News

Featured image photo credit: CH Photography and Art RALEIGH, NC – The Clayton Bootleggers opened up their Summer 7s season account this past weekend as they made the short trip to play in the Raleigh RFC Moonshine 7s. The squad were not only showing off a new set of 7s kit, but also a new...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Clayton Rugby Football Club officially closed out their 2018/2019 XVs season with the club’s Annual End of Season Banquet. Hosted by Deep River Brewing Company, the banquet was a celebration of another great year of rugby and fellowship. The banquet brought together members, both old and new, as well as sponsors...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The CottonTown 7s is back and registration for the tournament has officially opened. The tournament, entering it’s 4th year of operation, has become one of the most well attended tournaments in the region with almost 30 teams participating each of the last two years. The day long event, hosted at East Clayton...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – After a sobering loss to Triad on February 16th, the Clayton RFC 1st XV had their backs against a wall. After a strong start to their season, they were faced with a tough road to reaching the Carolinas D3 playoffs for the second consecutive season. To complicate things, during their nearly month-long...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Clayton Rugby Football Club returns to play in just a little over a weeks time. With that, the club enters into one of the most important stretches in club history. Both the Clayton 1st XV and 2nd XV enjoyed success during the 1st half of the season, but it’s the second...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Clayton Rugby Football Club has announced the date for their 5th Annual General Meeting of Membership. The annual event is the only time that the club meets as a group to discuss club business, review the previous calendar year, and look at goals for the upcoming year. The AGM also serves...Read More

The Bootleggers finished the Fall portion of the 2018/2019 season on a high note with both the club’s 1st and 2nd XVs picking up wins in their final divisional matches of the year. The victories send both sides into the holiday break bullish about the second half of the season. On November 17th, the Clayton...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – On a gorgeous fall afternoon, the Clayton Rugby Football Club hosted their final home double header of 2018. Fans on hand at East Clayton Community Park were treated to not one, but two exciting games as both matches went down to the wire. In the opener, the Bootleggers 1st team faced off...Read More

FORT BRAGG, North Carolina – The Clayton Bootleggers opened up their Carolinas D3 season in style with a 87-24 victory over Fort Bragg. It was a dominating effort from start to finish for the Bootleggers’ 1st team against a Bragg side that was stronger than the scoreboard reflected. Clayton ran in a total of 15 tries...Read More

CLAYTON, North Carolina – The Clayton Rugby Football has released their 2018/2019 Men’s 1st XV and Men’s 2nd XV schedules with play kicking off later in September. The Bootleggers face a tough schedule this coming season as they take on the challenge of fielding teams in two separate divisions (D3 and D4). The club is...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – It’s been a busy summer for the Clayton Rugby Football Club. Coming off of their first playoff appearance in club history, the club jumped into a busy summer that included the ongoing development of the Johnston County Rugby Park, the CottonTown 7s Rugby Festival, and taking over hosting of the Blackbeard Beach...Read More

CLAYTON, North Carolina – This past Saturday, the Clayton Rugby Football Club hosted their 3rd Annual CottonTown 7s Rugby Festival. The tournament, which is one of the largest in the Carolinas, took place at East Clayton Community Park. This year’s event drew 29 teams to Clayton for a fun-filled day of rugby and community. An...Read More

The 2017/2018 campaign was a banner year for the Clayton RFC as the 1st XV reached the D3 playoffs in only their second season at that level. The club’s 2nd XV also played a record number of matches and posted a winning record for the first time in club history. Here are the club’s 1st...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The end of the Clayton Rugby Football Club’s XVs season brings with it a resting period for many of the Bootleggers. The players moving onto the summer 7s tournament circuit get little rest as they return to practice next week to prepare for the 7s season. For the members of the Clayton...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – It’s been a short history filled with new highs each year, but this past weekend was something special. For the first time in club history, the Clayton Rugby Football Club have made it to the playoffs. A win by Fort Bragg over Hilton Head coupled with the Bootlegger’s emphatic win over Camp...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – On a gorgeous Carolina Winter afternoon, fans were treated to not one, but two great matches at East Clayton Community Park. All four teams, in play, made the most of the excellent conditions and produced two exhilarating matches. The opener was a heated battle between the 1st and 2nd place teams in...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – Adding to their growing list of rugby events, the Clayton Rugby Football Club is excited to announce that they have been named as hosts for the 2018 National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) Mid-Atlantic South Region Championship match. Set to take place on Sunday April 8th, 2018 at the Clayton RFC’s current...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Clayton Rugby Football Club has announced the date for their 4th Annual General Meeting of Membership. The annual event is the only time that the club meets as a group to discuss club business, review the previous calendar year, and look at goals for the upcoming year. The AGM also serves...Read More

