Welcome back to another USA Club Rugby Monthly Recap! This month we are excited to dive a bit deeper into the details, as we don’t have anything to catch up on from the fall. In case you’re new here – welcome! This is your one stop shop (organized by division) to find out what’s happening in club rugby in the USA.
A few notes – this information is all gathered from team-entered data on RugbyXplorer. So if there’s an error or an incorrect score, please first check RugbyXplorer and then with your local Geographical Union to ensure all matches are finalized in the system. Like any human, I also make mistakes; so if it’s all right online and wrong here, please let me know! Any other commentary added is for entertainment value from someone who has zero stake in the outcomes of these matches.
Now with that out of the way, we can get into the good stuff. What happened in the Women’s D1 Competition in February? Read below to find out!
Midwest Women’s D1
The Metropolis Valkyries defeated Columbus to take home the Midwest Championship in November. They will advance directly to the National Championship Final Four in May.
Atlantic Women’s D1
We’re close to the return of the Atlantic Women’s D1 competition in March. NOVA (6-0) has the top seed locked up regardless of what happens in the spring. The reigning D1 National Champions are keen to return to the Final Four and defend their title. Boston (3-3) and Raleigh Venom (2-3) are battling it out in second and third place. They won’t face off again head to head in the regular season, and Raleigh still needs to go up against NOVA a second time in order to jump over Boston. Duking it for fourth are Philadelphia (2-4) and the DC Furies (1-4). They also don’t face off again, having split the fixture wins in the fall. March 15th the Furies host the Raleigh Venom to kick off the spring half of this competition.
Pacific Northwest Women’s D1/D2
Up in the Pacific Northwest, we had a few games take place over February. Notably Seattle Rugby Club (1-0) beat ORSU (0-1) 14-0 in a classic wet and dreary Pacific Northwest derby. The only two tries were scored in the 20th and 22nd minute by Alina Ampeh and Sydnee Kimber. The other match slated to take place was between the Portland women and Tacoma Sirens, but was a forfeit by Tacoma. Seattle also hosted the UBC Thunderbirds in a thrilling 31-32 battle as they dually compete in the UBC and USA Rugby Club competitions. Their next UBC match-up is at Burnaby Lake Rugby Club the first weekend of March.
Rocky Mountain Women’s D1
Three teams in the Rocky Mountain region played a round robin for supremacy. Denver Black Ice (2-0) came out on top after a 56-17 defeat of the Utah Vipers (1-1) and a 19-0 blank of the Colorado Gray Wolves (0-2). Utah snagged second place thanks to a 81-10 trounce of the Wolves at home in Salt Lake. We’re unsure of what the spring or playoffs will look like, but we’d love to see these teams do another rotation of games before the Pacific Super Regional.
Southern California Women’s D1
We have four games from February to catch up on, and updated standings to share. February was GOOD to Tempe (2-1) who logged two massive wins to springboard them to second on the table. Last we saw them, they had lost a close bonus point game to San Diego (3-0). The tides have turned and Tempe is trucking along. Fullback Kristina Aprahamian scored twice in each win, while Alexandra Jaros went an impressive 8 out of 9 on conversions in their 71-14 win over Santa Monica (1-2) . San Diego also extended their lead notching two more wins over Santa Monica and Belmont Shore (0-3).
In March, Belmont hosts Santa Monica in the highly anticipated rematch of the January 18th fixture. Belmont are still looking for their first win, while Santa Monica wants to prove they deserve their place on the table. The same weekend, San Diego will also host Tempe in a similarly heated rematch, first place up for grabs.
Northern California Women’s D1
Northern California only has one women’s team electing to pursue a D1 postseason pathway, and is playing qualifying matches in the D2 competition. This is of course Life West (1-0), who won their season opener in style this past weekend. They traveled to San Jose (0-1), who scored first in the affair through second row Julia Wallace. San Jose didn’t hold onto the lead for long however, as Life West matched their score and pulled ahead shortly later. San Jose added another one before halftime, and halftime score was well within reach at 20-12. That’s when Life West really woke up. An astonishing 8 tries over the last 40 minutes brought the final score to 70-12, Life West victorious. They will host East Palo Alto for their second match of the season next weekend, and then follow it up with a trip to the Fresno Golden Dogs on the 8th.
Texas Women’s Premiership
Some thrilling action in the hybrid Women’s D1/D2 competition down in Texas and Arkansas. The Dallas Harlequins (4-1) jump to the top of the table after avenging their loss to the Houston sHARCs (2-1-1) back in January. The Quins opened the scoring in the 29th minute sending flanker Josephine Fisher over the try line. This was followed not four minutes later by fullback Mrinaalini Jain who scored her own, Madison Ohmann-Wilson converting. The Quins went into halftime up 12-0. Shortly after the break, Dallas scored again through replacement Samantha Garcia to make it 17-0. That’s when Houston made their move. In a short 12 minute span, the sHARCs dotted down thrice through Star Monson, KC Curl, and Nadira Smith. The last 10 minutes became a desperate free for all as both teams tried to hold onto the ball and score again to take or hold onto the lead. In the end it would be Dallas who just edged Houston by that lone conversion from the 30th minute. Houston needed that win as they had to bounce back from the 20-20 tie against the Austin Valkyries (2-1-1) who are now within striking distance of them on the table. Austin will host the Quins on the 8th and the sHARCs versus Valkyries rematch will take place on the 22nd.
