USA Rugby Archives

Irish Rugby Tours are delighted to announce Paul Emerick as our USA Rugby Ambassador. Paul is a true professional in every aspect and we are over the moon to have him as part of our Team here at Irish Rugby Tours.

Paul was born in Emmetsburg, Iowa and played his university rugby with the University of Northern Iowa Panthers. He then moved into senior rugby with the Chicago Lions.

He moved to Italian rugby in the 2004–05 season joining Amatori Catania and then to Overmach Parma the following season. In the summer of 2006 Emerick completed a move to Celtic League side Newport Gwent Dragons, the side he helped knock out of theHeineken Cup in a playoff a few months earlier with Overmach Parma.

In 2008 he re-joined Italian club Overmach Parma from Welsh regional side Newport Gwent Dragons. Overmach Parma had gone through a re-organisation that saw the club merge with Noceto in August 2010 to form Crusaders Rugby Parma.

In September 2010 he joined Ulster Rugby on a 3 month contract. He signed a deal with London Wasps in February 2012. On August 7, 2013 Paul announced his retirement from professional rugby.

Paul was first capped by the USA Eagles in April 2003 against Spain and as of September 2011 and has been capped 45 times scoring 15 tries (75 points).

As of June 19, 2012 he had notched 14 career tries for the United States, ranking him second on the all-time list and first among active players.

North Bay Rugby Growth Continues with help from Irish and Lion Rugby Legend – Ollie Campbell.

North Bay Rugby Club has made major moves since their play-off loss in April 2012. Through cultivating relationships with local colleges, the team has added 9 new recruits, 5 of which came from their own U19 programs. With the help of their newly added talent, North Bay completed an undefeated 2012 fall season, going 10-0, with an average point differential of 50. As a result of North Bay’s extremely successful season in the fall, they have committed to move up from division 3 to MARFU’s highly competitive division 2 for Fall 2013 season. North Bay also made changes off the field as well, holding their first annual “Hall of Fame Bull Roast” inducting club founder Marty Maurice, Bill Tarello, a long-time supporter who passed away in 2009, and Ellen Hickey, creator of the North Bay youth leagues, into this new honour.

While on tour in Ireland in April 2010, members of the current North Bay team met legendary Irish Flyhalf Ollie Campbell Campbell, who happened to be a long-time family friend of Brian and Ellen Hickey, ran a special training session for the team and ended it with a motivating speech about life and rugby. The team was so inspired, they invited Ollie to become the Honorary Club President which Mr. Campbell accepted on March 26, 2013.

North Bay is thrilled to have this rugby legend associated with their team for many reasons, but especially for the depth of rugby knowledge and experience he holds. Mr. Campbell won a total of 22 caps for Ireland from 1976-1984, scoring 217 test points, including an Irish record 60 points on the tour of Australia in 1979. Campbell was also capped seven times for the British and Irish Lions, 3 in 1980 to South Africa and 4 in 1983 to New Zealand, scoring 184 points in total for the Lions. All great achievements, but perhaps Campbell’s greatest achievement in rugby came in the 1984 Five Nations Championship. In the battle against Scotland, Ollie secured all of Ireland’s 21 points on the day, enough to win the game and to win Ireland its first Triple Crown in nearly 30 years.

North Bay Rugby is taking all of the necessary steps to become an even bigger and better club with increased recruitment efforts, and a step up in competition. With the addition of Ollie Campbell as Honorary President, North Bay Rugby Club is excited to see what he has in store for them and is willing to take on the challenges to grow into a powerhouse in the region.