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In 2015, BYU Rugby defeated Cal, 30-27, in the final of the Varsity Cup at Rio Tinto Stadium. The victory marked the 4th consecutive college rugby National Championship for the Cougars.
Today, the Varsity Cup announced that it has decided to strip Brigham Young University’s rugby team of it’s 4th National Championship.
In the press release by the Varsity Cup:
BYU... [is] being stripped of their 2015 title for using an ineligible player.
It was also announced that BYU will not be participating in the 2017 Varsity Cup.
The Cougars have played in every Varsity Cup final in the short history of the tournament. The Varsity Cup began in 2013. The final has been hosted on South Field at BYU twice. It has also been played twice at Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City.
It is clear that BYU has had a great working relationship with the Varsity Cup, but it appears that tie has been damaged, likely due to a dispute over this ruling about a player’s eligibility to play in the 2015 Varsity Cup final.
In November of 2016, BYU Rugby announced that it was going to join D1A Rugby as an independent. The Cougars are the only conference independent in D1A Rugby. The significance here is that despite not competing for the 2017 Varsity Cup, the Y Rugby team will still have a national championship playoff to compete in this season.