Ivy Rugby Conference

The Ivy Rugby Conference was a rugby union conference consisting of the eight member schools of the Ivy League. As of the 2022 season the teams now compete in the Liberty Rugby conference, but an Ivy League champion will continue to be awarded.^[2] The Ivy conference was formed in 2009 to foster better competition among rugby teams from the Ivy League schools and to raise the quality of play.^[3] Ivy Rugby formed committees to manage the league, independently of the LAUs and TUs.^[3] The conference took over the organization of the Ivy rugby championships that had been contested since 1969.

Ivy Rugby Conference

Sport	Rugby union
Founded	2009; 16 years ago (2009) [1]
First season	2009
No. of teams	8
Country	United States
Most recent champion(s)	15s: Brown (2024) 7s: Brown (2025)
Most titles	15s: Dartmouth (24 titles) 7s: Dartmouth (9)
Broadcaster(s)	ESPN+
Official website	ivyrugby.com

The Ivy Rugby Conference, and specifically its sevens tournament, has enabled the Ivy schools to tap into existing rivalries and fan bases.^[4]

Ivy Rugby has had some past success in attracting commercial sponsors.^[5] Sponsors have included H2H, Royall Lyme and Boathouse Sports.^[6][7]

The Ivy League schools have a rich rugby tradition that pre-dates the formation of the Ivy conference. Teams in the Ivy League have played rugby games against each other since the mid-1870s and starting in 2024 will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of such rugby games.

The eight Ivy League schools competed in the Ivy Rugby Championship Tournament from 1969 until the Ivy Rugby Conference was formed in 2009.^[8] The Ivy Rugby logo was developed in 2005.^[9]

In addition to the traditional 15-a-side rugby union competition, the teams play yearly for the Ivy Rugby 7s Championship.

Member Schools

Photo of the first Yale team to play using rules of rugby union (1876); Back row: Clark, C. Camp, Hatch, Walter Camp, Wurts, Taylor; front row: Davis, Downer, Walker, Baker, Bigelow, Thompson, Morse

Penn's 1878 team with 15 players and a coach played using Rugby Union football rules

Program for the "Football match", Harvard vs Yale, the first intercollegiate game. It is considered the first rugby game between Ivy League teams. The game was played at Hamilton Field in New Haven, Connecticut.

Institution	Location	Team Nickname	Undergraduate enrollment	Graduate enrollment
Brown	Providence, Rhode Island	Bears	6,316[10]	2,333[10]
Columbia	New York City, New York	Lions	7,160[11]	15,760[11]
Cornell	Ithaca, New York	Big Red	13,931[12]	6,702[12]
Dartmouth	Hanover, New Hampshire	Big Green	4,248[13]	1,893[13]
Harvard	Cambridge, Massachusetts	Crimson	7,181[14]	14,044[14]
Princeton	Princeton, New Jersey	Tigers	5,113[15]	2,479[15]
Pennsylvania	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Quakers	10,337[16]	10,306[16]
Yale	New Haven, Connecticut	Bulldogs	5,275[17]	6,391[17]

Roll of Honor

County	Title(s)	Runners-Up	Years won	Years runners-up
Dartmouth	24	10	1972, 1977, 1990, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 (Spring) , 2009 (Fall), 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 (Spring) , 2014 (Fall), 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019	1976, 1984, 1992, 1995, 1996, 2007, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Brown	15	9	1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1995, 1996, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024	1969, 1971, 1973, 1979, 1989, 2013, 2014 (Fall), 2018, 2019
Harvard	8	12	1981, 1982, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1994, 2003, 2007	1970, 1983, 1985, 1986, 2006, 2008, 2009 (Spring), 2010, 2011, 2014 (Spring), 2015, 2017
Princeton	5	6	1969, 1971, 1973, 1979, 2004	1975, 1978, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
Yale	2	4	1970, 1978	1977, 1982, 2003, 2009 (Fall)
Penn	1	1	1992	2016
Cornell	0	3		2002, 2004, 2005

Championship results

Historic results of the Ivy Rugby Championship, organised by the Ivy Rugby Conference since 2009:^[18]

