Orlando, Fla., is the host site of the Gulf Coast Super Regional Championship (GCSR), and a semifinalist for the USA Club Rugby Women’s DII National Championship will come out of the May 6 -7 tournament. Note that while there are Division I and Division III teams in this region, which stretches from Texas to North Carolina, their post-season pathways either bypass the GCSR (DI) or culminate at the local level (DIII).
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Again, refer to Your Scrumhalf Connection’s page for quick links to Rugby Xplorer results and standings, which are mostly current but sometimes incomplete. There are cases (not in the Gulf Coast region) where leagues aren’t using Rugby Xplorer at all.
A change from last year, the CAROLINAS is on track to send a representative to the GCSR, completing a proper a four-team playoff in Florida. The CGRU website has been rebooted and includes helpful “playoffs” tabs with local, regional and national information.
The women’s DII club competition includes eight teams from Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, and they’re divided into North and South pools. In-pool and cross-pool games count toward overall standings. Additionally, forfeits do not disqualify a team from the post-season. Charleston is undefeated and leading the South pool. Eno River leads the North, and when the two played each other in the early fall, the Hurricanes won 57-0.
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On April 1, the top-two teams from each pool will contest crossover semifinals:
North #2 @ South #1
South #2 @ North #1
The victors advance to the April 15 championship in Gastonia, N.C., and the champ moves onto the GCSR. The Carolinas rep will face the True South champ in the Gulf Coast semifinals.
There are four teams in FLORIDA but Orlando has recorded forfeits this spring. Tampa Bay Krewe is the heavy favorite to repeat as champion, having blanked Fort Miami and Jacksonville by a combined 117-0.
Teams will play each other home-and-away in the regular season, and then the top two teams will contest a final on April 15 (location TBA). The Florida champ will play the Red River champ in round one of the GCSR.
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RED RIVER and Carolinas are set up similarly. DII Red River involves seven teams from Texas and one from Arkansas, and they’re divided into North and South pools. Teams play their pool mates home and away, and final standings will seed title contenders into the April 22-23 Red River championship (location TBA).
The top two teams from each pool will contest crossover semifinals on Saturday, and the victors will advance to the Sunday championship, with the victor moving onto the GCSR in Orlando.
San Antonio is the reigning champ and currently undefeated in the South. But there’s all kinds of anticipation for the Riveters’ rematch with the Houston Athletic Rugby Club’s first DII side. The two played to a 29-18 decision on Feb. 11 and they represent great competition for each other. 2022 finalist Little Rock won its first two league games this season, including a five-point victory against the Dallas Harlequins. The rematch occurred last weekend in Texas, and the Quins put down a solid 46-5 victory.
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Red River has DI and DIII teams, but they don’t intersect with the GCSR. Texas’ DI clubs compete with teams from Utah and Colorado, and after playing everyone home and away, standings will name a champion. That victor advances directly to the DI national championship semifinals. DIII is more festival style, like the Midwest’s All-Play Days, and provides opportunities for developing or regrouping clubs to grow toward 15s. As such, DIII does not culminate with a championship.
TRUE SOUTH fields women’s DII and DIII competitions, and both have post-season pathways, but only DII moves onto the GCSR.
There are five DII teams from Tennessee and Louisiana, and they play each other once across the fall and spring for seeding into the True South championship, which occurs April 15-16 in Huntsville, Ala. Traditionally, the True South championship is a semifinal / championship weekend; however, last year, only three teams were able to commit, setting up a play-in/automatic berth situation for the final.
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Knoxville is the reigning champion and finished runner-up at nationals last year. The Minx banked an impressive friendly win (69-15) against DI Charlotte in the fall as well as a shutout win against Memphis in matrix play. Knoxville restarts league play on Feb. 25 against Chattanooga.
In DIII, six teams are divided into North (Birmingham, Huntsville, McMinn) and South (Battleship, New Orleans, Panama City Beach) pools. They play pool mates home and away, and then the top team in each pool advances to the final. The ultimate goal of DIII is to incubate teams until they’re ready for DII.
Screenshot from TRB’s working GCSR bracket