Spring College 15s Rugby Update

The following is an overview of those programs competing in College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) Division I and Division II women’s conferences, and also building toward the spring 15s championships. Regional playoffs will occur in April, and the DI and DII finals will be May 6 in Houston, Texas.

RELATED: Women’s Rugby Scores: Feb. 3-5

In DIVISION I BLUE RIDGE is four teams now that Virginia Tech has shifted to the CRAA fall and East Carolina Univ. has been moved to Division II. Leader Virginia Women’s Rugby (1-0) is coping with lots of injuries, according to head coach Nancy Kechner, who viewed last Saturday’s game against Univ. North Carolina (0-1) as an important gauge for the impending season. Scrumhalf Claire Turney, flyhalf Clare O’Reilly (2) and prop Jane Duncan scored tries in UVA’s 20-7 win. James Madison plays its first matrix match on Feb. 11 (vs. UVA), and North Carolina State plays its first matrix match on Feb. 18 (vs. UNC). There will be semifinals and a final; dates TBD.

FLORIDA is a DI/DII hybrid league, and Univ. Central Florida (3-0) has resumed its position as most dominant. The Orlando team has shut out DI Florida (1-1), DII Florida International and DII Eckerd College by large margins. The Gators later defeated Florida State (0-1) 58-0. League games are scheduled until April 1, but several teams are playing fewer-than-15s games.

The PACIFIC DESERT covers the Southwest and SoCal, and BYU (3-0) is the expected champion. The Cougars have shut out Grand Canyon (2-1), CSU Northridge (0-2) and UC Santa Barbara (0-2) so far. The Lopes responded well after its opening-round loss to BYU, beating Arizona State (1-1) 36-5 and UC San Diego (2-1) 43-0, and are looking good for No. 2 in the league. Another important result so far: ASU beat UCLA (2-1) 44-10.

PACIFIC MOUNTAIN covers the Pacific Northwest (“North”) and NorCal (“West”). Western Washington improved to 4-0 after its 75-0 win against Oregon State (0-4). Oregon is probably the best team with a 1-3 record. All three losses were by five points or fewer, including last Saturday’s 20-15 defeat to Washington (3-1). The Vikings and Huskies will contest their rematch on Feb. 25.

Stanford (3-0) tops the West standings and added a 66-0 win against Fresno State (1-2). UC Davis (1-2) got its first win of the season against Chico State (0-3) with a 35-17 decision. The game to watch is Stanford vs. Cal on Feb. 11. The teams play each other home and away, just like the North, and then standings will feed teams into crossover playoffs on April 8.

DIVISION II is most active in the Pacific Time Zone right now. The WEST COAST is full-on, San Jose State is still the team to beat, and the field generally is really fun to follow. Sacramento State (3-1) has emerged, defeating 2022 top-four teams UC Santa Cruz 20-15 and Santa Clara 82-14 last weekend. Cal Poly SLO (3-1) edged UN Reno 22-20 on Saturday. There are also several teams still battling short numbers but less-than-15s games are typically played on game day. This conference has a proper semifinal/championship weekend.

In the DII PACIFIC DESERT, there is essentially a competitive group and a friendly group, but there are crossover games between them. Claremont, San Diego State, Long Beach State, UC Irvine and UNLV are in the competitive bracket, and only those games against each other count toward their league records. The games against Occidental, UC Riverside and Univ. Southern California are friendlies. The Foxes won their first league match 81-12 against UC Irvine. Long Beach State banked its first league win on Jan. 28: 33-5 vs. UNLV.

Appalachian State is the reigning champion in the CAROLINAS, has defeated UNC Charlotte 29-0 in matrix play, and has Western Carolina (Feb. 18) and UNC Greensboro (March 25) on the books. UNCC and WCU play this Saturday. The conference championship is scheduled for April 1.

As mentioned in previous updates, the CAPITAL conference contests its season/championship in the fall and then sends reps to the spring playoffs. American University is the Capital champ and Northern Virginia Community College the runner-up.