Men’s Division 2 – September 2025 Recap

Welcome back to another season of USA Club Rugby and another round of monthly recaps hosted by yours truly. After a scintillating summer of sevens rugby, the teams have headed back to the pitch to play XVs. Some conferences have changed, some have remained the same, some new clubs have entered the picture, others have closed doors, we’ll cover it all right here.

At the start of the year most of the action takes place in the Midwest and Northeast, but we’ll keep you in the loop with what’s happening in the Spring leagues as well. 

Also, the disclaimer (in case you’re new here), all of this information is gathered from team-entered data on RugbyXplorer. If something is wrong, it might just be because the data is incorrect in RugbyXplorer, otherwise it could be because I’m a human and sometimes make mistakes (yes, even me). I’m always open to correcting those mistakes if you reach out nicely! Outside of that, all of the commentary is added purely for fun from someone who has no stake in the outcomes of these matches. So sit down and enjoy as we cover what happened this past month in the Men’s D2 competition.

Kicking things off with the Midwest; we’ve got three separate geographical conferences for the Men’s D2 – Central, Eastern, and Western. 

First up, the Central conference. Last year three teams finished 5-1: Palmer College, Chicago Blaze, and the Chicago Condors. This year Palmer and the Blaze are both out of the Central, and the Condors are now the Westside Condors, and they’re definitely not at the top of the table anymore. Leading that charge are the Southside Irish (3-0) who went 3-3 last year. The Irish first took on the Chicago Lions (3-1), defeating them 43-12 at the Lions’ home field. Then it was onto the Condors (1-2), and finally Lincoln Park (2-2) fell at the fury of the Irish. Next up is the Fox Valley Maori (0-3), and that is likely going to hurt.

The Lake Country Coyotes (2-1) are third on the table after losing 27-17 against the Lions two weeks ago. Their first two matches over the Condors and the Chicago Riot (1-3) were good morale boosters, and they’re going to need the confidence heading into their next match against Lincoln Park. Lincoln Park has split their matches so far; they’ve beaten the two worst teams but lost to the two best teams. When they play the Coyotes and the Condors, it’ll really clear up who is top of that middle group. 

Moving to the Eastern Conference, this was the old stomping ground of the Indianapolis Impalas, now D1. With the Impalas out of the way, it’s anyone’s conference to win, and teams are throwing all they’ve got at it. Fort Wayne (4-0) is the only undefeated team left, and they’ve already taken down their second and third place competitors, so they’re in a good spot to advance to playoffs. The Grand Rapids Gazelles (4-1) are doing well, they’ve been eyeing a trip back to Nationals ever since their 2019 runner-up status in D3. Columbus (3-1-1) looked like a true contender from the start of the season but just last weekend tied 19-19 against the Cleveland Crusaders (0-3-1), who were not looking that hot. Is this Cleveland finally waking up or Columbus dropping the ball? Canton-Akron (2-2) is solidly middle of the table; they did only lose by two points to the Gazelles, a late try by Justin Smith wasn’t enough to push them ahead. They also only beat Cleveland by three, but as we touched on above, maybe Cleveland is better than their record suggests. The South Pittsburgh Hooligans (0-4) are experiencing their first D2 season after winning the Midwest title in D3 last year. It’s been a tough go, but honestly they’ve been unlucky. Their first two games were both one-point losses, and then they played two top of the table teams. I’m sure their first win is right around the corner.

Finally, heading back to the Western Conference, we find Palmer College (3-1) who was missing from our Eastern Conference check-in! Like any teenager, Palmer is doing just fine, thanks mom, I don’t need you to check in on me. They’ve really settled into this West-ish Coast lifestyle, going on a three match win streak after their opening loss in August. It’s enough to put them second on the table, and when they play Milwaukee (0-3) next weekend, it might even secure them more. The top dog in the league right now though is Des Moines (4-0). Des Moines had an average season last year, going 3-3, but this year they came out firing, taking down last year’s second place team, the Eastside Banshees (1-3), in their opening match. They have a big challenge on their plate next weekend though as they take on last year’s leaders Wisconsin (3-0). There’s not a lot of matches we can compare the two across, so we’ll just have to wait and see who comes out on the other side on Saturday.

The Eastside Banshees, the Milwaukee Barbarians (1-3), and Green Bay (1-3) all have the same record, but different table points thanks to bonus points. And Milwaukee (0-3) isn’t far behind. They’ve gotten some helpful bonus points from their 35-33 loss to the Barbarians and 39-26 loss to Des Moines; every little bit counts!