CAMP LEJEUNE, NC – On a sunny Fall afternoon on base at Camp Lejeune, the Clayton Bootleggers battled to a hard fought victory over the Camp Lejeune Misfits. The win capped off a strong Fall season for the Bootleggers as they finish with wins in four of their final five matches. The home side didn’t...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – It was a busy day of rugby action in Clayton this past Saturday as the Clayton Rugby Football Club hosted a triple-header of rugby games at East Clayton Community Park. For the Bootleggers, it was their final home match of 2017, so the squads aimed to finish off on a high note...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – On a steamy late-September afternoon, the Clayton Bootleggers finished off their pre-season warm up schedule with a victory over the New Bern River Raiders in a friendly match at East Clayton Community Park. The five 20-minute periods allowed both clubs to tinker with their lineups. It also allowed Bootleggers’ Head Coach Rich...Read More

SOUTHERN PINES, NC – The Bootleggers opened up their 2017/2018 season this past weekend at the Carolinas Kickoff Classic. The men dropped both of their matches, but showed a lot of heart having traveled light to the tournament. The club also took an inexperienced side to Southern Pines with a number of brand new players getting...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – After negotiations over the past month, the Clayton Rugby Football Club is proud to announce that they have come to an agreement on a long term deal with World Rugby Shop that expands upon the current partnership between the two organizations. The Clayton RFC first partnered with World Rugby Shop in 2015...Read More

For immediate release CLAYTON, North Carolina – The Clayton Rugby Football Club is proud to announce that they have entered into a formal partnership agreement with East Carolina University Rugby Club. The partnership agreement is the culmination of a relationship that has progressed over the past few years. The partnership provides a platform for the...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Clayton Rugby Football Club has set the schedule for the 2nd Annual CottonTown 7s Rugby Festival. During the course of the tournament,  30 participating teams playing in four separate divisions will play almost 60 games spread out over three fields at East Clayton Community Park. The family friendly event starts at...Read More

For immediate release CLAYTON, NC – The excitement is building as there’s just one week until the 2nd Annual CottonTown 7s kicks off. After pulling in 18 teams to the event in it’s inaugural year, expectations were high going into 2017. Hosted at East Clayton Community Park, this year’s rendition is poised to raise the...Read More

RALEIGH, NC – On Saturday night, the Bootlegger’s 7s squad made the short trip to Raleigh to take part in the Moonshine 7s hosted by the Raleigh RFC. Last season, the men from Clayton won the Bowl competition at the tournament. After a confident start to their 7s season, the Bootleggers looked to improve on...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – This past weekend, the Clayton Rugby Football Club hosted their annual End of Season Banquet and Awards Presentation for their members, families, and fans. As part of the festivities, the club presented a number of awards to players, coaches, and admin staff for their performances during the 2016/2017 playing season. The Clayton...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – In an effort to introduce the sport of rugby to new audiences and players, the Clayton Rugby Football Club is sponsoring weekly “Try Rugby” sessions throughout the Summer. The sessions, lasting about an hour each, are being held every Wednesday night in June and July at East Clayton Community Park. Women, men,...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Summer 7s season is just around the corner and with that comes the launch of the Carolinas Geographic Rugby Union 7s Qualifying Series. The Carolinas 7s Series consists of five host tournaments to decide which Men’s and Women’s teams move onto to the South 7s Championships and continue their path to...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Clayton Rugby Football Club is excited to announce that the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott has signed on as the official hotel partner of the 2nd Annual CottonTown 7s Rugby Festival. The tournament, played at East Clayton Community Park, is scheduled for Saturday July 15th. After a great first year,...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – In an effort to bridge a much needed gap in the playing continuum, the Clayton Rugby Football Club is pleased to announce that they are adding a U20 program to their club structure for the 2017/2018 playing season. The U20 side joins the club’s current list of Men’s teams that includes a...Read More

This past weekend, the Clayton Bootleggers made their second consecutive trip to compete in the Annual Savannah St. Patrick’s Day Tournament. Widely regarded as one of the top rugby events on the American rugby calendar, the Savannah tournament is a two day event that brings together over 80 teams from around the United States. The...Read More

Clayton, NC – The Clayton Rugby Football Club is excited to announce that they have added MATI Energy as their newest partner. Founded in 2012, in a Duke University dorm room, MATI Energy is a healthy alternative in the energy drink market. MATI Energy currently has six flavors of all-natural energy drinks made with tea,...Read More

