The club was founded in 1968 by members of the international community in Zurich and initially most games were played against foreign teams. In 1970, RC Cern organized a „Challenge d‘Amitié“ between existing Swiss clubs, later known as the „Challenge Laurent Membrez“. This led on to the formation of the Federation Suisse de Rugby (FSR) in 1972, which GC Rugby joined as the then sole representative of the German-speaking Northeastern Switzerland.