The Williams Rugby Football Club (WRFC) was founded by David Coughlin '61 in the spring of 1959 following spending a year studying abroad at Oxford University in England. Starting with a handful of incoming freshmen with experience playing rugby while studying in England, the Club was formed and supported by Peter Pearson, the first Williams Rugby coach. The following fall, the WRFC entered the Eastern Rugby Union (ERU) and won the ERU Championship in 1960 with a 5-0-1 record. Following a 1961 tour in England, support and recognition from the College increased dramatically.

In 2015, the team renewed spring sevens competition in their first sevens event in several years, participating in the NSCRO Northeast Qualifying 7s Tournament at American International College in Springfield, MA on March 15, 2015. Head coach Jeremiah Madison began with the Williams Rugby Team in the Fall of 2014 and took over the reigns of the program in the Spring of 2015 upon the retirement of Bruce Stephenson, who had retired after 19 years of coaching at Williams.