I hope that everyone enjoyed our Day 1 travel log, without further ado, here is Day 2. Day 2 Slammed from our 30 hour stretch without sleep, our entire party slept like rocks Thursday night and nearly missed our morning train to Edinburgh on Friday. Fortunately, we recovered and swept out of our hotel in...Read More

As opposed to our standard news releases, we have decided to make the account of our travels to Scotland less formal. I promise that we had every intention of releasing these at the end of each day during our trip. Honestly. However, the tight schedule, travel and lack of sleep quickly caught up with us. What...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – This past Saturday, the Clayton Bootleggers played host to Southern Pines in a pre-season friendly. With Clayton’s first Carolinas D3 North Division match of 2017 just a couple weeks away, the tilt against Southern Pines was one more chance to get in some much needed work. The brisk, but sunny February afternoon provided the...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – As part of plans to expand the roles within the club’s operational structure, the Clayton Rugby Football Club is proud to announce that active Bootlegger, Walter Webster, has been named as the Club’s Player Welfare Representative for 2017. Webster, whom joined the Clayton RFC in 2015, is a lawyer by trade and was...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Clayton Rugby Football Club is excited to announce that Sheetz has signed on as a sponsor of the Clayton RFC. Unlike previous sponsors, that were focused specifically on the Bootleggers Men’s sides, the sponsorship from Sheetz is being directed into delivering rugby programming to youth in under served areas of Johnston...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – Rugby has grown exponentially in Johnston County since the sport was introduced to the area in 2012. With hundreds of players from ages 6-50 playing rugby in Clayton and Johnston County, the evidence is tangible, but it is work that is never complete. In an effort to continue to spread the game...Read More

CAMP LEJEUNE, NC – The Clayton Bootleggers closed out their Fall season on the road against Camp Lejeune on Saturday. Expecting a tough match, the Bootleggers did little to help their efforts as they travelled light to take on a Misfit’s side that had hung in strong against both Chapel Hill and Cape Fear, two...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – Last week, the Town of Wilson’s Mills Council voted unanimously to approve an agreement with the Clayton Rugby Football Club. The agreement will see the Clayton RFC work with the town to develop rugby fields at the town’s new athletic park complex located on Powhatan Road.  The Club’s Board of Directors sealed...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – On a hot and sunny Carolina afternoon, the Clayton RFC was put to the test this past Saturday. The club played host to two teams at East Clayton Community Park with the Bootleggers D3 side taking on Cape Fear and the club’s D4 squad taking on a combined Camp Lejeune/New Bern side...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – On a hot and sunny early September afternoon, the Clayton Bootleggers opened up their first season in Division 3 in style with a convincing 48-10 win over Fort Bragg. The Bootleggers used a seven-try barrage to take home their first official D3 victory in club history. The scoreline didn’t properly reflect the...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Clayton Rugby Football Club is pleased to announce that registration is open for the 2nd Annual Bootlegger 10s Tournament. The club plans to expand the tournament this year with the hope of adding a Women’s Division to their Men’s Division. If there is enough interest, an Old Boys Division is also...Read More

ATLANTIC BEACH, NC – This past Saturday, the Clayton Bootleggers made their annual trip east to Atlantic Beach for the Blackbeard 7s Beach Rugby Championship. The team battled the heat, scorching sand, and their opponents in a fun filled day of beach rugby. For their efforts, the men returned home with the championship trophy for...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – This past weekend, the Clayton Rugby Football Club hosted the 1st Annual CottonTown 7s Rugby Festival. The tournament brought in 18 teams in three different divisions. The tournament was an entertaining event that kept fans on the edge of their seats. The High School and Men’s Club Divisions were hotly contested with...Read More

CLAYTON, NC (June 8th, 2016) – The Clayton Rugby Football Club is proud to announce that they are hosting a player development camp for all men’s and women’s players in the Carolinas Geographic Rugby Union. The camp is a joint venture between Clayton Rugby, the Carolinas Geographic Union, and the Glendale Raptors. The camp is...Read More

RALEIGH, NC – Last night the Clayton Bootleggers opened up their 2016 Summer 7s season with a strong showing as they went 3-1 at the 2nd Annual Moonshine 7s hosted by the Raleigh Rugby Football Club. Clayton took a deep squad to the tournament with a mix of experienced 7s players and Bootlegger Rookies. The...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Clayton Bootleggers finished off their Spring season this past weekend on a very high note. The club organized a full day of rugby that included youth, women, men, and Old Boy matches hosted at East Clayton Community Park. The youth matches were a warm up for the Clayton Copperheads as they...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – This past week at the Club’s Monthly Board of Director’s Meeting, the Clayton Rugby leadership group voted unanimously to enter the Bootleggers 1st XV into Division III for the 2016/2017 competitive cycle. The move to D3 is on the back of another strong recruiting year for the Club. After barely having enough...Read More