Plenty of rugby still to come in the Midwest, October is another busy month and then we will start to see a playoff picture come together. The conference champions will be decided in November, and then they will sit and wait for the rest of the country’s champions to be decided in 2026.

The big news in this year’s Mid-America Men’s D2 competition is the addition of last year’s D3 Champions, the St. Louis Royal Ramblers (0-1). The Royal Ramblers were promoted after going 7-0 in last year’s regular season and advancing to the Northern Super Regional. Their first match of the season was a close one, falling 24-19 against the St. Louis Bombers (1-2). Curtis Smith scored in the 74th minute and Sam Sykora added the extras to ensure the Royal Ramblers got the bonus point in the loss. Looking at the rest of the table though, it might be a tough season. The Bombers have already played the Omaha GOATS (2-0) and the Kansas City RFC (1-0), and lost both of those matches by a significant amount. The Royal Ramblers will have to up their game when they face either of those sides.

Omaha were middle of the pack last year and they have soared to the top of the table at the start of this year. Their 52-8 win over the Bombers was excellent, and they followed it up with a 50-0 demolition of the Wichita Barbarians (0-1). Their big test will come on October 11th when they face off against fellow undefeated side, Kansas City RFC. KC has only played one match so far, but it was certainly a statement. They ran in 14 tries against the Bombers just last weekend, sharing the load between ten different players. That’s certainly a team effort. They will host the Royal Ramblers this upcoming weekend.

Still plenty of action left in this division, they’ll run through November before taking a winter break and returning in March.

Shifting west towards the Rocky Mountains, we are going to check in on the teams out of the Denver/Utah area (and the good stuff in between!). Boulder Rugby has dropped to D3 this year, but the other four teams remain the same. Last year’s champion and Northern Super Regional runner-up, the Gentlemen of Aspen (2-0) are back in business. They opened their season with a 32-14 win over the Haggis (2-2) before going back and forth with the Denver Water Dogs (2-1). Christopher Campbell has been excellent for the Gents, kicking 21 points off the tee in two matches. We love a second row that goes for the kicks, it’s giving Sophie de Goede vibes. They’ve also got former professional player Ben Mitchell running the show from the back row, so it’s not really a surprise that the Gents are the team to beat. 

The Denver Water Dogs are currently in second, they only lost that Aspen match by three points, so still very much a contender here. They also hoofed 48 points onto the Denver Barbarians (0-3) and another 44 onto the Haggis when they came into town.

Haggis are an interesting case. They’ve played more matches than anyone, which is likely thanks to their double header they pulled last weekend, facing off against the Water Dogs on Saturday and the Barbos on Sunday. They went 1-1 in that exchange, pulling out a 31-10 win over the Barbos after a loss to the Water Dogs; but what would have happened if they didn’t need to conserve energy for the final day? I guess that’s the cost of doing business to find the best competition in your region.

The Barbarians are currently 0-3, a wild record coming from the 2018/2023 National Champions. However, instead of a drop in talent, we think it’s more likely a rise in talent from the competition surrounding the Barbos. There’s still plenty of time to right the ship for Denver, who must travel to the Gents this weekend. Winning that game would certainly make a statement to the entire Rocky Mountain region that Denver deserves to be here.

Over in the Atlantic region, we’ll start at the top of the coast with our New England-based sides. This division is pretty close to the same as it was last year, minus the Hartford Wanderers, who dropped down to D3. Last year saw Portland and the Boston Irish Wolfhounds both go 6-1 before the Wolfhounds topped Portland in the NERFU final 23-17.

This year Mystic River (4-0) have climbed to the top of the table thanks to wins over Newport (0-4), Portland (1-2), and the Wolfhounds (2-1). Their closest match was at the start of the season against Newport, 31-24, and they’ve widened the gap since then. Twice they’ve had differentials of over 60 points, really making their mark in the Boston area. 

In second place are Boston (2-1) who, thanks to a bonus point gained in their loss to Worcester, are one table point higher than the other two teams with 2-1 records. Boston missed the playoffs last year after tying the fourth-place team on record and table points and losing in the head to head comparison. They aren’t going to make that mistake again, and are looking for any opportunity to weasel their way up the table to playoff safety.

