There is a huge range of activity within USA Club Rugby Women’s Division I right now. On one end, the Midwest is done with its 15s season, having named its champion back in November. On the other end, the NorCal DI/DII hybrid league won’t play its first game until Feb. 22. Now is a good time to take a tour around the country and get a status check on the various DI teams and leagues playing 15s.
For a quick-and-easy reference, check out Your Scrumhalf Connection’s Club Guide. The following review provides some narrative, a few corrections to the sometimes incomplete Xplorer stats, and a little look into the Super Regional Championships. The recaps are organized by activity (i.e., the leagues that have named champs or are deeper into their season are listed first.
The MIDWEST completed its 15s season in November, and the Metropolis Valkyries were crowned champions (read more from Whitney Swenson). The Midwest champ bypasses the Super Regional Championship (SRC) stage and advances directly to national semifinals/final championship weekend in mid-May.
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The ATLANTIC includes five teams from Boston in the north to Raleigh in the south, and they play each other home-and-away across the fall and spring. The top-four teams in the standings will advance to the Atlantic SRC (May 3-4 @ TBA location in New England).
NOVA is already 6-0 and guaranteed the No. 1 seed heading into the Atlantic SRC. Its closest game this fall was a 25-17 decision against Raleigh (2-3). Philly (2-4) and Boston (3-3) also earned bonus points in their losses to the reigning DI national champion. The regular season restarts March 15.
The PACIFIC NORTHWEST Premiership is a hybrid competition, and the DI berth to the Pacific SRC will be between Seattle and ORSU. The Orcas beat the Jesters 51-0 in September, and although schedules have not yet been released, they will likely meet again in the spring to decide that berth. The Xplorer standings are inaccurate, but Seattle tracks its results on its website. ORSU is 1-2 and picked up a big win against a new team, Steller. It also hosted Denver Black Ice in September, dropping a 56-10 contest at home.
With that said, it’s DII Portland that’s leading the Prem standings. The Pigs beat ORSU 62-5 on Nov. 2 and then Seattle 26-21 the following Saturday. Will make a bigger to-do for the team in the DII roundup.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN includes three teams, and they’re all 1-1 right now. The 2024 national runner-up, Utah Vipers, beat the Colorado Gray Wolves 81-10 when the Coloradans came to town on Sept. 28. Two weeks later, the Vipers traveled with 16 players to Denver and dropped a 56-17 contest to Black Ice. The first in-state game occurred on Oct. 26, and the Gray Wolves edged Black Ice 26-19. So there’s everything to play for this spring, and all three teams elicit a lot of intrigue.
Black Ice did a really nice job of filling its fall calendar with road trips and just lots of game time for its DI and DII teams. Numbers it’s got, and that’s where the Vipers need to see some growth. The Utah team is obviously talented and determined, but it needs that bench to get it through road trips and doubleheader playoff weekends. And then the Gray Wolves, which are at the center of the Denver Women’s Elite Rugby team launching this spring — how will the club adjust with that thrilling and taxing new venture?
It looks like the Rocky Mountain champ’s postseason will differ from the 2023-24 pathway (which involved a playoff match against the Texas champ and then berth to the national semifinals), but that still to be confirmed. Read the “Texas” and “NorCal” sections for some insight.
This year, TEXAS launched a Premiership (aka, hybrid league) for its DI and top-performing DII teams. The competition got in two league games before the new year, and both DI teams — Houston (sHARC) and Dallas Harlequins — beat their DII opponents. Last Saturday, DI Austin got its first win of the season, defeating DII San Antonio 21-17. There are three DI teams, and the top-two will contest a final on April 12 at the Red River championships. The victor will advance directly to the national semifinals on Friday, May 16 at a TBA location. The final is Sunday, May 18.
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SOCAL kicked off league play last Saturday, as San Diego traveled to Tempe for a 26-21 win. The league is down to four teams (Pasadena dropped to DII), so it’s home-and-away during the regular season. SoCal refs reflect semifinals on April 5 and final on April 12. Follow the standings. The SoCal champ will compete in the Pacific SRC on April 26-27 in Las Vegas (reference).
NORCAL is a hybrid competition (reference) now that Life West has declared as a DI team. It will play its six DII opponents during the regular season, which doesn’t begin until Feb. 22. Playoffs are April 19.
As for Life West’s postseason pathway? The Senior Club Rugby (SCC) November 2024 meeting minutes indicate that the NorCal DI hybrid champ has a spot at the Pacific SRC in Las Vegas, and the parenthetical footnote recommends that the Rocky Mountain champ fill in that fourth spot. That would, for the first time, produce a proper semifinal/final weekend for the DI Pacific SRC. To be continued …
Stay tuned for the Division II review.
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