San Francisco Golden Gate RFC

San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in San Francisco, California. SFGG's first side competes in the Northern California Rugby Football Union's Men's Division I, Women's Division II, and Pacific Rugby Premiership. The SFGG Youth Program includes high school Varsity, Junior Varsity, Frosh-Soph teams as well as U-12, U-10 and U-8 (non-contact) youth teams. SFGG also fields nationally competitive Rugby Sevens squads over the summer. The SFGG Old Boys team, the Señors, feature in occasional matches.

San Francisco

Full name	San Francisco Golden Gate Rugby Football Club
Union	USA Rugby
Nickname(s)	SFGG
Founded	2001; 24 years ago (2001)
Ground(s)	Ray Sheeran Field
President	Paul Santinelli
Coach(es)	Neil Foote
League(s)	Pacific Rugby Premiership
Team kit
Official website
sfggrugby.sportsengine-prelive.com

History

SFGG Rugby was formed in 2001 from the merger of the San Francisco Rugby Club and the Golden Gate Rugby Club.^[1] The club won the 2009 and 2011 Rugby Super League championships defeating Life University in the final both times, by 23–13 and 20–5 respectively.^[2]

Ray Sheeran Field

San Francisco Golden Gate RFC leased land and a former PX building from the city of San Francisco on Treasure Island in the summer of 2005 for the purpose of building a field and clubhouse. The facility was opened in November 2005 with a Grand Banquet/Dedication featuring former All Black captain Reuben Thorne and former US Eagle captain Dan Lyle. The pitch was formerly named for former club President and current Director Greg Rocca. In March 2011, the pitch was renamed to Ray Sheeran Field.

Ray Sheeran Field hosted the 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 USA Rugby National Club Sevens Championships.

Club honors

• Pacific Rugby Premiership
  • Champions: 2014^[3]
• USA Rugby Elite Cup
  • Champions: 2013^[4]
• Rugby Super League
  • Champions: 2009, 2011
  • Runner-up: 2004, 2010
  • Semifinalists: 2007
• US Men's Division I
  • Semifinalists: 1996, 2000, 2010
  • Finalists: 1999

Notable players

Current players

Players with international caps in bold.

• Daniel La Prevotte
• Aaron Latzke
• Saimone Laulaupeaalu
• Shaun Paga
• Danny Barrett — flanker
• Patrick Latu — San Francisco Rush captain
• Volney Rouse — flyhalf
• Mile Pulu — center
• Tai Enosa — fullback

Former players

Internationally capped players are in bold.

• Brian Barnard
• Nathan Couch
• Tony Daly
• Philippe Farner
• Robbie Flynn
• Oloseti Fifita
• Fred Forster
• Jay Hansen
• Britt Howard
• Seamus Kelly
• Mike MacDonald
• Samu Manoa
• Fifita Mounga
• Jone Naqica
• Folau Niua
• Thretton Palamo — center
• Shawn Pittman
• Naima Reddick
• Mark Scharrenberg
• Matt Sherman
• Paul Still
• Grant Wells
• Jay Wilkerson

Sponsorship

Notable primary sponsors include CallidusCloud and Canterbury of New Zealand. The club also has several secondary sponsorships from local and regional businesses.^[5]