Rugby union at the 1920 Summer Olympics was played in Antwerp, Belgium. Two nations entered the rugby union event at the 1920 Summer Olympics — France and the United States. The French team were thought to be assured of the gold medal and came in as raging favourites in the event. However, the United States team surprised everyone when defeating France by eight points to nil.[1]
| Men's rugby union at the Games of the VII Olympiad | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Venue | Olympic Stadium | ||||||
| Date | September 5 | ||||||
| Competitors | 33 from 2 nations | ||||||
| Medalists | |||||||
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← 1908
1924 →
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The rugby football Olympic tournament consisted of only one match. It was played between the United States and France. The US squad was made up of American football players from California universities, notably Stanford, California, and Santa Clara. Due to American football becoming an increasingly violent sport, these and other west coast universities chose to instead play rugby union from 1906–1914.[2][3][4]
On the other side, the French team was composed of rugby players from four clubs near Paris: Racing Club, Olympique, Club Athlétique des Sports Généraux, and Sporting Club Universitaire.
United States player Rudy Scholz wrote about the match:
It started at 5 PM, (time here for all big matches) and there was a crowd of about 20,000 present, despite the fact it was raining. At a council of war we decided that because the ground was wet and slippery and the ball likewise, we would make it a forward game. The French tried a backfield game, and they lost although they were fast. The slippery ball and field proved their undoing...[5]
After the Olympic competition, the US team toured England and France in 1924, playing three games in England as preparation for the 1924 Olympic competition.[6][7]
On 19 September, in Lyon, United States defeated a team representing the southeast of France 26–0. The American team also achieved victories against a southern French team (in Toulouse) and a southwest side at Bordeaux. United States was later defeated by France 14–5 in Paris.[5]
United States  | 8–0 |  France XV |
| Try: Hunter Con: Templeton Pen: Templeton | Report |
| Olympic Stadium, Antwerp Attendance: 55,000[8] |
| Team details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Rank | Team | Matches | Points | Avg. | Tries | Avg tries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
United States |
1 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 1 |
 |
France XV |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
 |
(none awarded)
| |||||
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rugby union |  United States (USA)
Trainer/Selector: Harry Maloney
(did not play the game): |
 France (FRA)
Édouard Bader
(did not play the game): |
none awarded |
Rugby Commissioner and President of the California Rugby Union, Harry Maloney, was Coach and Trainer of the team.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
