Robinson Bordley
2012
Inductee
Robinson “Rob” Bordley was a talented football and lacrosse player long before he played his first rugby match. Bordley was an All Ivy League selection in both sports while attending Princeton University. In football, Bordley lined up as a wide receiver and also fielded punts and kickoffs.
It wasn’t until Thanksgiving time of his senior year at Princeton that Bordley got introduced to rugby. It was then that some of his friends from the University of Virginia convinced him to give rugby a try at the Washington Rugby Football Club’s 7s Tournament. His evasive skills learned from returning punts and kickoffs certainly helped as he scored a number of tries in his debut tournament.
After graduating from Princeton with a BA in political science, Bordley joined the one and only club team he ever played for, the Washington Rugby Football Club, where he would play from 1970 until the mid 1980s.
During his playing career with Washington, Bordley was selected to represent his local union side, the Potomac Rugby Union, and then made the Eastern Rugby Union select side on numerous occasions. He captained all three of these teams at different times throughout his career.
In 1976 Bordley toured South Africa with the ERU All Stars. He was so impressive on that tour that he was invited back a year later to play for an international all star team that would play in the newly renovated Loftus Versfeld. The team would play three matches on tour: against a South African XV in Pretoria; against Western Province in Cape Town; and against Northern Transvaal in Pretoria.
Bordley received the highest honor of not only being selected for the first international test match for the United States but he was also named captain of the Eagles. That first test was in Anaheim on January 31, 1976 against Australia and Bordley captained the side from his fly half position. Bordley also captained the Eagles in their second test, this time at fullback, against France in Chicago on June 12, 1976.
Bordley would go on to play for the Eagles in their next three matches. Back at flyhalf, the Eagles lost to Canada at Burnaby, British Columbia on May 21, 1977. Bordley, playing in the number 15 jersey, was part of the first Eagles tour abroad as they faced England at Twickenham on October 15, 1977. He finished his international career on a high note as he was part of the first victorious United States side as the Eagles defeated Canada 12-7 in Baltimore, Maryland on May 28, 1978.
While he was competing for a spot on the national team, Bordley was earning a Master’s degree in history from American University. He was hired on as a history teacher at the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland in the fall of 1970, right after he graduated from Princeton, and 43 years later he continues to teach history at Landon.
He is the offensive coordinator on the varsity football team and the varsity lacrosse coach at Landon. Under Bordley, Landon’s lacrosse team has captured 28 league titles since 1981 and was recognized as the best team in the nation in 1999, 2001 and 2002. Bordley is a year or two away from registering his 600th win as Landon’s lacrosse coach. He is a member of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame (Potomac Chapter) and has been nominated to the U.S. National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
In his private life, Bordley has been married to Donna Bordley since 1977. The couple have three children: Austin, John and Claire. John won All-ACC honors in lacrosse for the University of Maryland while Claire was a first team All-American lacrosse player at the University of Virginia.