COLORADO, USA – The 2022 USA Club Rugby XVs National Championships will be hosted May 20-22, at Silverbacks Park in Atlanta, Georgia.
Home to Rugby ATL of Major League Rugby, Silverbacks Park features a 5,000-seat stadium and is located just 15 minutes northeast of downtown Atlanta. The park also features a second rugby pitch and is the regular home venue for the Atlanta Renegades. Long a hotbed of southern rugby, Atlanta-area clubs have won six previous club XVs national championships from 13 total national championship final appearances – including multiple appearances from the Life Running Eagles, Atlanta Harlequins, and Atlanta Old White.
Continuing a long tradition of club national championships, this year’s event will be the first XVs national championship fully organized by the Senior Club Council (‘USA Club Rugby’) following USA Rugby’s governance restructure in 2020.
“We’re excited to have the XVs National Championships back after 2 years,” noted Al Lucas, the elected Chair of the Senior Club Council. “We have a fantastic venue to showcase great talent across the country, and the Senior Club Council wants to extend our thanks to the Competitions Committee for all of the hard work they’ve done to arrange a great event for us.”
Featuring 20 teams across 5 men’s and women’s divisions, the 2022 finals revert to the ‘final four’ format popularized at USA national championships from 1979 to 2013. Men’s and Women’s Division I will follow a Friday/Sunday schedule while Men’s Division II, Women’s Division II, and Men’s Division III will feature matches on Saturday and Sunday.
The XVs National Championship event in Atlanta will also serve as the capstone to the Super Regionals being held across the country just weeks before, as the Competitions Committee has re-introduced the Round of 16 as part of its restructure.
“During the pandemic and the restructure, the senior club community had robust discussions about implementing a playoff pathway that re-empowered the regional governing unions and minimized travel for teams,” stated Erik Geib, the elected Senior Club Council XVs Competitions Committee Chair.
“The result of those discussions was the introduction of Super Regional events that eliminated a round of travel for many teams and made another round more geographically sensible,” Geib continued. “We have some amazing host partners for the Super Regional events and we look forward to seeing the winners of those in Atlanta as they compete to be the best in the U.S.”
Since August, over 600 teams have competed across the United States to advance to this year’s National Championship Series, with many divisions filtering their champions through the four Super Regional events jointly hosted by the Senior Club Council and its member unions.
The Atlantic Super Regional is the first qualification event for the finals and will be held April 30 – May 1 at Knox Farm State Park in East Aurora, New York – located just outside of Buffalo. Including champions from competitions in the Capital, Eastern Pennsylvania, Empire, and New England rugby unions, as well as the multi-union Division I competitions, this event is operated by the Buffalo Rugby Club and Empire GU.
Following the Atlantic Super Regional, three additional qualifying events will be hosted May 7-8. Among these events is the Gulf Coast Super Regional being operated by the Texas Rugby Union at the Aveva Sports Complex in Houston, which will include champions from competitions in the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia, Texas, and True South unions.
The Northern Super Regional will also take place May 7-8, which is being operated by the Mid-America Rugby Football Union at the St. Charles Soccer Complex just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. This event will include participants from competitions in the Mid-America, Midwest, and Rocky Mountain unions.
Finally, the Pacific Super Regional, also being held May 7-8, will be located at the Morgan Hill Outdoor Sports Center in Morgan Hill, California – which is at the southern edge of the San Francisco Bay Area. Operated by the Northern California Rugby Football Union, the Pacific Super Regional will feature champions from competitions organized by the Northern California, Pacific Northwest, Southern California, and Southwest unions.
Brackets for this year’s championships are located here:
Men’s Division I
Women’s Division I
Men’s Division II
Women’s Division II
Men’s Division III
[Note: TRB’s brackets have more detail / context for the women’s competitions.]
More information regarding this year’s USA Club Rugby XVs National Championships can be found at usaclub.rugby/XVs. Tickets to the 2022 USA Club Rugby XVs National Championships are general admission and priced at $15 per day and $25 for a 3-day weekend pass.
For more information, please contact Erik Geib at usaclubrugby@gmail.com.