USA Club Rugby Regulations.
The purpose of the Regulations is to maintain the integrity of the USA Rugby senior club competition, with members held to playing both to the letter and the spirit of the laws. Many of the policies and guidelines are crafted to offer meaningful rugby opportunities for all members, to provide a level playing field throughout the league and playoff matches with a focus on managing divisional eligibility for players on clubs fielding teams in multiple divisions,, and to preclude clubs from importing guest players, both domestic and/or foreign, for competitive advantage.
USA Club Rugby: Compliance with Eligibility.
All updated information on current year Eligibility Regulations will be maintained on the USA Club Rugby website: https://usaclub.rugby/resources/
Each Approved Governing Body must have full knowledge of the content of these Regulations.
Each Approved Governing Body must comply with these Regulations.
Each Approved Governing Body must educate its members on the Regulations and ensure that its members comply with the Spirit of the Rules.
Registration ‘to the club’ Deadline: by April 1 (fifteens) / by July 1 (sevens).
The deadline is set to fall roughly one month before the start of the USA Club Rugby National Championship Series. This timeline is to ensure players are full members of the club and have had the opportunity to participate in competitive matches/events ahead of the playoffs.
Given that (1) registrations are done online, (2) registrations can be completed within minutes, and (3) the deadlines have remained the same for several seasons, meeting the registration deadline is a basic expectation for all players seeking NCS eligibility.
Player Eligibility: Two Match/Event Participation Requirement for the NCS.
Having a minimum participation standard, applied nationally, ensures players are members of, and have participated with the club prior to the NCS. The uniform standard creates a sense of competitive fairness, and that the players appearing in the NCS are the players who helped the club advance.
The two-match/event requirement further demonstrates a basic level of experience prior to the NCS.
USA Club Rugby has a waiver opportunity for players unable to meet this requirement (Club Regulations: Section 7.5.2.B. Missed Match/Event Participation due to Medical/Personal Hardship).
Club Eligibility: Match Participation (fifteens).
Clubs are required to play at least six NCS Qualifying matches (four for women’s division 2). This may include league and local union playoffs. This minimum is considered the lowest number of matches to confirm both the club’s participation in an established, organized competition, and that players have had the opportunity to play and have a meaningful rugby experience.
Clubs must advance to the playoffs on the basis of competition (not on the basis of allocation).
The club must have participated in a sanctioned USA Club Rugby Competitions which is part of an Approved Governing Body.
USA Club Rugby has a waiver opportunity for clubs unable to meet this requirement (local unions can appeal to the fifteens competition committee citing any unusual or unforeseen circumstances).
In-Season Transfer Restrictions: Senior Club to Senior Club.
USA Club Rugby follows the World Rugby player eligibility guidelines with adjustments for domestic play: players are not permitted to participate with more than one club in NCS Qualifying matches (during the regular-season or local playoffs) or sevens events during the same competitive season.
Once a player has registered with a club and has played in three competitive fifteens matches for that club, they are bound to that club for the rest of that competitive season.
Once a player has registered with a club and has played in one competitive sevens event for that club, they are bound to that club for the rest of that competitive season.
All in-season transfers must be approved prior to the player’s participation in the local playoffs (fifteens), or prior to participating with a different club in competitive sevens events.
USA Club Rugby has waiver opportunities for players who transfer during the competitive season. Players must document that the reason falls within the stated criteria (Regulations: Section 7.5.2.A. In-Season Transfer due to Geographic Relocation for Non-rugby Reasons; and Section 7.5.2 E. In-Season Transfer for Rugby-Related Reasons).
In-Season Transfer Restrictions: Foreign (Non-USA) Rugby Club to USA Rugby Club.
Players may not be registered to more than one National Rugby Union during the same competitive season.
This applies for participants in senior club fifteens and sevens competitions.
To confirm a player’s eligibility to play in USA Rugby competitions, all players, regardless of level of play, gender or whether they even played rugby abroad, who arrive from another country during the current USA Rugby membership cycle (effective September 1st through the completion of the club sevens championships), must have an International Clearance signed/approved by their home club and rugby Union.
This is a World Rugby requirement. See World Rugby regulation 4.6
This includes USA Rugby members returning from playing abroad.
There are no waivers of this requirement; players from overseas must be able to produce their international clearance.
Fifteens: Minimum match roster: 15 players.
World Rugby Law 3.2: Matches may be played with fewer than 15 players on each team only with the approval of the local governing body.
Fifteens: Match Roster limit: 23 players.
World Rugby Law 3.5.: Match rosters may list up to eight replacements (for a total of 23 players).
Sevens: Game Roster limit: 12 players.
World Rugby (Sevens Variation) 3.4: USA Club Rugby uses the World Rugby criteria which allows up to five replacements (for a game roster of 12 players).
Approved Governing Body Playoffs: Player Eligibility.
Players on the participating clubs must be confirmed as eligible, or able to become eligible (with the local union playoff matches) for the NCS. This will ensure that the rosters used in the local playoffs will use the same players in the NCS.
Clubs Fielding Multiple Sides: NCS Qualifying Matches.
Lower division players are encouraged to take advantage of opportunities to play for the upper division team for the experience. However, they may not exceed the limits noted in Regulation 3.5. These roster criteria are intended to maintain the integrity of the lower division competition.
USA Club Rugby has established divisional restrictions for both (a) immediately/during the regular league season, and where limit has not been met, (b) the player in the local and NCS playoffs.
Fifteens: 28-Player NCS Event Roster.
NCS Events have a weekend/event roster limit of 28 players, all of whom must come from the ‘up to 35 player’ roster (noted below).
