Civil Service Rugby Club is a rugby union club based in London, England.
The club plays in National League 3 London & SE.
Originally a part of Civil Service F.C., a combined association football and rugby union club, the rugby club is now a distinct entity and appears to have been so since the late nineteenth century. At what point the Civil Service Rugby Club became a distinct entity from the Football Club (Association football) is unclear. Certainly, the histories published by the official Football and Rugby clubs respectively do not refer to a joint history past even 1863. However, the club was still a unified entity when it became a founding member of the Rugby Football Union in 1871, although notably it did not provide a member to the inaugural committee. However, in 1892 contemporary sources refer to Clapham Rovers F.C. as being unique in the respect that it played both codes, suggesting that the Civil Service had distinct teams by that point.
Civil Service Rugby club also has a separate entity based at the Maynard Sinclair Pavilion based in Belfast next to the Stormont Estate.
The Civil Service (NI) Rugby Football Club was formed in the autumn of 1922 by staff of the of the newly establish Northern Ireland Civil Service.
After some years of success playing at a junior level, the club was given senior status by the Ulster Branch in the 1928/29 season and celebrated by winning the senior league at its first attempt. Up until World War II, Civil Service teams enjoyed high placings in the league tables but struggled to convert good performances into trophies.
Playing performances however improved steadily throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Service junior teams won league and cup competitions and the 1st XV won the Ulster Senior League in 1969-70. They also enjoyed something of a tradition in sevens winning a number of the premier competitions in Ulster at that time.
In more recent times Civil Service has competed at more modest levels as it no longer has senior status. However, the Club also enjoyed successes in league and cup competitions in the 1990s. The 1st XV won the McCrea Cup in 1998, followed by triumphs in Qualifying League 3 and the North Down Cup. The recent addition of mini and Junior rugby sections which have flourished has been a major boost to the club. Welsh flanker Bryn Sturgeon has helped bring in a raft of new players and this has led to a resurgence in the last few years and in 2012 the 2nd XV got promotion to the Junior rugby section of Ulster rugby. The first Wolfhound cup win in 14 years has come and under new Club captain Michael Murray the club is starting to move back towards its rightful place as a force in Ulster rugby
The Club has a long and proud tradition of producing players, referees and officials who gained international and representative recognition. Several players were capped by Ulster and Ireland, while others who passed through the ranks of Service teams achieved similar honours, including British Lions status. In total, the Club has provided 4 Presidents of the Ulster Branch and others who served on various committees.
The Clubs most distinguished son was perhaps Dudley Higgins, an accomplished full back, who gained caps during the 1948 Five Nations Championship, and indoing so became one of the elite band of players who have won a Grand Slam for ireland. Dudley went on to become President of the Ulster Branch in 1960/61 and of the IRFU in 1976-77.