The 2021 Collegiate Rugby Championship will be played May 29-31 in New Orleans at the Gold Mine on Airline, home of Major League Rugby’s NOLA Gold, featuring 32 men’s and 16 women’s teams vying for 7s national championships.
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The event will follow all local and state COVID guidelines, which currently permit 50-percent capacity at the 10,000-seat venue, and all participant teams will have to follow event-specific COVID protocols put in place by National Collegiate Rugby.
“The opportunity to bring the CRC to the great city of New Orleans and partner with a fantastic MLR franchise like NOLA Gold is tremendous,” said NCR CEO Jeremy Treece.
“New Orleans has everything fans, players, referees and coaches could need or want, great hotels, food, historic places to visit, and one of the best rugby stadiums in the country. It’s going to be a great event.”
As a show of southern hospitality, the state of Louisiana is throwing a pregame crawfish boil for all fans at the CRC’s Saturday kickoff.
In addition to the previously announced conference representative 10s competition, men’s and women’s CRC brackets will be accompanied by high school 15s and alumni 10s brackets.
“The CRC has always been first and foremost about experiences, and when you visit that stadium in that city, you don’t even have to squint to conjure a vision of what an incredible experience there is to be had for all,” said 7s commissioner Pat Clifton.
“I can already see it now. Playing a game in the shadows of the stadium with your college buddies, then grabbing a po’ boy as you walk across the parking lot to watch May Madness 7s inside America’s largest and most impressive rugby-specific stadium.”
A committee will be assigned the task of choosing the final 32 men’s teams and 16 women’s teams to compete in CRC May Madness 7s. All NCR members are eligible for selection to their conferences representative 10s team and all member teams are eligible for selection to the 2021 CRC, though they will have to comply with event-specific COVID protocols and provide signed consent from school administration.
Teams with administrative approval to play rugby this spring can apply for consideration here. Coaches of NCR member teams with players interested in participating in the rep side 10s competition should contact their conference commissioners, and interested players should contact their coaches.
Teams interested in participating either the high school or the alumni divisions can register here: