National Intercollegiate Rugby Association

The National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA) is a governing body of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) collegiate women's rugby programs in the United States founded in 2015.

History

The NIRA traces roots back to 2015 when eight NCAA member institutions formed the National Collegiate Varsity Women's Rugby Association (NCVWRA) to organize collegiate competition and aid in the promotion of rugby at the varsity level in the NCAA after rugby was promoted to Emerging Sport status.

Inaugural members of the association included Army, Bowdoin, Brown, Central Washington, Harvard, Norwich, Quinnipiac, and West Chester. Membership in the organization is limited to NCAA institutions who sponsor women's rugby at the varsity level. In 2016 the association became known as the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA).

Members

As of April, 2025:

Division I

Division II

Division III

Championship finals

Division I

Division II

• 2025 – American International 74–0 West Chester
• 2024 – American International 20–15 Davenport
• 2023 – Davenport 91–5 Lander
• 2022 – Queens 34–27 Davenport
• 2021 – American International 29–17 West Chester
• 2019 – West Chester 15–14 Brown
• 2018 – Mount St. Mary's 22–15 Sacred Heart
• 2017 – University of New England 57–14 Bowdoin
• 2016 – Bowdoin College 32–22 University of New England

Division III

• 2023 – Bowdoin 51–17 Adrian
• 2022 – Bowdoin 29–0 University of New England
• 2021 – Bowdoin 31–12 University of New England
• 2019 – Bowdoin College 27–5 University of New England

References

External links