The Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union (EPRU) is the Local Area Union (LAU) for rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 teams in Eastern and Central Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, as well as Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

 and parts of New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. EPRU is part of the Mid Atlantic Rugby Football Union

MARFU

The Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union is an association of youth, high school, collegiate, and adult men's and women's rugby teams in the Mid-Atlantic United States....

 (MARFU), which is one of the seven Territorial Area Unions (TAU's) that comprise USA Rugby

USA Rugby

USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. It is divided into seven territorial Unions: Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Pacific Coast, Southern California, South, and West...

.

History

The Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union was founded in the late 1960s as an outgrowth of the Pennsylvania All State XV and the Southeast Pennsylvania Select Side. The EPRU joined the Eastern Rugby Union (ERU) in 1972 which subsequently became USA Rugby East (USARE). In 1994 the EPRU joined the newly-formed Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union.

November 1971, the EPRU officially became incorporated by officers Fred Bullock, Peter Heaton, John Sharpe, Carl D. Buchholz III and Ben Spillard. From those beginnings the EPRU has developed into one of the strongest and most efficiently administered subunions in the United States.

The first EPRU Select Side match was played in April 1969 against the Metropolitan New York Rugby Union. The EPRU won 16 to 3 and began over two decades of championship quality play. In April 1983, the first EPRU School Boy Select Side defeated the Potomac School Boys. Fourteen years later the first girls high school team formed in the EPRU (Doylestown) defeated the Lake Braddock (Fairfax, VA) H. S. Girls by a score of 10-0.

The Union's history has produced a unique nickname, "The Host of the East Coast," beginning with the hosting of the 1976 United States Bicentennial Rugby Festival featuring clubs from Great Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

The EPRU was the first Local Area Union to hold Level I & Level II Coaching Certification programs.

Currently, the EPRU supports 82 full members and 64 high school teams. See :Category:Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union.

College Championships

2004 EPRU Mens's Division I Champions: University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

2004 EPRU Women's Division I Champions: Princeton University

Princeton Rugby

The Princeton University Rugby Football Club comprises the rugby union club of Princeton University. The school competes in the Ivy League in Division I of USA Rugby's intercollegiate competition.-Men's team:...

2004 EPRU Women's Division II Champions: Temple University

Temple University

Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...

2005 EPRU Women's Division I Champions: Princeton University

Princeton Rugby

The Princeton University Rugby Football Club comprises the rugby union club of Princeton University. The school competes in the Ivy League in Division I of USA Rugby's intercollegiate competition.-Men's team:...

2005 EPRU Women's Division II Champions: Kutztown University

2006 EPRU Men's Division III Champions: Harrisburg RFC

2006 EPRU Women's Division I Champions: West Chester University

2007 EPRU Men's Division I Champions: Millersville University

2007 EPRU Women's Division I Champions: West Chester University

2008 EPRU Women's Division I Champions: West Chester University

2008 EPRU Men's Division II Champions: St. Joseph's University

2008 EPRU Men's Division III Champions: Widener University

Widener University

Widener University is a private, coeducational university located in Chester, Pennsylvania.Its main campus sits on 108 acres , just southwest of Philadelphia...

2009 EPRU Men's Division II Champions: West Chester University

2011 EPRU Men's Division III Champions: Rowan University

Rowan University

Rowan University is a public university in Glassboro, New Jersey, USA with a satellite campus in Camden, New Jersey. The school was founded in 1923 as Glassboro Normal School on a twenty-five acre tract of land donated by the town...