The 28-player roster structure addresses actual and potential concerns raised by the senior club community:
a. maintains a competitive fairness between clubs: the same limit regardless of the overall number of players on a club.
b. provides sufficient depth and flexibility for a two-match weekend (the fifteen starters plus the club’s choice from thirteen replacement players).
c. offers financial restraints associated with participation in the NCS event.
28-Player Event Roster: Divisional Restriction.
Once the 28 players on the event roster have checked in, they are locked to that division for the remainder of the National Championship Series.
Clubs must set their rosters according to the level of play (using the highest level of competitive players on the club in the upper division roster), not in a strategic manner so as to gain any competitive advantage over lower division opponents.
Further, this maintains a level playing field so that smaller clubs, fielding teams in only one division, which have advanced in the NCS face clubs with essentially the same roster that advanced out of the previous event weekend.
Fifteens: NCS ‘Up to 35-Player’ Roster.
Pre-event roster is used for administrative/eligibility screening purposes. The list may be revised as needed before the start of the Event Weekend (club’s check-in); all players must be approved in advance of the event by the eligibility committee.
The final event roster of 28 players must come from this ‘up to 35-player’ roster.
Sevens: 13-Player Event Roster.
Competitive sevens events have a weekend/event roster limit of 13 players, all of whom must come from the ‘up to 20 player’ roster (noted below).
The 13-player roster structure mirrors the guidelines used in the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Series.
Rolling substitutions will be permitted (up to five replacements per game); .the same players can be substituted multiple times.
Sevens: NCS ‘Up to 20-Player’ Roster.
Pre-event roster is used for administrative/eligibility screening purposes. The list may be revised as needed before the start of the Event Weekend (club’s check-in); all players must be approved in advance of the event by the eligibility committee.
The final event roster of 13 players must come from this ‘up to 20-player’ roster.
Roster Limitations: Non-Residents (fifteens).
USA Club Rugby established roster limitations on non-resident players to promote the development of domestic players, to ensure a competitive balance within the league, and to align with international eligibility rules. The overall goal is to prioritize USA Residents in the senior club game, and to build strong domestic competitions.
Several top tier rugby Unions have eligibility rules that emphasize residency and limit the number of non-residents in their domestic competitions, for both men and women. USA Club Rugby’s guidelines reflect this approach. (Examples: Ireland, Spain, England, Wales, South Africa, British Columbia-Canada).
USA Club Rugby has adopted the World Rugby guidelines for a waiver opportunity (Regulations: Section 7.5.2.G: Residency Exception).
Roster Limitations: Non-US Citizens (sevens).
USA Club Rugby established roster limitations on non-US citizen players to promote the development of domestic players, to ensure a competitive balance within the league, and to align with the US Olympic eligibility requirements. The overall goal is to prioritize USA citizens in the senior club sevens games, and to build a strong domestic competitions.
Roster Limitations: Professional Players.
USA Club Rugby established roster limitations on professional players for competitive fairness reasons. Professional players have demonstrated that they are elite players who were part of a full-time training environment and who were paid to play.
Senior Club Rugby is an amateur adult competition. To ensure an equitable level playing field for all participants, regardless of the club’s proximity to a professional rugby club or access to professional players, the number of professionals on any one club shall be limited.
The roster limits apply to men’s and women’s professional players.
The roster limits on such players are not overly restrictive:
A player is only considered ‘professional’ based on their playing in a professional match during the current and the most recent previous calendar year.
The limit is tiered to reflect what is considered to be an appropriate number for each NCS division.
USA Club Rugby has a waiver opportunity for players seeking an exemption of their professional status (Regulations: 7.5.2.F. Professional Rugby Player Status).
Requirement to use CMS (Competitions Management System).
To ensure equitable eligibility standards for all matches and that minimum eligibility and registration standards have been met, the CMS assists in the verification of the number of qualifying matches each player has played and confirms the player’s participation with only the one club in the NCS pathway.
For every match played, full rosters must be entered, all substitutions recorded for replacement players entering the match, scoring, and any cards issued must be noted in each match record.
All matches must be locked within 48 hours of the end of the match to ensure the accuracy of the data.
Where information (rosters, substitutions) has not been entered, any claims to participation (whether as being on the roster or entering the match as a replacement) made at a later date will not be accepted.
U.S. Military IDs
While U.S. military ID cards are valid forms of personal identification and may be used to confirm a player’s name and identity during book checks, they do not establish immigration residency status as required by USA Club Rugby regulations. These cards are issued to a wide range of individuals affiliated with the Department of Defense, including U.S. citizens, Green Card holders, and foreign nationals (such as liaison officers or exchange personnel), many of whom are not permanent U.S. residents. Because the card itself does not specify immigration status, it cannot be used to satisfy the residency requirement for player eligibility. Additionally, it’s important to clarify that “residency” in this context refers to lawful immigration residency (such as U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status), not the physical location where a player currently lives.
Public Profiles
All player names must be fully displayed on USA Club Rugby rosters to ensure transparency, fairness, and compliance with eligibility rules. Visible names allow union administrators and eligibility officers to verify player registration, appearances, and compliance, while also preventing the use of ineligible or duplicate players. This transparency is critical for roster auditing, handling protests or appeals, and maintaining a consistent standard across all clubs and competitions.
Additionally, complete rosters are required for accurate check-in and match-day management, ensuring that all players on the field are properly accounted for. Hiding or redacting names undermines the integrity of the competition, delays administrative processes, and may violate national and international rugby regulations. For these reasons, all submitted and shared rosters must include the full names of participating players.
For more information or questions not covered email eligibility@usaclub.rugby