About us

The 1970s and 1980s: The Early Years

In order to recap the history of the Vandals we must first discuss the history of rugby in Newfoundland. Rugby began in St. John’s in the early 1970’s with just one rugby club. By 1977 interest had grown enough for four individual clubs to be created, the Swilers, the Dogs, the Pirates and the Castaways, who competed in a local league until 1982. The league in those years was different from what it is today. Generally, there was only one game a week on Saturday and a number of the younger players felt they were not well represented on Match Day.

As a result, a group of young players from the Pirates and Castaways, through the efforts of Michael Green, Bernard Martin and Paul Newhook, met in Beener’s parent’s basemen on Smithville Crescent. This eager group, ranging in age from 16 to 21, formed the Vandals Rugby Football Club in the winter of 1983 and thus embarked on this long, strange trip.

The older players from the Pirates and the Castaways went on to form the Knights of Avalon and under this rearrangement the Swilers, Dogs, Knights and Vandals compete for two seasons until the Knights folded in 1985. In 1992 the Baymen were formed in CBS thus giving the current form of the league as the Swilers, Dogs, Vandals and Baymen. There were brief entries into the league from Memorial University and the Norsemen during the late 80’s and early 90’s, however, neither club could sustain a team and the league is still comprised of four clubs.

A New Decade of Vandalism — The Early 1990’s

During the mid to late eighties many of our club members graduated from post-secondary training and moved on to pursue careers. This natural progression resulted in many club members hanging up their cleats and retiring from rugby permanently. Retirements, coupled with the lack of a consistent junior development program, made it difficult for the Vandals to ensure club survival and sustainability. Mainly, through the efforts of the "original six" who created successful feeder programs in Gonzaga and Holy Heart High Schools, the Vandals managed to survive. Among others, the efforts of Mike Green, Robert Evans, Chris White and Michael Doyle should be applauded. With the hard work of these individuals, a strong junior men’s program helped galvanize the Vandals for the next decade.

With a new group of young loyal members we decided to tour Britain in September of 1991. Our intentions were perhaps too ambitious for our talent and we played six matches in nine days. We played two matches in Penarth, one in Malve in Redruth, and finished the tour in London versus Ealing RFC. Unfortunately, we were unable to win a match during this stretch but performed quite well in Malvern and Redruth. The tour left us all exhausted and sore but with an abundance of great stories and timeless memories.

The End of A Millennium

The 1990's decade was a good time for our club. We competed well in the senior men's league winning the Molson Cup (B division title) three times, and in 1994 the Vandals competed for our first Goodyear cup (A division title), Through the efforts of Phillip Sullivan and Marty Barrona women's team competed for most of the decade and toured Nova Scotia in the summer of 1993. Our junior men's program continued to develop and we were able to contribute players to provincial junior teams on a consistent basis. Several of those players were able to make national age group teams during this period.

In 1998 we were ready to tour again; Phil Goodland and Michael Doyle remembered the exhaustion of the 1991 tour and chose our destination based on the fun factor. In November of 1998 it was off to New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama. We competed well and came up victories against Tulane University and New Orleans RFC. We then travelled to Mobile to compete in their annual Battleship tournament. A first round loss to a club from Pensecola was our only blemish on the tour and we were able to win our remaining games to claim the consolation final. New Orleans provided us with Many great stories and many great friends. Joe Doucette hosted us in French Quarter many a night and, willingly or not, his domicile became the Vandals’ unofficial clubhouse.

The New Millennium

The new millennium brought some great rugby to the island of Newfoundland. The Aliant Atlantic League started in the early 2001 and provided local club teams with the opportunity to compete against those from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The Vandals participated for the first four of years of this league, travelling to the Maritimes and hosting teams from those provinces in return during the yearly fall competition.

In 2002 The Sully Cup was formed, commemorating a fallen Vandal, Chris Sullivan. He known throughout the rugby community and will be missed forever by all. The Vandal: cup in its inaugural year in 2002 and again in 2003.

2008 Marked the 25th Anniversary of the Vandals RFC and what better way to celebrate then a tour to British Columbia. In November the Vandals, both young and old, left for Vancouver to compete in 3 matches that would see us play in Victoria, Comox, and Abbotsford. Unfortunately we didn’t come away with a win but it was a great learning experience for our newest Vandals who had never toured with the club before. This tour marked the coming of age for our newest members and the realization of age for our oldest members. Vancouver marked the end of a long career for Vandals legend and co-founder, Robert Evans. It is with the dedication of Robert and a select few that the Vandals have grown to become a household name in Newfoundland rugby and for this we thank-you.

ln 2010 the Vandals benefited with with the arrival of new coach Shane McClafferty from Dublin. Shane is a young coach with a wealth of experience and helped the club develop its systems. Under Shane's guidance and help from Frank Walsh fresh off National Team duty, the B side brought the Sully Cup back where it belongs in 2010.

Representing The Vandals

The Vandals have had players compete for Newfoundland's senior provincial senior team since the clubs inception. We have also had several of our players complete for national representative teams. Throughout the 2000s, Peter Densmore and Kenny Goodland have earned caps on several occasions by playing with the Canadian National fifteen and seven sides. Additionally, Frank Walsh has earned caps playing for Canada in international tests and was named to the Canadian team for the 2011 World Cup of Rugby in New Zealand.

Recently Newfoundland's entry into the Canadian Rugby Championship (and its predecessor, the Rugby Canada Super League), The Rock, has become a powerhouse. The Rock reached the title game in 5 of the last 7 years of the RCSL, managing to claim victory in 3 of the last 4. The Rock also went undefeated in the 2010 CRC finishing atop the table.

The Vandals have had a number of our players don the maroon jerseys of the Rock and have represented our club very well.

The Next Generations of Vandals

As the celebration of our 25 anniversary came to a close, it became apparent it was time for the Vandals to change our focus from celebrating the past to preparing for the future. Thus, the decision  was  made to put more resources towards recruiting young players. This lead to the rejuvenation of the Vandals Junior Program

By creating a dedicated Junior Program Coordinator position to sit on the Vandals Executive and recruiting a number of senior players to coach, the framework for a strong junior program was laid in the spring of 2009, after recruiting high school players primarily from Gonzaga and Holy Heart, a group of 20 players traveled to Halifax to play the Nova Scotia provincial side in two exhibition matches. The boys fought hard against a more experienced team and, despite losing both games, earned the right to call themselves the next generation of Vandals. 

over the next 3 seasons, the team and the program continued to develop; with players going on to play for the senior men's team, as well as the junior and senior Rock. Some have even turned heads at the National level. In addition, the development of a "Mini" Vandals program is underway. Our crowning achievement, however, is winning the 2011 Tom Jacobs Provincial Championship. Ironically, the significance of such a win is probably not entirely understood by the young men that fought so hard for the victory. This is not just a championship, but a message to the Newfoundland rugby community, "The Vandals are here and we're stronger than ever'.