CHARLOTTE, NC – This past weekend the Clayton Bootleggers traveled West to take on the Charlotte Barbarians in a Spring friendly at the Rugby Athletic Center. Coming off of playing at the Savannah St. Patrick’s Day Tournament, the Bootleggers made the trip light on numbers, but determined to give the Barbarians a tough match. The...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Clayton Rugby Football Club is proud to announce that Simon Potter has been named Club Captain for 2016. Potter, a native of Ireland, has been with the Club from the very start. He was one of the few players to attend the very first Bootleggers training session in April of 2014....Read More

CLAYTON, NC – This past Saturday, the Clayton Bootleggers split a double header with Duke Grads in front of fans at East Clayton Community Park. The rugby day festivities kicked off with the Clayton Copperheads High School JV side hosting Wilmington. The next match on tap was the Clayton 1st XV as they took on...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Clayton Bootleggers are proud to announce that they have partnered with Ruck Science to provide fitness and recovery supplements to the Club. Launched in 2015, Ruck Science is a Texas based fitness and lifestyle company that caters to rugby players. Founder Tim Howard plays for the Austin Blacks and understands the demands...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Clayton Rugby Football Club has released their Spring 2016 schedule with an exciting mix of tournaments and matches set to take place this season. The Bootleggers open up their season at the President’s Day Tournament hosted by Camp Lejeune and finish the Spring with the Clayton Old Boys taking on the...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Clayton Rugby Football Club closed out their Fall XVs season with two wins and two losses in their final four matches. The club finished the Fall season with a 3-4 record and they were 2-3 in their first season in Division IV. All four of the club’s losses in the Fall...Read More

CHARLOTTE, NC – On a rainy Fall afternoon in Charlotte, the Clayton Bootleggers battled through rain and mud to come away with a 90-0 lopsided win over the Charlotte Royals. The match was the first meeting in 15s between the two sides after meeting twice previously at 7s tournaments. The Bootleggers hit the ground running...Read More

SOUTHERN PINES, NC – The Clayton Bootleggers struggled in their D4 season opening loss on the road to Southern Pines D4. The two squads came out of the gate playing physical rugby and appeared to be fairly evenly matched early on in the contest. As the first half progress, Southern Pines began to find space out...Read More

ATLANTIC BEACH, NC – Last weekend, the Clayton Rugby Football Club sent two teams to participate in the annual Blackbeard 7s Beach Tournament. The club came away with the tournament championship, which served as the club’s first title in their short existence. The Bootleggers A-side defeated Camp Lejeune 29-0 in the title match in a...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Clayton Rugby Football Club is excited to announce their Fall 2015 schedule. The club’s schedule includes six scheduled matches against other clubs, at least two B-Side matches, an inter-squad scrimmage, and an Old Boys Game. The club’s Fall schedule culminates in the 1st Annual Bootlegger 10s Tournament. The major change in...Read More

CHAPEL HILL, NC – This past weekend, the Clayton Bootleggers made the trip to Chapel Hill to play at the King of the Hill 7s, hosted by the Chapel Hill Warriors. The tournament, an eight-team event, was in its second year of play and has turned into a very competitive tournament. The Bootleggers learned how...Read More

MATTHEWS, NC – This past weekend the Clayton Bootleggers 7s team played their second tournament of the Summer as they travelled to play in the Queen City 7s. After the disappointment of having the local State Games cancelled, the Bootleggers were excited to get back on the pitch. With an extra week of preparation for...Read More

The Clayton Rugby Football Club received notification this weekend that the rugby tournament, to be held at the State Games of North Carolina, is cancelled. Citing poor registration numbers, the tournament organizers vow to have the tournament back in 2016. The Clayton Bootleggers made their 7s debut at the 2014 State Games and were looking forward to challenging for...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – This coming Saturday, May 30th, 2015 the Clayton Rugby Football Club in conjunction with the Johnston County Rugby Foundation are hosting a Rummage Sale Fundraiser to help raise money for area rugby teams, both youth and men. The fundraiser is being held in the parking lot of Clayton Chiropractic, in downtown Clayton....Read More

While the club is in between seasons as they prepare for the start of the Summer tournament season, the Clayton Bootleggers have used the free time to get out and support a community cause. This past Saturday a group of Clayton Rugby Football Club members participated in the annual Heart Chase Clayton to raise money...Read More

