A new school year is upon us and as always, there is much change to digest. This post will update as details emerge first about the upcoming fall 15s season, and then with the rugby that awaits in spring 2026. [lead photo: rudypics.com]

First, some basics: There are three member organizations that oversee women’s rugby in the U.S. National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) is the largest of the three and hosts championships seasons in the fall (15s) and spring (7s). It also holds an all-star 7s tournament every January, and it’s a key talent ID venue for the newly launched NCR Griffins (7s) and NCR All-Americans (15s).

The College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) also supports a 15s championship season and 7s championship season — both of which occur in the spring. Its membership is smaller relative to NCR; however, it just announced that it will accept teams registered with other organizations into its spring postseason pathways. In other words, teams can be registered in multiple organizations and compete toward multiple titles. That was already the case for 7s, but the official addition of 15s is noteworthy.

And finally, the NCAA varsity programs compete in the National Intercollegiate Rugby Association (NIRA), which contests its championship 15s season in the fall. There are three divisions, and those leagues are being tracked separately. Most of the schedules have been released already. NIRA has not held a 7s season in the spring, but the top DI and DII teams with 7s championship aspirations compete in the CRAA 7s tournament. A handful also or only compete in NCR’s CRC 7s, which is also an option for NIRA DIII teams like Bowdoin College.

Side note: If you’re wondering when all of these athletes in different organizations might crossover, the USA U23 All-Star 15s Tournament (late June) is the best venue for the convergence of talent. The eight representative teams don’t care where individuals are registered during the regular seasons, as one of the main goals is to identify the country’s best talent.

FALL 2025

NIRA

As mentioned, this competition is the most transparent at this time of year, because teams are operating within athletic departments and need logistics sorted early. Read more. Pre-season games are penciled in for late August; teams will play regular and non-conference games from September-early November; and then DI and DII semifinals are Nov. 15. The NIRA finals are Nov. 22 at a TBA location. Last year, there was no 15s final for NIRA’s Division III, and that’s likely to be the case in 2025, but still to be confirmed. There was a DIII NIRA 7s championship in the spring, though, that Bowdoin won.

Relative to last year, a couple of changes include:

• DI Lindenwood, DI La Salle and DIII Thomas College make their NIRA debut this fall;

• Newberry College dropped (former head coach Eric Enright has now taken over Adrian College Women’s Rugby in NCR);

• It is expected that DII Emory & Henry, DIII Guilford College (stay tuned for Christine Newcomb interview) and DIII Warren Wilson will play some 15s this fall, though still in the provisional league (i.e., not eligible for playoffs). These programs have built up from 7s and 10s to the traditional format of the game.

• DI Long Island University has games on the schedule and recently announced the hiring of Alex Artus — previously of Colby-Sawyer and Kutztown — as new head coach.

NCR

NCR does a good job of posting schedules, results and standings on its website, so be sure to follow competitions directly on its site. Changes include:

• Former USA Eagle and XV Foundation co-founder Alycia Washington has been named the new NCR Women’s Director. She replaces Angela Smarto, who held the position since covid.

• Smarto helped bring on BYU and Penn State for fall 15s and helped create the new Division I — read more — which is for seven varsity and varsity-like programs. The former DI teams now compete in DI-AA, meaning NCR now has four divisions that will name national 15s champions on Dec. 6-7 in Houston.

• Not a change so much as a breath of fresh air, NCR announced its 2025-26 championship dates/venues back in June. Read more. After Texas, the 7s all-stars will assemble in Atlanta on Jan. 24-25, and then the CRC 7s are April 24-26 in Boyds, Md.

CRAA

For the women, CRAA doesn’t really start firing until late in the fall, as most leagues are based in warm-weather climates and can focus their falls on recruitment and training up rookies. Generally, there is a 7s qualifier or two, and lots of tournaments and cross-league play. Changes include:

• Tiffany Lopez has been named the new Director of Women’s Rugby. She comes out of the West Coast Women’s Rugby Conference and San Jose State, is part of the USA Pathway staff, and has experience managing international teams (find her in New Zealand for a month this fall with the Black Fern 7s).

• There is no more DIA / DI Elite. Lindenwood left for NIRA, and Central Washington axed its varsity rugby programs (The Wildcats will return as a collegiate club program, with Michael O’Malley as head coach). So! Life University solved its own competition problems (read more), and BYU and Penn State have joined both NCR and CRAA for more 15s fixtures. Read more.

• Two teams from the DII West Coast conference are elevating themselves to Division I this year: two-time reigning DII champ Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and UC Santa Cruz. The presumption is that they will compete in the DI Pacific Mountain Rugby Conference (West), which, if correct, would grow to seven teams in spring 2026.

• As mentioned, CRAA has opened up its spring 15s postseasons to teams registered with NCR, essentially. In addition to BYU and Penn State, Wheeling University has also declared intentions to join the fray in 2026. Perhaps more will follow suit.

MISC

Iowa Central, a two-year institution, has created a women’s rugby program and hired former Central Washington University Women’s Rugby Head Coach Matt Ramirez as its lead. Read more. The Tritons will play its first competitive season in 2026-27.