Club History
MOB (Maryland Old Boys), as the name suggests, was founded by a number of University of Maryland Alumni in 1972. At that point in time UMD Rugby was flourishing, and MOB started out strong in the Potomac Rugby Union (PRU) Division 1. From ’72 up through the ’80s, the MOB 15s sides were perennial contenders; making the PRU finals multiple times, and traveling the east coast to various opponents and tournaments. At that time the club was looked at as, sort of, the Oakland Raiders of Rugby, and reveled in having numerous outlaws and characters in the sides.
In the early 80s, the club started to field 7s sides and played in the 2 or 3 regional tournaments available at the time. By 1987, MOB started to take 7s seriously and began traveling up and the down the East Coast to tournaments, attempting to earn a bid to the Club 7s National Championships. The MOB 7s side was always comprised of players who also represented MOB in 15s.
While MOB’s 15s sides marched along as strong regional contenders, the 7s side made a breakthrough in 1988 finishing 4th in the Club 7s National Championship. From that point on, the 7s sides compiled an impressive record, earning the Championship’s top spot in 1989, collecting a number of 3rd and 4th place finishes while appearing in the Championship in 1990, 1991, 1992, missing the tourney in 1993 (due to a technical registration foul up), and garnering a 2nd place finish in 1994. The 1994 season being the 1st after the merge with Montgomery/ Old Red, but having 0 players from either of those teams on the side. Still MOB. During those years, the MOB won at least one Championship from each of the annual tournaments they competed in, with the exception of the Bethlehem 7s, and won the Virginia Beach 7s seven years in a row.
In 1993 the MOB merged with Montgomery/Old Red, which was formed by a previous merge, to create the Maryland Exiles. From that point on, the fortunes of the 15s and 7s sides continued on an up swing, with the Exiles 15s reaching the sweet sixteen in 1996,1997, and 2007, and the Club 7s Championship appearances continuing in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, and 20012.
Notable Players
Between the two, MOB and the Maryland Exiles have placed 4 players on the Eagles 15s squad and 11 players on the Eagles 7s. Of special note are Will Brewington, the first MOB Eagle, who captained the USA 7s team in the 1993 World Cup. Brian Gallagher, who played in the 1997 7s World Cup. Inaki Basauri who played in the 2007 and 2011 15s World Cups, then went on to a successful professional career in France. Owen Lentz who appeared in the 2007 World Cup.