Rugby union at the 1924 Summer Olympics
| Men's rugby union at the Games of the VIII Olympiad
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| Venue | Stade Olympique | |||||||||
| Dates | 4 May–18 May | |||||||||
| Competitors | 54 from 3 nations | |||||||||
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United States | |
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France | |
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Romania |
At the 1924 Summer Olympics held in Paris, United States beat the other two competitors in the rugby union tournament, winning the gold medal.
In September 1923, the U.S. Olympic Committee once again agreed to send an American rugby team to the 1924 Paris Olympics to defend their title. The French Olympic Committee (FOC) had scheduled the rugby event to kick off the 1924 Paris Games, and Romania and the USA were to provide only token opposition for the European Champions, France the team was picked to win the gold medal in grand style.
A Stanford All-American halfback, Norman Cleaveland who was one of the first athletes to respond to the call putout through the press in the Fall of 1923, he said "They were looking for a punching bag ... We were told to go to Paris and take our beatings like gentlemen". Nevertheless, seven players of the 1920 team together with a host of large American football players making up a 22-man squad, raised $20,000 and headed for England to prepare where they were beaten four times in practice sessions. The coach Charles Austin was relying on his team's size, speed, stamina, and raw athletic ability to compensate for its technical deficiencies.
The USA Olympic rugby team arrived in Paris, via England on 27 April 1924, after a 6,000 mile journey by train, bus, ship, and ferry from Oakland, California. The young American athletes expected to be welcomed to France with kisses on both cheeks, they were unpleasantly surprised. The team was the target of hostility even before the players set foot on French soil. French journalists branded them "streetfighters and saloon brawlers" after a brouhaha in the port of Boulogne where immigration officials mistakenly refused the team entry, and the players – many of whom had been seasick during the turbulent crossing – forced their way off the ship onto dry land.
The American rugby players' reputation only deteriorated. When Paris authorities cancelled previously arranged games against local club teams and restricted American workouts to a patch of scrub land next to their hotel, the players responded by marching down to Colombes Stadium, scaling the fence, and going through their paces on the hallowed turf.
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