National Intercollegiate Rugby Association

The National Intercollegiate Rugby Association is a governing body of National Collegiate Athletic Association 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 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.

Members

As of April, 2025:

Championship finals

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