Our final two 2-1 teams are the Boston Irish Wolfhounds and the Worcester Shamrocks. These two are tied for third, though the Wolfhounds beat the Shamrocks 36-26 when they faced off last weekend. However, the Shamrocks already beat second place Boston, so nothing is set in stone.

Portland has dropped a few spots from last year, they got pummeled by Mystic and lost a very close one to Worcester 28-24. They did beat Newport 51-40, and Newport came within seven points of Mystic; so perhaps the gap between the top and the bottom of the table is not as large as we would think.

Charles River (1-3) got their lone win of the season so far on September 13th, as they defeated Newport 38-31. Surprisingly, Newport is higher than Charles River on the table thanks to six bonus points gained in their losses across the season. I always say, those bonus points matter!

Coming up in October, Mystic will take on Worcester and Boston will face the Wolfhounds. The table might look a bit different come the end of the month.

Into the Big Apple as we check on a few New York-centered clubs. Last year the Men’s D2 in the Empire region looked similar to the American Rugby Premiership [ARP] with Old Blue, White Plains, and NYAC. This year NYAC and Old Blue have stuck around, but White Plains is out. In their place comes Montclair, last year’s D3 New Jersey conference leader. One thing about this conference that is the same from last year is that these teams love to score tries. There’s been an average of 67 total points scored each match, and the lowest total point sum was 59. Thats a lot of bonus points being given out. 

Now, who’s scoring the MOST of these points? That would be New York Rugby Club (3-0). NYRC have faced every opponent except Old Blue (1-1) and defeated them all. Their match against Buffalo (2-1) was a close one, they ended up scoring through Louis Ypma at the 76th minute and held that lead until the end.

Buffalo are a strong second on the table, they smashed Old Blue 51-8 in the opening match of the season, and then took down Montclair (0-4) 38-21. They’ll play NYAC (1-1) next weekend and then officially be halfway through the season. Buffalo have also gotten all available bonus points to them; one in each win for over four tries, and two in the loss to NYRC. This inches them closer to NYRC on the table, even with one loss.

Montclair’s debut season in the conference isn’t going great, but if you look at the details, there’s a lot of positives to take away from the games. Montclair have managed to score an average of 23 points per match, which means bonus points on the table. Their closest match was their first bout with NYAC who eked by them 38-33 thanks to a few conversions and a penalty goal by Hubert Chan. They’ve scored against all the heavy hitters; 17 on NYRC, 21 on Buffalo, and 24 on Old Blue. It’s just a matter of time before they start putting the final pieces together. 

NYAC are middle of the pack, they lost to the top of the table and beat the bottom of the table; but with only two games played that just confirms they are indeed in the middle. Once they face off against teams like Buffalo and Old Blue we’ll have a better idea of what they’re all about.

Our Capital Men’s D2 has four teams, just like last year, but has swapped out the Pittsburgh Harlequins for the Norfolk Blues.

The Norfolk Blues (1-2) have had a bit of a rocky start; their opening match against James River (1-1) was a full 80 effort, but they came up short at the last minute, final score 38-37. Their next match saw them drive down to North Carolina to face the Raleigh Vipers (2-1). Raleigh stormed over Norfolk 85-12, notching their biggest win of the season. Now, it’s interesting because Raleigh just beat James River 17-12, but that was at James River’s pitch, making it seem that home field advantage is a real thing. However, Norfolk did pull it out last weekend as they topped the Riverlands Golden Boars (2-1) 52-35. Riverlands was 2-0 before this match, and made it all the way to the Atlantic Super Regional last year, so, big win for Norfolk. Of course, the Riverlands beat Raleigh back at the start of the season, so everyone gets a win!

In truth, it’s exactly what you want out of a season; any team can beat any team on any given day, and that makes for exciting rugby. The Golden Boars will rematch the Blues on October 11th and Raleigh will square off against James River again on October 25th. The last two games of the season will be November 1st, and then it’s quiet until spring playoffs. 

We are down from ten to eight teams in the Eastern Pennsylvania region, losing Phoenixville and Reading to the Men’s D3 competition. Each of the remaining teams have played three games apiece, and clear tiers are starting to form.

Our top tier is our two undefeated sides: North Bay (3-0) and Old Gaelic (3-0). Both have max bonus points on the table and total point differentials around 100. These two were ranked one and two last year after the regular season, and North Bay advanced to the Atlantic Super Regional, so this all checks out. 

