The Arkansas State University Rugby Club traces its beginning to 1989, when the informal Jonesboro Rugby club was formed as a traveling side. In 1991, ASU recognized the club as an official college side. Since then, the team has played throughout the south with varying degrees of success. In 1996, Head Coach Curt Huckaby took the helm, the club has increased in size and has become the nationally competitive side it is today.
2000 Season – Plate Division II National Champions
In 2000, the lightly regarded Rugby Tribe came out of nowhere to shock Division II rugby powerhouse Radford College 32-13 in the Plate Division National Championship game. Coach Curtis Huckaby encapsulated the moment and a quest that started ten months ago, saying “Seldom do dreams come true. We started this quest the first day of fall practice and through overwhelming team effort it culminated in the national championship today.” To make it to the plate national championship game, ASU first had to win the Midsouth from defending Regional Champion Vanderbilt University 32-7, before getting past Auburn University (18-10) and Tulane University (33-14) in the South Region. The next fought and beat a hardened Eastern Illinois University (22-17) in the national semi-final game before meeting Radford in the championship game, capping a 22-3 season.
2001 Season – National Division II Runners-up
In 2001, Tribe Rugby fell one game short of being crowned Division II National Champions, losing 29-16 to Baylor University, now a Division I team. ASU came out of the South Region relatively unscathed, beating Vanderbilt University 76-6 to win the Midsouth Region before beating Furman University and Southeastern Louisiana University. The Tribe then faced two tough challengers in the Elite Eight who sapped their strength and left key players injured. In the first round, Tribe Rugby faced fourth-ranked Providence, a strong and methodical forwards oriented team. Playing on snow in mountainous Reno, Nevada, the boys from Arkansas squeaked out a close victory 26–22 only to face top-ranked rugby powerhouse University of Nevada-Reno, now a Division I team. The confident hometown Reno team, which had already bought plane tickets for the national championship game in Virginia Beach, could not contend with the fast and fluid risk-taking offense and hard-nosed defense of Arkansas State University, falling 36-30 to the Rugby Tribe. While finishing with an 18-4 record, the Tribe ended the season unfulfilled and aching to return to the National Championship stage.
2002 Season - National Division II Elite Eight Finalists/Hosts
Even though the 2002 season was supposed to be a rebuilding season, as the Tribe lost All-American Yves Pichavant, All-South props “Manu” Castillo and Jon Leake and fullback Kekoa Cox, as well as perennial offensive threat and wing Adam McPike, to graduation and suffered the losses of cornerstones Matt Huckaby to the Eagles seven’s side and Luke Duffner to injury, the ASU Rugby Tribe posted an incredibly strong season behind the spirited play of their rookies and underclassmen who stepped up to take them all the way to the Elite Eight, where they played host to the finest Division II College teams in the nation. In spite of eventually losing to Salisbury State University and to Middlebury State in the Elite Eight, due in great part to injuries that sapped the teams depth and negated their home field advantage, on their way the Tribe won the South for the third year in a row, beating University of North Carolina-Wilmington 35-17 in the semi-finals before sliding by University of South Florida 32-10 in the finals. On their way, ASU posted wins against Vanderbilt University (38-10) and Tulane University (27-7) in the MidSouth finals while compiling 15 wins against six losses and one tie against the ASU Alumni in their first annual alumni game.