There is so much rugby happening this weekend, and below are just a few highlights. Stay tuned for coverage as well as season-opening rankings next week.
WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE
SoCal’s Surfers travel to NorCal’s All Blues for the lone Saturday match (10 a.m. Pacific @ St. Mary’s College, Moraga), and both teams will be looking for their first win of the season. ORSU has home-field advantage in the other Blue Conference bout, hosting Glendale on Sunday, 1 p.m. Pacific. In the Red Conference, Twin Cities hosts the D.C. Furies at the Eagan Community Center (11 a.m. Central), while Atlanta is on the road again, this time to New York (2 p.m. Eastern, Randall’s Island).
CLUB
There’s a slower build in the club sphere, as teams have the entire year to build toward spring playoffs, but there is still plenty of action this weekend for early insights into teams. The Carolinas/Georgia, Empire, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, New England, and Pacific Northwest are all in motion, and we’ll be checking in with all of those DI and DII competitions. Additionally, Empire and especially the Mid-Atlantic have active DIII leagues, and we’ll probe into those matches as well.
COLLEGE
Everything is on. Big Ten, Capital, Great Lakes, Great Water, Mid-Atlantic, Illinois, Ivy League, New England Small College, New England Wide, NIRA, Northeast, Northern Lights, Rocky Mountain, Rugby Northeast, Tri-State and Upstate New York are all playing league games this weekend, which is further populated by a host of friendlies.
In Division I, we’re watching Dartmouth vs. Brown, a rematch of the 2015 Ivy championship. NIRA has a full slate of games as well, and sees AIC and Norwich attempt to knock off leaders Army and Quinnipiac, respectively. An interesting crossover is occurring between Tier 2 University of New England and Harvard. The former notched a massive win against Molloy last weekend and will now measure itself against the Crimson.
In Division II, the game to watch might be Tri-State’s Vassar vs. Albany. The former is regular at fall semifinals, and the latter is always good. Fellow fall 2015 semifinalist Bloomsburg returns to pitch after a sobering friendly loss to Penn State, but coach Kevin Castner indicated that outing was hugely beneficial. Bloomsburg opens up against East Stroudsburg, also a solid program with which Castner has roots. Farther south, spring semifinalist Salisbury kicks off its Capital season against UMBC. The league has already seen some surprises, as Old Dominion beat Mary Washington 41-24.
Finally, of the many friendlies occurring, the UCONN vs. St. Michael’s match draws interest. The DI fall champion entered two sides into the Beantown tournament last weekend, while the DII team shut out DI Northeast’s Boston University.
HIGH SCHOOL
The Utah Fall 7s Series begins this weekend, and see eight sides competing on the girls end. Wasatch and Herriman have entered two sides apiece, while the Idaho Grey Wolves are making the trip. New Jersey holds the second leg of its state series, which Morris leads.
Today, Friday, is the big day in Wisconsin and Michigan. Of particular interest is Divine Savior Holy Angels vs. Brookfield, and Oak Creek vs. Fond du Lac in Wisconsin. State champion Grandville plays Traverse City, while Grand Haven takes on Lakeview in Michigan.