The Villanova Rugby Club was founded in November of 1959 by Frances Coghlan, a professor at the university. The first team was comprised mainly of his students that he “enticed” to come to practice. With little support from the University, Coghlan pushed ahead and founded what was then the Main Line Rugby Club. The program gained momentum in the spring of 1960 as forty players filled the roster. The club faced mostly Ivy League teams in the Eastern Rugby Union. Their competition had the advantage of South Africans, New Zealanders, Brits, and other Europeans with rugby experience. Coughlan’s team, however, consisted of all but one American.

The club struggled to find victories early in the Fall 1960 but a Thanksgiving tournament in New York City saw the team finish 4th out of 25 of the best clubs in the nation. The tournament could be pinpointed as the launching point of the success the club would have for years to come under Coghlan’s leadership.