Nearly all USA Club Rugby Women’s Division II competitions are active right now, with only Rocky Mountain (Colorado, Utah) still waiting for its 15s regular season to resume. That means league playoff and then Super Regional Championship (SRCs) are nearing. In fact, a month from now (April 20), the DII field will know which 16 teams are vying for Atlantic, Gulf Coast, Northern and Pacific SRC titles, and thus berths to the national championships (May 18-19) in Austin, Texas.

RELATED: Women’s Division I Club Update

NORTHERN SRC

May 4 semis / May 5 final @ Lemont, Ill.
Midwest 1, Midwest 2, Mid-America, Rocky Mountain

Two of four Northern SRC competitors are known — MIDWEST champion South Buffalo and Grand Rapids. The former hasn’t released its spring schedule yet, but the Growlers have two April games against DI Detroit and Chicago Lions before SRCs.

MID-AMERICA  is between KC Jazz and St. Louis, and it’s a best-of-three situation. The Sabres won the teams’ fall match 43-20, and if it also wins on April 6, then St. Louis is off to Lemont, Ill. If the Jazz win at home, then the duo will play a third match on April 20 to determine the post-season rep. St. Louis will activate this weekend at Nash Bash. The Jazz has played two games already this year, notably beating Texas contender Dallas Harlequins 23-19.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN is the last league to retake the pitch due to weather and games return March 30. There were a smattering of forfeits in the fall, but Salt City beat Denver Black Ice 36-10 in Utah, and Black Ice topped Boulder 36-24. Three of four teams are 1-1, so the final three weeks of play will sort out the standings and rep to regionals. If Rocky Mountain does continue on to regionals, it’ll be a first for the young competition.

ATLANTIC SRC

April 20 semifinals (2 locations)
New Haven (Empire) @ New England #1
Eastern Pennsylvania #1 @ Capital #1

May 4 final @ Wilmington, Del.

EMPIRE champ New Haven has known it’s heading to SRCs since November and the Connecticut team has stacked its spring schedule with WPL through Division III opponents. Last Saturday, New Haven beat NERFU semifinalist Worcester 28-10 in a crossover friendly. New Haven will travel to the Capital champ on April 20 for the Atlantic SRC semifinals.

The CAPITAL title will be contested between Severn River and James River on April 13. The Honey Badgers have allowed 10 points total across four matrix games and beat DI DC Furies 32-14 on March 9. The 2023 national runner-up is favored to move onto super regionals.

EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA (EPRU) just restarted, and saw Northeast Philly beat Doylestown on conversions. All four teams are still statistically able to qualify for the April 13 final, though Phoenixville and Harrisburg are in the best shape at 3-1. The EPRU champ travels to NERFU for its Atlantic SRC semifinal on April 20.

NEW ENGLAND (NERFU) completed its regular season in the fall, and the April 6 league semifinals are set:

Charles River @ Albany
Burlington @ Worcester

The NERFU final is April 13 in Canton, Mass.

GULF COAST SRC

May 4-5 @ Austin, Texas
Carolinas, Florida, Red River, True South

In the CAROLINAS, Atlanta 2.0 Selects, Charleston and Charlotte have all accrued enough standings points to advance to the CGRU semifinals on April 6. The fourth semifinalist will be determined across the next few weeks, and per CGRU Women’s Director Emily Paul, registering a forfeit during the regular season does not disqualify a team from the post-season. Teams do lose a standings point for a forfeit, so there is a “punishment,” but Paul explained that the league focus is growth and that brings leniency.

The higher seeds host the April 6 semifinals, and then the Carolinas GU championship is April 20 in Gastonia, N.C.

Tampa Bay is the leader in FLORIDA, but it won’t be official until the April 20 state championship in Bradenton, Fla. , when the Krewe face the No. 2 team (currently Ft. Miami) for the state championship.

All seven teams in Texas and Arkansas play each other once and then the top-four teams advance to the RED RIVER championship for a standard semifinal/final weekend, April 20-21, Houston, Texas. Little Rock is 5-0 (read more) and played its toughest match against the Dallas Quins (3-1), which have two more league games to go. Houston Athletic (4-2), which sits in second, has wrapped on its regular season and has a four-point lead in the standings over the Quins. The fourth and final semifinal spot is very much up for grabs.

The TRUE SOUTH championships are April 13-14 in New Orleans. Semifinals are set:

Knoxville (1)  v Nashville (4)
Chattanooga (2) v Memphis (3)

Victors then play Sunday for the True South title and berth to Gulf Coast SRCs.

PACIFIC SRC

May 4 semifinals & May 5 final @ Las Vegas
Northern California, Pacific Northwest, Southern California, Southwest

At first glance, NORCAL feels grueling. There are six teams that play each other home and away, all in the spring. Remember, though, that “spring” starts in January in California, so there are nearly four months to complete that 10-game season. And standings — not a final game — name the champion. [April 1 Update: There IS a final game to name the champ: April 20 in Santa Rose, Calif., and it’ll be between Berkeley and Sacramento.] The game circled on the calendar is April 6 between Berkeley (7-0) and Sacramento (6-1). Their first encounter was a 10-point game, and the rematch has the potential to decide the league. With that said, watch for East Palo Alto — who plays both Berkeley and Sacramento one more time apiece. The Razorbacks are the wild card.

The PACIFIC NORTHWEST has been a little tough to decipher. The Premiership is a mix of six DI and DII teams with the capability of playing 15s, but there’s also a jamboree circuit in which they join alongside developing teams. Last weekend’s games looked like Prem matches, but 12s were played. Sorting those details might not matter, as it looks like the April 20 finals have already been set. Portland and Emerald City are penciled into the title match. They get an early look at each other on March 30.

First-season Los Angeles closed the regular season undefeated and sits atop the seven-team SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA standings (Camp Pendleton did not field a team). Ventura, Santa Monica and San Luis Obispo are also in the top-four, but Empire still has a statistical chance to qualify for April 13 semifinals should it beat Ventura and SLO the next two weekends. Higher seeds host the semis, and then the April 20 finals should be held at one SoCal RFU site — a location that has not yet been released.

The SOUTHWEST has been humming along and Las Vegas (5-0) and Albuquerque (4-2) once again top the standings. The Atomic Sisters’ two losses were single-digit decisions to Las Vegas. But don’t count out Phoenix (3-2), who fell 12-10 to Albuquerque earlier this month. Phoenix hasn’t played Las Vegas yet, so that match on March 30 will be important. The Southwest final is April 20 in New Mexico.