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The Highlanders, who won the DII national championship in 2008, found the going in the top tier just a bit of a stretch.
“We were pleased with them winning two games in their opening season and had hopes for the future. The league - teams and administrators - tried to convince them to stay and were disappointed to see them leave,” Mid-Atlantic vice president and league director Eric Pittelkau told ARN.
Rutgers approached the Mid-Atlantic about joining the Premier League and given their location just an hour north of Philadelphia, they were a possibility in terms of geography.
Rutgers also wanted more competition than they were getting in the Met New York DI competition.
Rutgers is a large state school, it has a rugby squad of more than 70 players, it has a dedicated and lighted turf rugby field, and it gets some school funding with a view to working towards more alumni funding.
”Rutgers is at the north end of our region, whereas Radford was at the southern end,” continued Pittelkau. “All in all, teams are probably closer to each other on average with Rutgers, so we don't anticipate extra travel costs.
”While Rutgers isn't yet (to be fair) on par with our league's best teams, we think they will be moderately competitive and could win a couple of games next season.
“They realize it might take a season or two to get used to the level of play (though they were somewhat competitive with the top of the Northeast Rugby Union last year when they finished third in the playoffs).
“Virginia Tech was 0-7 their first year and this year were the 4th ranked team. While Virginia and Maryland have yet to play as well as the top teams, they have put together a few games over the last two seasons that were gems.”
Pittelkau adds that at least half of the Mid-Atlantic teams are highly regarded, but the standard of play isn't the only consideration for the league.
He says it's also about good facilities and fields, strong clubs in terms of numbers and dedication and organization, exciting rugby games, better refereeing, and building a spectator base.
Rutgers has also just broken back into the Down Under Endeavours Top 25.
