Men’s Division 1 – March 2025 Recap

Rumor has it that March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb; that is most certainly not true in the world of USA Club Rugby. Our spring-only teams are entering do or die time, our split season teams are finally back in action, and our fall-only teams are getting back to the practice field as they count down the days until their Super Regional opponents are finalized. And I’m going to cover all the drama, right here.

As always, the disclaimer – this information is gathered from team-entered data on RugbyXplorer. Now if something is wrong or missing, you should probably double check that your club or your GU has entered it correctly on RugbyXplorer. If they did and I’m wrong, by all means reach out – I’m only human after all. Everything else added is solely for entertainment value by someone who has no stake in the outcome of these matches. So, take a breath, have some fun, and read on to see what happened in the USA Club Rugby Men’s Division 1 competition this March.

Two teams battling it out in the Men’s Division 1 in Northern California. Both Olympic Club and Life West are playing a bit of a hybrid season, getting in qualifying games while facing off against each other twice to determine who moves on. So, a lot of big score lines that don’t give us that much insight into the quality of the teams. However the two did go head to head in March, with Life West taking the spoils 42-26. Life West shot out of the gates early, dotting down five times in the first half. Then they eased off the gas, content to float through the second half. One more try just to close it off at the final whistle through hooker Joshua Allen secured a strong win to bolster their chances of advancing to the Super Regional. O Club and Life West will meet once more on April 13th, before the top dog heads to Las Vegas. 

Seattle is the only club heading out of the Pacific Northwest seeking D1 glory after spending the season playing a hybrid D1/D2 competition as well as some crossover in the BC Premiership. They’ve been busy, facing the Tacoma Nomads, Eastside Tsunami, and Boise United over the last month. Boise actually got the better of them last weekend, with an outstanding 40-31 win in Idaho to keep their season perfect. However, Seattle has bigger fish to fry as they will head to Las Vegas at the end of April to take on the top two SoCal teams, as well as the winner between Olympic Club and Life West for another shot at the National Championship.

Monthly recaps might not be regular enough to cover the action that happened in Southern California, as we’ve somehow already arrived at the semifinals. OMBAC (7-1) ruled the table up until the final weekend of regular season when Belmont Shore (7-1) snuck past them in a 43-24 shocker. 

The Old Aztecs (1-7) may have missed out on the semifinal selection this year, but did manage to score their first win over Santa Monica on March 22nd. Hooker Andrew Mosqueda scored last for the Old Aztecs in the 61st minute and the team held strong for the final 20 to close out a 31-28 win. 

Eagle Rock (3-4) secured third in the table thanks to two cardiac arrest-inducing wins, 40-39 over Santa Monica and 34-31 over the Old Aztecs. Eagle Rock loves the drama of a close match.

In April, Belmont Shore will host Santa Monica while OMBAC hosts Eagle Rock in the divisional semifinals. In the last two meetings of Belmont and Santa Monica, it was 84-28 and 58-30 Belmont. This is not a slam against Santa Monica, but rather motivation to turn the tables and do the impossible. Even David slew Goliath. OMBAC and Eagle Rock have made it a bit closer on the last two, 56-31 and 59-24. Still an uphill battle for sure, but it ain’t over till it’s over.

The top two teams from SoCal advance to the Pacific Super Regional in Las Vegas, so the winners of both the semifinals will go on.

The Chicago Griffins are headed to Indianapolis in May, thanks to their defeat of the Chicago Lions in November. As the geographically closest Men’s D1 team competing in the Final Four, they can expect a strong home crowd cheering them to victory in the semi-finals, and hopefully the whole shebang.

The Red River Premiership is back in black, and by that I mean the Austin Blacks (8-0) are back to their winning ways. Not that they ever really left their winning ways… It wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine however, the road trip to the Dallas RFC (6-2) on March 8th was just as spicy as could be expected in Texas. It was a try at the death by winger Tyren Al-jiboori who sealed it for the Blacks, 19-14. Dallas needed that win to stay in the running for the playoffs, but fell short. They play Austin again in the final weekend of the regular season, but results won’t matter, Austin will advance to play Miami. 

Outside of those two teams, the Austin Huns (1-7) and the Dallas Harlequins (1-7) also have one match left and this one has everything riding on it. Not for standing or for playoffs, but for PRIDE. The Quins won the first meeting in January with a score of 24-19, the Huns then stole the second 49-44. With head to head results AND differential tied, it all comes down to this. Sure in the standings the Quins have more table points, whatever. Again this is for PRIDE baby. This is for BRAGGING RIGHTS. And when everything else is out the window, bragging rights do matter. Both final matches will be this upcoming weekend, April 5th.

The Miami Tridents (8-0) wrapped up their season neat and tidy by handing the Pelicans (7-1) their only loss of the regular season. Flyhalf Matthew Mairowitz kicked 100% on the day, slotting all seven conversions for a 49-12 final score. Now the fun and games are over for the Tridents and the real battle begins. As we’ve mentioned, Miami was playing in a D2 competition but seeks a D1 postseason pathway. Miami will head to the Gulf Coast Super Regional to face the winner of the Red River Premiership, the Austin Blacks. This match-up will be the first real test of the Trident’s grit and willingness to hang in when the going gets tough. From there, the stakes rise even higher as Miami strives to do the near impossible, win back to back National Championship Titles while moving up a division. There’s a first time for everything though, and Miami is ready to do it.

Two games this month to finalize the semifinal matchups happening this upcoming weekend on April 5th. Rocky Gorge (7-0) made it seven for seven as they took down Baltimore-Chesapeake (1-6) 38-15. Winger Donte Speight proved too hot to handle as he dotted down twice for Rocky Gorge in the March 22nd match. Fellow back three players Keagan O’Connell and Hunter Shelton each added one to the final tally as well. 

Schuylkill River (6-1) also slotted a win over Baltimore-Chesapeake last weekend to clench second overall and home field advantage for a semifinal. It was down to the wire as Baltimore-Chesapeake sent Jason Wolf over the line with ten minutes to go to stay within four points. Schuylkill, however, relied on the tried and trusted boot of Danny Giannascoli to slot a penalty goal at 77 minutes and keep the lead for the rest of the match.

Now we’re down to the final four; Rocky Gorge will host the fourth-ranked Potomac Exiles (4-3) while Schuylkill hosts the Washington Irish (5-2). The last time Rocky Gorge played the Exiles, it was as close as they come, Rocky Gorge sneaking by with a 19-14 win. Schuylkill hasn’t played the Irish since October 12th, and that too was a spicy match. Schuylkill added the points early, but the Irish surged late to bring the match within seven. Final score was 38-31 to Schuylkill. Long story short, any of the four teams in the playoffs have a very good chance of advancing. Unfortunately, only one can claim the title of Mid-Atlantic Champion, and that team will play the Empire/New England D1 Champion on May 3rd in order to qualify for the Final Four.