| 1981 National Rugby Championships | |
| Tournament Format: | Various |
| Date: | 1981 |
| Previous Year: | 1980 |
| Previous Tournament: | 1980 National Rugby Championships |
| Next Year: | 1982 |
| Next Tournament: | 1982 National Rugby Championships |
The 1981 National Rugby Championships were a series of tournaments organized to determine a national champion in several divisions for United States rugby teams. The divisions included Men's/Women's Club, college, high school, Military, Sevens, and Interterritorial.
The 1981 National Club Rugby Championship was sponsored by Michelob and took place in Dayton, Ohio at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base from May 9–10.[1] The teams featured in the tournament were the champions of the four sub unions of USARFU. Coached by Ron Mayes the Berkeley Old Blues won the title defeating Old Blues of New York in the final 9–3.[2] Old Blues scrumhalf David Bateman was MVP.
The 1981 Women's National Rugby Championship was a 16 team tournament sponsored by Michelob that took place on May 23–25 in Oak Brook, IL.[3] The Belmont Shores team of Long Beach, CA won the championship with a 7–6 win over Beantown of Boston, MA.[4] Kathy Cantu of Belmont Shore was MVP.
Lineups:
Belmont Shore– Stregge, Hankins, Hancock, Boyce, Hartman, Rogers, Cantu, Miller, Wallace, Martinich, Goldberg, Ball, Kuskey, Martin, Hart.
Beantown– Moynihan, Mullins, Kimble, Kaspotys, Rutkowski, Locket, Bridi, Fener, Cepko, Onufry, Evans, Lewis, Keith, Marr, Breen.
See main article: 1981 National Collegiate Rugby Championship. The 1981 College championship was won by University of California at Berkeley. Harvard was runner-up.
The 1981 Combined Services Rugby Championship took place in Dayton, Ohio at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base from May 9–10 and was won by the Wright Patterson Jets with a 7–3 win over Camp Pendleton.[5]
The 1981 National Sevens Rugby Tournament was hosted by the Hartford Wanderers and took place on June 20, 1981, at Sterling Field in West Hartford, Connecticut.[6] The tournament was won by the Hartford Wanderers for the first time.[7]
The Inter Territorial Tournament involved the four regional rugby unions comprising the United States RFU: Pacific Coast RFU, Western RFU, Midwest RFU, and the Eastern Rugby Union. The region teams are formed from selected players from the sub regional rugby unions. Subsequently, the USA Eagles are selected from the four regional teams after the ITT concludes. The 1981 edition was played at the Oak Brook Sports Core in Oak Brook, Illinois from May 23–25.[8] The Pacific Coast RFU repeated as tournament champions.[9]
Results:
| width=30% colspan=2 | Team | width=5% | W | width=5% | L | width=5% | F | width=5% | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pacific Coast Grizzlies | 3 | 0 | 71 | 23 | ||||
| 2 | Eastern Colonials | 2 | 1 | 58 | 32 | ||||
| 3 | Midwest Thunderbirds | 1 | 2 | 44 | 65 | ||||
| 4 | Western Mustangs | 0 | 3 | 28 | 81 | ||||
The 1981 National High School Rugby Championship took place in Dayton, Ohio at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base from May 9–10.[10] Redwood High of Larkspur, CA became the first champions after a 6–3 victory over Seneca Valley of Maryland.[11]
Champions: Redwood High
Coach: David Kirschoff
Roster: Colin Cole, Brian Muller, John Flowers, Jeff Davis, Elliot Morshead, Steve Fentress, Benny Thio, Mitch Halston, Barry Grove, Greg Merriman, Greg Behrendt, Robert Salaber, Robert Forstner, Nick Stoll, Duncan Green, Phil Aufricht, Eric Goodfield, Mike Jackson, Bud Riley, Steve Havernass, Sean Silvera, Pat Farley, John Weisberg, Mike King, David Flowers.