In the Spring of 1996 CURFC achived a top 8 finish in the National Play-offs and a #6 national ranking, something that has never been done before by a team from the South. In fact until the Spring of 1996 no team from the South ever finished in the top 25 nationally.
The team had a strong Spring and Summer recruiting drive with star players from California and Missouri committing to come and play for Clemson rugby.
The Fall of 1996 saw the club understake a successful tour to the Northeast competing against Harvard, Brown and University of Massachusetts. The notable win of the tour was a 19-17 win over Harvard, which the year before that made it to the Elite 8.