Fall Season
Pepperdine 29 - Occidental 0
Pepperdine 12 - Cal State Fullerton 0
Pepperdine 5 - U.C. Irvine 47
Pepperdine 12 - Westmont 12
Pepperdine 29 - Pepperdine Alumni 22
Spring Season
Pepperdine 20 - Asuza Pacific 10
Pepperdine 30 - UC Riverside 23
Pepperdine 7 - U.C. Fullerton 10
Pepperdine 22 - UNLV 29
Pepperdine 56 - Cal Lutheran Knights 26
2005-2006 Season Matches and Record
Fall Season
Pepperdine 38 - Occidental 0
Pepperdine 17 - U.C. Irvine 7
Pepperdine 22 - U.C. Irvine 7
Pepperdine 30 - Cal State Fullerton 17
Pepperdine 17 - Pepperdine Alumni 12
Spring Season
Pepperdine 27 - Cal Lutheran 7
Pepperdine 34 - Cal Tech 6
Pepperdine 38 - Cal State Fullerton 14
Pepperdine 10 - U.C. Irvine 66
Pepperdine 39 - Asuza Pacific 12
Pepperdine A 21 - Occidental A 0*
