Women’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 Women’s Division 1 competition this March.

Life West (4-0) is through to the playoffs! I mean, we all knew that, but it’s good to reinforce it! As the sole Women’s D1 team in the Northern California region, Life West automatically qualifies for the Pacific Super Regional. Now, they also really really deserve it. I’d say take a look at these numbers, but there’s some tough score lines over in NorCal; numbers that don’t really show anyone’s true potential. We are looking forward to April 12th when Life West and the Berkeley All Blues (4-0) go head to head. That will be a true battle of the Bay Area giants. Then the stakes get higher as Life West heads to Vegas to take on the champions from Rocky Mountain, SoCal, and the Pacific Northwest looking for that golden ticket to Indy. 

Two teams competing to try to advance to the D1 postseason, Seattle and ORSU. Now Seattle also plays in the BC Premiership so it can get a bit confusing. The Orcas have only one blemish on their record, a 19-19 tie against the Portland Pigs on March 22nd. Outside of that, it’s been relatively smooth sailing for Seattle, racking up big wins in the typical rainy spring weather. 

The Jesters have also put up some big numbers against opponents, but lost the head to head against Seattle back in February. Only one gets to advance to the Pacific Super Regional to take on Life West and the champions of Rocky Mountain, and Southern California.

Four teams competing in the Southern California region (which also includes Arizona), so all qualify for their regional playoff pathway. When we last left you, we were eagerly awaiting the top of the table Tempe (3-1-1) vs San Diego (5-0-1) clash. And BOY did it deliver. Now, I’m sure both teams would have rather had it another way, but for us watching at home, it makes it all spicier. Now as the records probably already gave away, San Diego and Tempe tied 22-22 on March 1st. Since San Diego topped Tempe on opening weekend in January, they still hold onto that coveted top seed, and likely will until the postseason. 

Battling it out for third and fourth are Santa Monica (2-4) and Belmont Shore (0-6). Belmont closed out their regular season winless, but will hopefully still have the chance to pull out the Cinderella story of a lifetime in the postseason. Santa Monica has fared better, getting two wins over Belmont, but still struggles against the top two teams. It feels like it’ll be Tempe versus San Diego for the Super Regional seed, but again, anything can happen.

The Utah Vipers (3-1) soared into first place in the standings after two strong wins this March. First up was a rematch of the season opener, with the Vipers traveling to the Colorado Grey Wolves (1-2). The Vipers won the opener comfortably, but this time they were in enemy territory. The Wolves fought valiantly but the Vipers proved too strong, winning the battle 53-29. Next up, the Vipers were back in Utah, hosting Denver Black Ice (1-2). Black Ice was responsible for the Vipers only loss in the fall season, a 56-17 rout. Perhaps with that in the back of their minds, the Vipers took no mercy on Denver, putting an incredible 78 points on the board to Denver’s lone try. 

Coming up in April, Black Ice will host the Grey Wolves for the final match of the regular season. As both teams are tied on record and on table points, the winner will finish second and the loser will sit at third. Unless there is another round of playoffs, the Utah Vipers will head to the Pacific Super Regional to compete against Life West (solo NorCal D1 team), either Seattle or ORSU, and the SoCal D1 Champion.

After their triumph over Columbus in November, the good news kept coming for the Metropolis Valkyries as the location for the National Championship was announced three weeks ago. The Valkyries can expect strong home support as they head to Indianapolis in May to compete in the National Championship semifinals against an undetermined opponent.

Texas wrapped things up on March 22nd as the final teams battled it out to secure playoff position. As we left it, the Austin Valkyries (2-4-1) tied against a very good sHARCs side (3-2-1), and the Dallas Harlequins (6-1) were on a hot streak after their close loss to the sHARCs. March brought more fortune the Quins’ way as they topped Austin 17-5 to secure first in the Red River Women’s Premiership. Division 2 Little Rock made a statement as they held off the sHARCs by a conversion to reach second in the overall standings. The sHARCs won their last one big against Austin to nab their playoff spot, while the Valkyries ended their season early. 

The sHARCs will take on the Quins in a highly anticipated rematch on April 12th at the Red River Rugby Conference Championship. As their last two fixtures were split 1-1 and both won within 5 points, it really is anyone’s game. The winner will advance directly to the Final Four of the National Championship in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Atlantic Women’s D1 Competition is back underway after a winter hiatus. The way we left it, NOVA (7-0) was the team to beat, and you’ll be pleased to hear that nothing has changed on that front. Despite locking up the top seed back in November, NOVA took no time off, storming back to the pitch with a 55-14 defeat of the DC Furies (2-5). From the third minute to the 77th, NOVA didn’t hold back, scoring nine tries over the 80 minute match, while holding DC to only two. 

DC still gained a positive from the past month, they secured their first win of the season 24-21 over third place Raleigh Venom (2-4). Jasmyn Nash kicked the winning penalty goal of the match at full time to bring the victory home, after a perfect afternoon off the tee (and scoring a try – is there anything she can’t do?). 

Coming up this month, Philadelphia (2-4) will host Raleigh, the winner taking third in the standings. DC will host Boston (3-3) and hopes to make a late season push into fourth with a win at home. NOVA will finish their regular season with a trip down to Raleigh and Boston will host Philadelphia. After that, the top four will compete to see who gets a one-way ticket to the National Championship Final Four in Indianapolis.