National Playoffs: In spring 1967 four friends, Frank N. Mora III (Puerto Rico), Jeremy Pike (Australia), Nick Schoular (United Kingdom), and Geoff Tyers (United Kingdom) led the effort to bring the sport of rugby to Clemson University.
In 1971, Clemson Rugby secured a significant upset victory over Yale — the 1970 Ivy League champions who were on a 19-game winning streak.
As a result, it led to the team consistently competing against University of North Carolina, Charleston Rugby Club, N.C. State, Atlanta Old White and Medical College of Georgia.
After a series of challenging matches the team ended up facing the University of Virginia in the finals.
During the mid-1980s the club continued to play full spring and fall schedules, adding to the list of rival clubs Belmont Abbey, Wake Forest, Olde Grey, Johnson City and the Citadel.
During Coach Graziano's time with the team, Clemson rugby achieved several major accomplishments: Clemson's first undefeated season, Georgia Rugby Union champions, a number one ranking in the Southeast, and entrance into the quarterfinals of the national playoffs where the Tigers matched up against Penn State after a first-round victory over Cornell University.
A difficult fall led to a successful spring semester in which Clemson Rugby would again be in the national spotlight.
After defeating every southern team they faced, the Tigers headed to the Round of 16 of the national playoffs.
Clemson has played since 2011 in the Atlantic Coast Rugby League against its traditional ACC rivals.
[10] Clemson finished the spring 2013 season with a 6-1 conference record, and then defeated South Carolina 29–7 in the round of 16 national playoffs, before losing in the quarterfinals to Central Florida 20–24.
The team has set up an alumni fund to allow graduates to give back to the club.
The annual alumni gathering at homecoming is a highly anticipated event where former players and supporters are hosted at several events including a dinner, inter-collegiate rugby match, an alumni match against the college team, and a post match cookout which allows the past players to socialize with the present players and tell old war stories.
Clemson Rugby also traveled to Louisiana on their first fall break tour since 1995 and returned undefeated against LSU and Tulane.
"We do our best to market the sport as an avenue for the students to continue competition and be a part of the Clemson experience, not just another thing to do after class."