Ivy Rugby Championship

Ed.	Year	Champion	Score	Runner Up	Ref.
1	1969	Princeton (1)	6–3	Brown
2	1970	Yale (1)	?	Harvard
3	1971	Princeton (2)	?	Brown
4	1972	Dartmouth (1)	?	?
5	1973	Princeton (3)	32–6	Brown
6	1974	Brown (1)	?	?
7	1975	Brown (2)	?	Princeton
8	1976	Brown (3)	24–13	Dartmouth
9	1977	Dartmouth (2)	18–6	Yale
10	1978	Yale (2)	10–3?	Princeton
11	1979	Princeton (4)	10–6?	Brown
12	1980	Brown (4)	?	?
13	1981	Harvard (1)	?	?
14	1982	Harvard (2)	33–12	Yale	[19]
15	1983	Brown (5)	21–6	Harvard	[20]
16	1984	Harvard (3)	11–3	Dartmouth	[21]
17	1985	Brown (6)	?	Harvard
18	1986	Brown (7)	13–4	Harvard	[22]
19	1987	Brown (8)	?	?
20	1988	Brown (9)	?	?
21	1989	Harvard (4)	12–9	Brown	[23]
22	1990	Dartmouth (3)	?	Columbia
23	1991	Harvard (5)	?	?
24	1992	Penn (1)	?	Dartmouth
25	1993	Dartmouth (4)	–
26	1994	Harvard (6)	?	?
27	1995	Brown (10)	?	Dartmouth
28	1996	Brown (11)	?	Dartmouth
–	1997	(not held due to snow)
29	1998	Dartmouth (5)	22–21	Princeton
30	1999	Dartmouth (6)	39–17	Princeton
31	2000	Dartmouth (7)	?	Princeton
32	2001	Dartmouth (8)	?	Princeton
33	2002	Dartmouth (9)	35–17	Cornell
34	2003	Harvard (7)	22–7	Yale
35	2004	Princeton (5)	25–5	Cornell
36	2005	Dartmouth (10)	21–7	Cornell	[24]
37	2006	Dartmouth (11)	52–16	Harvard	[25]
38	2007	Harvard (8)	28–25 (a.e.t.)	Dartmouth
39	2008	Dartmouth (12)	41–0	Harvard	[26]
40	2009 (Spring)	Dartmouth (13)	62–13	Harvard	[27]
41	2009 (Fall)	Dartmouth (14)	53–6	Yale	[28][29][30]
42	2010	Dartmouth (15)	31–0	Harvard	[31][32]
43	2011	Dartmouth (16)	62–0	Harvard	[33]
44	2013*	Dartmouth (17)	32–3	Brown	[34]
45	2014 (Spring)	Dartmouth (18)	52–3	Harvard	[35]
46	2014 (Fall)	Dartmouth (19)	90–7	Brown	[36]
47	2015	Dartmouth (20)	51–19	Harvard	[37]
48	2016	Dartmouth (21)	105–0	Penn	[38]
49	2017	Dartmouth (22)	43–22	Harvard	[39]
50	2018	Dartmouth (23)	37–7	Brown	[40]
51	2019	Dartmouth (24)	18–12	Brown	[41]
–	2020	(not held due to COVID-19 pandemic)
52	2021	Brown (12)	15–13	Dartmouth	[42]
53	2022	Brown (13)	24–5	Dartmouth	[43]
54	2023	Brown (14)	38–15	Dartmouth	[44]
55	2024	Brown (15)	40–14	Dartmouth	[45][46]
*2012 regular season played in the Fall and final played in Spring 2013

7s championship results

Year	Champion	Score	Runner Up	MVP	Ref.
Spring 2011	Brown	19–10	Columbia	Daniel Levine-Spound	[47]
Fall 2011	Dartmouth	40–14	Harvard		[48][49]
2012	Dartmouth	15–5	Penn		[50]
2013	Dartmouth*			Will Chockley	[51]
2014	Dartmouth	46–0	Yale		[52]
2015	Dartmouth		??
2016	Dartmouth*				[53]
2017	Dartmouth		??
2018	Brown	22–0	Dartmouth		[54][55]
2019	Dartmouth	17–12	Harvard		[56]
2020–2021	Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022	Brown	12–10	Dartmouth
2023	Dartmouth	14–7	Brown		[57]
2024	Brown	21–12	Dartmouth		[58]
2025	Brown	19–15	Dartmouth		[59]
*Dartmouth A and B reached the final and shared title.