1980 National Collegiate Rugby Championship

The 1980 National Collegiate Rugby Championship was the first edition of an official national championship for intercollegiate rugby organized by the U.S. Rugby Football Union. The tournament was sponsored by Michelob and hosted by Palmer College of Chiropractic at Credit Island in Davenport, Iowa. The Cal Bears were victorious in large part to Mick Luckhurst who was tournament MVP.

Participants
Illinois Qualified for the National Championship by winning the college division of the Mid-America Cup at the Midwest Rugby Championship at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH. Roster: President- Jeff Ruckman Coach- Merle Faminow Captain- Kevin McSweeney Record 22-4-1(10-1-1) Bruce Anderson (Center), Rob Beer (Prop), Craig Bergen (Prop), Dean Bostrom (#8), Bruce Gillingham (#8), Pete Hancock (Scrumhalf), Joe Janikas (Wing), Mark Kahn (Prop), Steve Lardner (Scrumhalf), Drew Kuhter (Lock), Pete McHugh (Wing), Kevin McSweeney (Flyhalf), Brian Mullery (Fullback), Mickey O'Neil (Hooker), Jim Quinn (Scrumhalf), Jeff Ruckman (Flanker), J.W. Sears (Hooker), Rick Smith (Center), Tony Sparrow (Flanker), Keith Surroz (Lock), Joe Vanderbranden (Center), Jeff Young (Wing).
 * First round Illinois 17-0 Dayton
 * Second round Illinois 16-10 Palmer
 * Semifinal Illinois 8-3 Ohio State
 * Final Illinois 7-6 Minnesota

Navy Qualified for the National Championship by winning the Eastern Collegiate Cup on April 5–6 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. Roster: Coach- Dewey Mateer Record (10-1-1) Matt Aylward (Prop), Tom Brodmerkel (Lock), Jim Brownlowe (Center), John Burke (Prop), Jerry Chandler (Scrumhalf), Deryl Chen (Wing), Mike Coughlin (Wing), Dan Dewispelaere (Flyhalf), Jeff Freeman (Wing), Chuck French (Scrumhalf), James Hickey (#8), Rick Keller (Hooker), Jim King (Center), Steve Laukaitis (#8), Bob Matheny (Fullback), Herb McMillan (Flanker), Jim Merrill (Center), Kent Mills (Flanker), Dennis Murphy (Center), Keith Shultis (Prop), Brad Smith (Lock), John Theiss (Lock).
 * Navy 6-4 Virginia Tech
 * Navy 15-6 Army

Air Force Falcons Qualified for the National Championship by winning the West Regional on 2–4 May in Lawrence, KS Roster: Coach- Alan Osur Captains- Kevin Nagie/Steve Miller Record- 11-1 Brad Brown (Flyhalf), Jeff Burroughs (Lock), Bob Cushing (Scrumhalf), Jeff Dodson (Prop), Paul Frappier (Center), Tom Jee (Flanker), Tom Jones (Center), Jeff Lamont (Lock), Brian McNabb (Wing), Steve Miller (Fullback), Joe Motz (Scrumhalf), Kevin Nagie (Flanker), Fred Origel (Prop), Mark Ploederer (#8), Jason Prokopowicz (Prop), Jeff Richard (Flanker), Tom Robbins (Center), Mark Roling (Lock), Jerry Sirote (Hooker), Art Smith (Wing), Paul Smith (#8), Bruce Stark (Center).
 * Air Force def. Principia of St. Louis
 * Air Force def.University of Northern Colorado

California Qualified from Far West Regional on March 22–23 at Pebble Beach, CA. Roster: Coach- Ned Anderson Record 15-5-1 Buzz Brown (Prop), Darrell Breedlove (#8), Jim Castignani (Wing), Kevin Dakis (Wing), Mark Deaton (#8), Scott Denardo (Prop), Frank Helm (Hooker), Donald Hooper (Flyhalf), Tom Horvath (Lock), Mike Lemmon (Back), Tom Lemmon (Center), Mick Luckhurst (Fullback), Jeff McDermott (Flanker), Ken Meyersieck, (Scrumhalf), Tim O'Brien (Center), Doug Raisch (Prop), Bob Spurzem (Prop), Matthew Taylor (Wing), Brian Vincent (Flanker), Bob Williams (Scrumhalf).
 * California 18-4 University of Oklahoma
 * California 12-7 Old Mission Beach RC
 * California 6-0 San Francisco RC
 * California 9-7 Santa Monica RC

Semifinals
The semifinals scheduled for 1:00 and 3:00PM respectively were delayed an hour and a half due to storms flooding the pitch requiring another field to be set up by the organizers.

Final
All Tournament Team Matthew Aylward (Navy) – Prop Mark Deaton (California) – #8 Jeff Freeman (Navy) – Wing Mick Luckhurst (California) – Fullback Herb McMillan (Navy) – Flanker Brian McNabb (Air Force) – Wing Joe Motz (Air Force) – Scrumhalf Brian Mullery (Illinois) – Flyhalf Tim O'Brian (California) – Outside Center Doug Raisch (California) – Prop Jeff Ruckman (Illinois) – Flanker James Sears (Illinois) – Hooker Bradley Smith (Navy) – Lock Bruce Sorensen (California) – Lock Bruce Stark (Air Force) – Inside Center