Maud’s History – Mardi Gras Tournie Part 6

The Early Years of Rugby in Louisiana:

The Tulane University and New Orleans Clubs, and Union Affiliations

PART 6:  Mardi Gras Tournie, Other Teams, & References

 

Peter J. Maud

 

The Mardi Gras Tournament

 

The first Mardi Gras Rugby Tournament was held in the Spring of 1968 and originally probably proposed by John Healey, who had been one of the prime founders of the Southeast Louisiana College Rugby Club the previous Spring. In order to make the tournament more attractive to visiting teams and to help with organizational issues, the Southeastern Louisiana club invited the Tulane club to co-sponsor the event. The preliminary games were to be played in Hammond on the Saturday and the final and semi- finals on Sunday on the Tulane University campus. The following year, due to differences of opinion as to the venue of the tournament, two separate tournaments were held, one sponsored Southeast Louisiana College and the other by Tulane University. Following are the results of the first twelve tournaments sponsored by the Tulane University club:

Results -Tulane University Tournament

 

Year                                        Winner                                    Runner-up

1968*                      University of Wisconsin                          Tulane University

1969                        Tulane University                                    University of Wisconsin

1970                        University of Wisconsin                          University of Waterloo (Canada)

1971                        Palmer College of Chiropractics                               Tulane University

1972                        Texas A & M University                         Tulane University

1973                        University of Indiana                                               Brown University

1974                        Potomac                                                   Austin

1975                        Pensacola                                                 University of Iowa

1976                        University of Wisconsin                          Blackthorn

1977                        San Antonio                                             Boston College

1978                        Tulane University                                    Bucknell

1979                        Vancouver Rowing Club                          University of Oklahoma

*Combined Southeastern Louisiana University and Tulane University tournament

 

 

Other Louisiana Rugby Clubs:

 

Southeastern Louisiana College/ Hammond/ Southeastern Louisiana University*.

New Orleans Blues

Louisiana State University

Loyola University

Crescent City Rugby Club

Baton Rouge Rugby Club

Fort Polk

(The University of New Orleans, and a team potentially called the Bayou Boys Rugby Club also tried to form but ultimately their members joined the Crescent City Club.)

 

*Southeastern Louisiana College gained university status and it is believed that they played as the Hammond Rugby Club  for a short period during this time.

 

(The Louisiana State University rugby club was founded in 1970 with the three principal players responsible for its foundation being Rob Haswell, a South African, Jay McKenna who had previously played in Maryland and Hal Rose who had prior experience with the Austin Rugby Club. In their first game the Louisiana State University team defeated the Tulane club by a score of 15 – 5. From its early beginnings  the club established itself as a rugby powerhouse in the southern part of the country and one of the better national collegiate sides as demonstrated by the fact that in 1972 it took third place in the 1^st (unofficial) National Collegiate Rugby Championships. One of its early team members, Bob Causey, made a significant contribution to Louisiana rugby by being selected to play for the U.S.A. National Team, the Eagles. Further detailed information concerning the founding of this club would be better addressed by one of its early members although a brief history of the club can be found at their website: http:/www.lsurugby.com/history.php. )

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1. Keys, M, “The Rough, Rugged Road To Rugby” The Tulane Hullabaloo, Friday February 16, 1968

2. Maud, P.J., “Rugby Pioneer – Mike Porter” Rugby, Vol. 3, No. 8, January 1978