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ST. JOSEPH, Minn. \u2013 The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John\u2019s University announced the hiring of Minnesota native and former U.S. National Team standout Nate Augspurger as the new Director of Rugby on Thursday, Jan. 15.<\/p>\n
Augspurger will serve as the head coach of the Saint John\u2019s rugby team, while overseeing operations and development for the Saint Benedict rugby program. He will provide leadership for all aspects of CSB+SJU rugby, including coaching, recruiting, player development, alumni relations and overall program growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a truly special opportunity I have been appointed to,\u201d said Augspurger. \u201cI have always said that the best fit for me as a coach is where my Christian values and rugby overlap. CSB and SJU has put me in an advantageous position to succeed, and I look forward to leading these rugby programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Augspurger brings more than a decade of elite playing experience at the professional and international levels to CSB and SJU. A 2012 graduate of the University of Minnesota, he was a member of the Golden Gophers\u2019 rugby program before a distinguished playing career with USA Rugby and Major League Rugby.<\/p>\n
From 2012-25, Augspurger earned 51 caps (international games played) with the USA Men\u2019s XVs National Team, competing in the 2019 Rugby World Cup, and represented the United States on the World Rugby Sevens Series, including serving as a traveling reserve for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n
At the professional level, Augspurger spent seven seasons in Major League Rugby, including six years with the San Diego Legion (2018-23), then most recently with the Chicago Hounds (2024-25). He also served as a youth coach and community ambassador for the local rugby communities in San Diego and Chicago.<\/p>\n
Augspurger began coaching in 2015 as an Olympic Development Program Skills Coach with Play Rugby USA. He also served as a coach and recruiter for the Rhinos Rugby Academy, a high-performance program based in California that focuses on creating pathways for young athletes to collegiate, professional and international rugby. He is also a certified functional strength coach and spent time as a personal trainer while competing in Chicago.<\/p>\n
\u201cBuilding and growing our club sports is central to the pieces of our strategic plan that center on the student experience at College of Saint Benedict and Saint John\u2019s University,\u201d CSB and SJU Chief Operating Officer Kara Kolomitz said. \u201cWe know that our students thrive when they participate in leadership and community activities, and rugby is a perfect example of this. We\u2019re excited that Nate is going to lead this effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
Augspurger will direct a rugby program with a rich history at both St. Ben\u2019s and Saint John\u2019s, with more than 107 combined years of competition and numerous championships.<\/p>\n
Dating back to 1967, the SJU rugby team has won two national championships (2013 and 2014) with five Final Four appearances. Saint John\u2019s earned regional championships in 2012, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2021.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are thrilled to welcome Nate Augspurger as our Director of Rugby and head coach,\u201d said Saint John\u2019s Director of Athletics Dan O\u2019Brien said. \u201cNate brings an exceptional professional and international rugby background to our programs. His passion and communication skills will be an incredible asset in recruiting student-athletes to Saint John\u2019s University. I can\u2019t wait to see how our program develops.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Johnnies currently compete in the Northern Lights League in Division III of the Small College Division and tied for first with a 3-1 league record this fall. SJU earned a spot in the national tournament after defeating St. Thomas in the league\u2019s title game. The Johnnies fell to Xavier (Ohio) 29-12 in the Midwest Regional play-in game.<\/p>\n
CSB rugby was established in 1978 and competes in the DIII Northern Lights Women\u2019s League. The Bennies won the DIII Minnesota State Championship in 2009 and finished as the state runner-up in 2011. CSB also advanced to the nationals\u2019 \u201cSweet 16\u201d that season. They qualified for nationals for the first time in program history in spring of 1996, competing as the only club team among a varsity field.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the success of U.S.A. women\u2019s rugby in the last Olympics, it\u2019s an exciting time for the growth of the women\u2019s game in the country,\u201d said Saint Benedict Athletic Director Kelly Anderson Diercks. \u201cSt. Ben\u2019s has had an active club rugby program for decades. With a dynamic leader like Nate Augspurger, we are excited to see this program grow enrollment and athletic success for the College of Saint Benedict.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saint Ben\u2019s went 5-6-1 this fall and 3-3 in the Women\u2019s Collegiate Recreational 7s conference. The Bennies fell to eventual champion Minnesota State-Mankato in the Minnesota Collegiate State Tournament in October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. JOSEPH, Minn. \u2013 The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John\u2019s University announced the hiring of Minnesota…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-415222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}