Each month, the Clayton Bootleggers shine a light on one of their players. Brought to you by Clayton Chiropractic, the club’s Spotlight Player of the Month for April of 2015 is John Williams. Name: John Wililams Age: 30 Hometown: Asheville, NC Currently Resides:Raleigh, NC Height 5’8″ Weight 275 Position(s) Prop Years Playing Rugby: 1 2014 Stats: John...Read More

HAVELOCK, NC – On Saturday, the Clayton Bootleggers travelled east to take on Cherry Point. Travelling strong, the Bootleggers hoped to bring home a victory, but expected a hard-fought match against a side that is becoming a nice friendly rivalry with the men from Clayton. In a hard hitting affair, the two sides traded leads and big...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The Johnston County Rugby Foundation (JCRF), in conjunction with the Clayton Rugby Football Club and Clayton Copperheads Youth Rugby, is proud to offer area fans the opportunity to purchase tickets to the upcoming NACRA Olympic Rugby Qualification Tournament that is being held at the Wake Med Soccer Park in Cary on June...Read More

RALEIGH, NC – This past Saturday, the Clayton Bootleggers travelled to Raleigh to take on the Tobacco Road Legends, a side made up of Old Boys from the Raleigh Rugby Club. The two sides met in the Fall for an exciting match and much of the same was expected as the two sides came into the match...Read More

CLAYTON, NC – The growth of rugby in the Clayton area has been rapid and exciting to say the least. A sport that was largely unknown in the area just three years ago now has almost 200 active players from ages 6-55. With teams in every age group from youth to adult, the time has...Read More

After going without a designated coach during their first full year of existence, one of the Clayton Rugby Football Club’s top priorities for 2015 was to appoint a Head Coach to help guide the development of the club’s teams. With a fast-growing playing base, it was an absolute necessity for the club. After a few...Read More

The Clayton Chiropractic Spotlight Player of the Month for February is Jon Ryan. The Clayton Bootleggers would like to thank Clayton Chiropractic and Dr. Karel Lloyd for their continued support of our club both on and off the field. Name: Jon Ryan Age: 31 Hometown: Sterling, VA Currently Resides: Winterville, NC Height: 5’11” Weight: 210 Position: Flanker/Inside...Read More

The Clayton Rugby Football Club is excited to announce their Spring 2015 Schedule. The schedule should prove to be a test of the club’s development as an increase in playing numbers led the club to add a couple more fixtures than originally planned. The schedule includes a few familiar opponents for the Bootleggers along with first-time matches against...Read More

Throughout 2015, Clayton Rugby and Clayton Chiropractic will be sharing a Spotlight Player each month. The Spotlight Player series is an opportunity to share a little bit more about the many players and supporters that are involved with Clayton Rugby. The January Clayton Chiropractic Spotlight Player is Blake Cowan. Name: Blake Cowan Age: 31 years old...Read More

Clayton Rugby Football Club Notice of Annual General Meeting December 18th, 2014 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the 1st Annual General Meeting of the Clayton Rugby Football Club will be held at Woodall’s Fitness on Saturday January 31st, 2015 at 12:00 noon. Location: Woodall’s Fitness, 107 Best Wood Drive, Clayton, NC 27520 Time: 12:00pm (Noon)...Read More

The sport of rugby continues to blossom in the small community of Clayton, NC. After starting with just ten kids a few years ago, the Clayton Copperheads Youth Rugby program is launching the first-ever High School Rugby team in Johnston County. The addition of the High School team now gives the Copperheads a complete sweep...Read More

The sport of rugby continues to blossom in the small community of Clayton, NC. After starting with just ten kids a few years ago, the Clayton Copperheads Youth Rugby program is launching the first-ever High School Rugby team in Johnston County. The addition of the High School team now gives the Copperheads a complete sweep...Read More

The Clayton RFC, in conjunction with Deep River Brewery, hosted a BBQ Plate fundraiser this past Sunday to benefit the Clayton Copperheads Youth Rugby Club as well as the Clayton RFC Men’s teams. Clayton’s resident club chef’s Philip “Paddy O” Davies and JG Van Graan put out a full menu of Southern favorites. The club...Read More

It was a tale of two halves as the Clayton RFC went 1-3 at the King of the Hill 7s hosted by the Chapel Hill Warriors. During the first half of each game, the Bootleggers battled against even the toughest opposition in the tournament and looked every bit of a competitive 7s team. However, the...Read More

If you are interested in attending the fundraiser, please contact us at claytonrfc@gmail.com or contact a player or coach to purchase tickets. Thank you for your support!          Read More