To sum up women’s college rugby championships these days: It’s complicated. At first, there were only USA Rugby championships; today, there are multiple organizations that hold season-culminating championships.
First, the most transparent championships: National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) and DI Elite. NIRA is for the NCAA varsity women’s college programs, and today it holds DI, DII and DIII 15s national championships in the fall (in previous years, the competition was divided into tiers, and unofficial DII & DIII title matches were held).
NIRA NATIONAL 15s CHAMPIONS
| Year | 1st | 2nd |
| 2021 (DI) | Dartmouth | U.S. Military Academy |
| 2021 (DII) | AIC | West Chester |
| 2021 (DIII) | Bowdoin | Univ. New England |
| 2020 |
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| 2019 (Tier 1) | Harvard | U.S. Military Academy |
| 2019 (Tier 2) | West Chester | Brown |
| 2019 (DIII) | Bowdoin | Univ. New England |
| 2018 | Dartmouth | Harvard |
| 2017 | Quinnipiac | Dartmouth |
| 2016 | Quinnipiac | Central Washington |
| 2015 | Quinnipiac | U.S. Military Academy |
DI Elite is for a special tier of college programs that have athletics support but aren’t NCAA varsity. Three founding members – Lindenwood, Life, Penn State – have competed in every season since spring 2016, while BYU and Central Washington have rotated in. DI Elite was a spring-based 15s competition until the 2022-23 school year, when it shifted to the fall. The next DI Elite national champion will be named in December 2022.
DI ELITE NATIONAL 15s CHAMPIONS
| Year | 1st | 2nd |
| 2022 | Lindenwood | Life |
| 2021 | Lindenwood | Life |
| 2020 |
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| 2019 | Lindenwood | Life |
| 2018 | Lindenwood | Life |
| 2017 | Penn State | Lindenwood |
| 2016 | Penn State | BYU |
The rest of women’s college rugby is overseen by one of three organizations: National Collegiate Rugby (NCR), College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) and American Collegiate Rugby Association (ACRA). CRAA and ACRA are USA Rugby partners. And, no, it wasn’t always so parceled.
USA Rugby held the first DI women’s college national championship in 1991, and then in 2000 added DII championships to its lineup. In 2007, NCR (previously named NSCRO), which was a USA Rugby partner until recently, held the first women’s small college national championship. USA Rugby remained firmly in charge until the 2013-14 season.
The topic of seasonality created a schism in the collegiate sphere, and ACRA formed to advocate for fall-based schools. In fall 2013, ACRA held its own competitions, named its champions in December, and did not send representatives to the USA Rugby national playoffs in spring 2014. USA Rugby got the message and adopted the seasonal championship set-up we have today – separate fall and spring champions. There were a couple of years where fall and spring champions played each other in a national final, but they were dropped after May 2017. ACRA also disbanded … for the time being.
For a few years, women’s college rugby became familiar again. NIRA and NCR named their respective national champions in the fall. USA Rugby named fall and spring champions, and its DI Elite national champion in the spring. And everyone was knit together through USA Rugby.
And then in 2019-20, USA Rugby declared bankruptcy and reorganized so that it no longer oversaw domestic competitions, including colleges. Covid-19 was not far behind. At that point, NCR and NIRA were the only standing entities overseeing women’s rugby. So NSCRO rebranded as NCR and expanded its women’s college offerings to include large schools. USA Rugby partner CRAA also expanded to include women’s colleges. And ACRA reformed to again advocate for its previous members.
The new-look college landscape debuted in 2021-22. NIRA and DI Elite proceeded per usual. NCR held DI and Small College 15s national championship in the fall (and in 2022-23 has added a Division II). CRAA partnered with ACRA for a combined DII fall 15s championship (just like the mid-2010s) and has recommitted to that relationship for fall 2022. CRAA also held and will continue to hold DI fall, DI spring and DII spring championships.
Now you have context for the various notes in the following championship lists. But don’t get comfortable.
NCR NATIONAL 15s CHAMPIONS
| Year | 1st | 2nd |
| 2022 (DI) | TBD Dec 4 | – |
| 2022 (DII) | TBD Dec 3-4 | – |
| 2022 (sc) | TBD Dec 3-4 | – |
| 2021 (sc) | Wayne State College | SUNY Cortland |
| 2021 (DI) | Life Univ. JV | Univ. Northern Iowa |
| 2020 ^ | South Dakota | Univ Chicago |
| 2019 | Wayne State College | MSU Moorhead |
| 2018 | Wayne State College | Catholic |
| 2017 | Wayne State College | Bentley |
| 2016 | Wayne State College | Colgate |
| 2015 | MSU Moorhead | Colgate |
| 2014 | Roger Williams | Sacred Heart |
| 2013 | Wayne State College | Smith College |
| 2012 | Wayne State College | Roger Williams |
| 2011 | Carleton | Lock Haven |
| 2010 | Bentley | Drexel |
| 2009 | MIT | East Stroudsburg |
| 2008 | Bryant | Gettysburg |
| 2007 | Stonehill | Marist |
(sc) = small college [NCR was small-college-only until 2020]
^ NCR held a virtual season in fall 2020.
