1966 Old White Phoenix Rises

The game of rugby was first brought to Atlanta in 1966 when Englishman Alan Simms founded the Atlanta RFC. Around the same time, rugby was imported to the college town of Athens, about an hour northeast of Georgia’s capital. The Athens club quickly flourished, far surpassing the standard of the floundering Atlanta RFC. In 1971 Atlanta RFC was further weakened by a group of “Renegade” players who broke away from the club to form The Atlanta Renegades. This breakaway club proved no more successful than the original version of Atlanta RFC, leaving Atlanta with two less than dominating sides.

While the beginnings of rugby in Atlanta were far from glorious, the seeds of a great club had been planted, and in 1974 they gave fruit. Four men; Beau Bock and Bob Langley from the Renegades along with Dan Fry and David Branch from Atlanta, met over a cheap domestic (or two) to discuss the formation of a new club dedicated to winning rugby.

Beau Bock, an experienced prop from Old Blue RFC in New York who had played against both All Blacks and Fiji, seeing the need for instant credibility suggested the club rename itself “Old White” — a name worn proudly by the club for over 50 years. The new club made its debut in the Spring of 1974 on Saturday, November 16th with a tough 9-0 loss to Clemson University. The memory of this loss, though, was erased by a stunning 31 game winning streak. Seven times during this streak, Old White took the championship final in national caliber tournaments. Old White’s winning ways finally ended in 1976, but by this point the club had established itself as a dominating force in Southern rugby. Later that year, though, in November of 1976 in the finals of the prestigious Peachtree Invitational Tournament, Old White would suffer another tough loss. This time the loss was to the Renegades. It was the first time Old White had fallen to their cross-town rivals.

1981 New Rugby Dynamics in Atlanta

Still, Old White continued to play a high level of rugby. Throughout this time, Old White developed a reputation as a premier hosting and touring club with a tour of England and Wales in 1981, a second tour to England in 1985 and a tour of New Zealand in 1990. Old White made its fourth team tour to Scotland in March of 1996. The club has also hosted touring sides from Ireland, New Zealand, England, Argentina and Wales. The dynamics of rugby in Atlanta, The South and the Eastern Rugby Union changed in 1984 when Life Chiropractic College in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta started a rugby program. Unlike most American men’s clubs, Life was well-equipped with extensive financial resources, and was able to award scholarship grants to many top-level players. It was only three years after their inception that Life won the Eastern Championships.

With the emergence of a powerful program at Life, Old White again dedicated itself to becoming the best Atlanta had to offer. 1988 saw a tie with mighty Life and a 13-12 victory over the Renegades propelled Old White to the Eastern playoffs.

It was in 1989, though, which proved to be a watershed year for Old White Rugby as the club advanced to the Eastern semifinal game where it once again faced the rival Renegades. A bitter 12-9 loss motivated Old White to redouble its efforts, and that fall Old White rolled over all comers, including a 37-6 win over Life, to win the Southeastern championship and advance to the Eastern Finals. After falling behind early to perennial Eastern contender, Washington, DC, Old White mounted a courageous second half comeback, cutting the lead to three late in the game. Unfortunately, the comeback ran out of time, and Old White suffered a dramatic 13-10 loss. After the 1990 tour of New Zealand, Old White worked its way back to the Eastern Rugby Union Championship game where it defeated Mystic River Rugby Club of Boston to win the Eastern Championships. It was also in 1990 that the Old White 7s program first qualified as one of only eight teams to make the Eastern Rugby Union Playoffs, an achievement it would duplicate in both 1991 and 1992.

The club went through a brief down period in 1993 and 1994 as many of the players who led the charge through the late 1980s and early 1990s retired from active member status. Still, the drive to return to national prominence remained, and 1995 saw a restoration of the traditional high standard of Old White.

1994 Reemergence in the South

Signs of the reemergence showed themselves in the fall of 1994. After losing its first five games, the club rallied to take six of its final seven games, finishing at .500 and taking third place in the Palmetto Union tournament. The Spring of 1995 saw more improvements as Old White, under the leadership of coach and captain Steve Yeager, finished with an overall record of 9-1 and 6-0 in the Palmetto Union. That summer, the Old White 7′s first side again qualified as one of the final eight teams in the Eastern Rugby Union playoffs.

It was the Fall of 1995, though, which signaled the return of Old White. With a final A-side regular season record of 11-1, and a second straight 6-0 tally within the Union, Old White was crowned Palmetto Union Champions after an exhausting 26-23 triple overtime victory over Hilton Head, SC. That win and the Championship earned Old White a #1 seed in the Division II National Championships.

But before the Nationals, Old White embarked on its fourth tour, this one to the beautiful countryside of Scotland. Luck was not with Old White once the Nationals resumed after the tour, bowing out early. But soon there after, Old White joined the Georgia Rugby Union Fall 1996, and took it by storm as well, winning the Georgia Rugby Union Championship as well as winning the Division II USA Rugby South Championships. This Championship earned Old White a trip to Chicago for the Division II Nationals Sweet 16. Old White fought with Wisconsin RFC back and fourth, and nearly succumbed a three try deficit late in the match, but fell short.