The Facts of Life

Casual observers of the college rugby scene might wonder about the program currently sitting at #3 on the Goff Rugby Report D1 college rankings: Life University. What conference are they in? Do they play a fall 15s schedule? Where is Life University, anyway? 

Life University, located in Marietta, Ga. (near Atlanta), specializes in health science education (including sports health science) and chiropractic. The school hosts both club and varsity undergraduate rugby teams. The undergraduate program, founded in 1980 and made a varsity sport in 2010, is led by Dan Payne, a former coach for the USA Eagles national team. 

Life is unaffiliated and does not play a regular fall 15s schedule, choosing to play various select teams and highly-ranked college squads. The team concentrates on winter and spring sevens and 15s play. 

Life’s rapid rise to become one of the nation’s top rugby teams is one of the sport’s more interesting stories in recent years. The 2010-11 season, their first official year of varsity intercollegiate play, saw the team go 14-2. The team was a semifinalist in the 2012 D1-A Championships and won it all a year later, beating St. Mary’s for the title.  

Standout players include All-Americans Paris Hollis (senior, lock and prop), Jake McFadden (senior, scrum half and flyhalf) and Glen Maricelli (senior, hooker).  

Life vs Army: Meeting of Champions

Life’s appearance against unbeaten Army (ranked #6 in Goff’s ranking) at the ACRC Bowl Series in Charlotte on Nov. 22 is regarded as the de-facto ACRC championship match.  

“We’re excited to be a part of this and we’re honored to share the field with West Point,” Payne told the Goff Rugby Report. “We’ll be ready.”