CRAA SEASONAL 15s CHAMPIONS
| Year | 1st | 2nd |
| 2022 DI (s) | BYU | Virginia Tech |
| 2021 DI (f) | Navy | Davenport |
| 2022 DII (s) | Claremont Colleges | San Diego State |
| 2021 DII (f) | Vassar | Temple |
(s) spring (f) fall
USA RUGBY DI 15s CHAMPIONS
| Year (season) | 1st | 2nd |
| 2021 (s) |
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| 2020 (f) |
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| 2020 (s) |
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| 2019 (f) | Air Force | Navy |
| 2019 (s) | BYU | Virginia Tech |
| 2018 (f) | Air Force | Davenport |
| 2018 (s) | Chico State | Central Florida |
| 2017 (f) | Davenport | Notre Dame |
| 2017 (s) | UC Davis | Notre Dame College |
| 2016 (f) | Air Force | UCONN |
| 2016 (s) | UC Davis | UVA |
| 2015 (f) | UCONN | Air Force |
| 2015 | Penn State | Central Washington |
| 2014 | Penn State | Stanford |
| 2013 | Penn State | Norwich |
| 2012 | Penn State | Stanford |
| 2011 | Army | Penn State |
| 2010 | Penn State | Stanford |
| 2009 | Penn State | Stanford |
| 2008 | Stanford | Penn State |
| 2007 | Penn State | Stanford |
| 2006 | Stanford | Penn State |
| 2005 | Stanford | Penn State |
| 2004 | Penn State | Princeton |
| 2003 | Air Force | Illinois |
| 2002 | Air Force | Penn State |
| 2001 | Chico State | Penn State |
| 2000 | Penn State | Princeton |
| 1999 | Stanford | Princeton |
| 1998 | Radcliffe | Penn State |
| 1997 | Penn State | Princeton |
| 1996 | Princeton | Penn State |
| 1995 | Princeton | Penn State |
| 1994 | Air Force | Boston College |
| 1993 | Connecticut | Air Force |
| 1992 | Boston College | Connecticut |
| 1991 | Air Force | Boston College |
(f) fall, (s) spring
USA RUGBY DIVISION II CHAMPIONSHIPS
| (f) fall; (s) spring | ||
| Year | 1st | 2nd |
| 2021 (f) | See NCR & CRAA | |
| 2021 (s) | CLD BY COVID-19 | |
| 2020 (f) | CLD BY COVID-19 | |
| 2020 (s) | CLD BY COVID-19 | |
| 2019 (f) | Winona State | CO School of Mines |
| 2019 (s) | Fresno State | Salisbury |
| 2018 (f) | Vassar | Winona State |
| 2018 (s) | Tulane | Claremont |
| 2017 (f) ^ | Winona State | Vassar |
| 2017 # | Davenport | Kennesaw State |
| 2016 # | Davenport | USC |
| 2015 # | Notre Dame College | UC Riverside |
| 2014 $ | Mary Washington | CSU Northridge |
| 2013 | Washington State | Winona |
| 2012 | Norwich | Winona |
| 2011 | Radcliffe | Notre Dame |
| 2010 | Washington State | Temple |
| 2009 | Shippensburg | Stonehill |
| 2008 | Shippensburg | UM Duluth |
| 2007 | Iowa State | UC Santa Cruz |
| 2006 | UC Santa Cruz | Plymouth State |
| 2005 | Providence College | Temple |
| 2004 | Temple | Providence College |
| 2003 | Dayton | Northern Iowa |
| 2002 | Northern Iowa | Minnesota |
| 2001 | Northern Iowa | Nevada |
| 2000 | Plymouth State | East Stroudsburg |
(s) spring (f) fall
^ From fall 2017 – spring 2020, USA Rugby abandons the fall champion vs. spring champion format in naming a national champion, and instead names two seasonal champions each year. Covid-19 halted the spring 2020 season.
# From fall 2015-spring 2017, ACRA’s DII fall champion played USA Rugby’s DII spring champion in a national final in May.
$ In fall 2013, ACRA held its first DII 15s championship in the fall, and none of those teams participated in USA Rugby’s national playoffs in spring 2014.