Next we have Philadelphia Whitemarsh (2-1) and Roses RFC (2-1). Whitemarsh were ranked third last year as well, so appropriate standing for them; but the Roses finished 2-7 last year with no hope of reaching the playoffs. This year, the Roses started with an 18-12 win over Media (0-3) and a 28-15 win over Doylestown (1-2). Sure, they lost big to Whitemarsh, but that’s only one match. It does only get harder however, the Roses’ next match is against North Bay, and that’s going to be a test.

Doylestown and South Jersey (1-2) both only have one win to their name; even worse, Doylestown’s seems to be from a forfeit. South Jersey clenched their win back on the 20th, beating Monmouth (0-3) 41-33.

This brings us to the bottom of the table, Media (0-3) and Monmouth. Media, what happened? Media was in the playoffs last year, making it all the way to the EPRU semifinals where they put up a fight against Old Gaelic. This year, nada. It’s going to be a task to climb back up from a 0-3 hole, but if anyone can do it, Media can. Monmouth also have a bit of spark to them. They scored 64 points across their three losses, so they’re not just rolling over and taking the hit. A win will come for Monmouth soon, their best chance is probably the 11th when they take on Doylestown. Also a match to look forward to is the October 25th top of the table clash between North Bay and Old Gaelic; you won’t want to miss that one. 

Northern California is playing a D1/D2 hybrid this year, with Life West and Olympic Club representing as the D1 sides. D2 will be made up of East Palo Alto [EPA], Sacramento, San Jose, Santa Rosa, and Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley topped the competition last year, making it to the Pacific Super Regional final where they eventually fell to now-D1 Boise United. With Boise out of the way in D2, could this be Silicon Valley’s year? Or will someone else sneak in and try to nab the crown? Games will kick off in January and we will cover all the action then.

Heading up to the Pacific Northwest, the big news is that Boise United, after a phenomenal 2024-25 season, moved up to D1 postseason play. This means that they will still take on all familiar D2 foes, but come the end of the season, they will play against the Seattle Orcas in order to decide who advances to the Pacific Super Regional. But that’s D1 news, we’re here for the D2 action.

Now, there haven’t been many games yet, but it’s already looking like we’re in for a spicy season. The Tacoma Nomads (1-1) and Eastside Tsunami (1-1) have both split the difference on their results. Eastside Tsunami won their season opener over the Nomads on the 13th, but then dropped their second match to a very good Bend Roughriders (1-0) 39-31. Austin Alley slotted the penalty goal that kept the bonus point out of reach for Eastside, something that I’m sure will come back to bite Tsunami later in the season. The Nomads bounced back after their opening loss with a strong win over the ORSU Jesters (0-1) 34-22.

The Chuckanut Bay Geoducks and the Valley Kangaroos were scheduled to go head to head this past weekend, but no scores have yet been reported. However both of those sides have already played Seattle D1 and lost by similar scorelines, so it should have been an epic match. 

There’s a handful of games left before the winter break, including the Nomads hosting Bend, but that won’t be until November, so you’ll have to wait for that one. Eastside hosts Seattle next weekend; it’ll be their big chance to put their names out there as the team to beat this year in D2.

Southern California has yet to update their intentions and divisions for the 2026 season, probably because they won’t kickoff until January. The Oceanside Chiefs have been promoted to D1, so the returning champions will not be back. This blows the competition wide open. Taking into consideration that last year’s Pacific Super Regional champs Boise United are also in D1, the opportunity for a D2 club in California to make it to Nationals is ripe for the taking. Could it be San Luis Obispo or Belmont Shore? Maybe Ventura County? It’s anyone’s game, and we’ll be tracking it when it all kicks off in January.

The Southwest region played a D2/D3 hybrid last year, but it looks like they are splitting the divisions this year. Last year’s champions Las Vegas will clash against the Tempe Old Devils and the Red Mountain Warthogs, as well as newly promoted Scottsdale Blues. The Blues were National runners-up in D3 last year and defeated the Warthogs and Old Devils in regular season play, so we aren’t that surprised to see the promotion. Matches will start in January, so nothing to cover until then!

We should probably rename this division to the Atlanta Old White fan page, as AOW are back as the only team in the Carolinas D2. Lack of formalized competition clearly didn’t hurt Old White as they sailed through the regional playoffs and clinched the D2 National Championship title in Indy. In the meantime, Old White has been part of developing the new Atlanta-based ARP side as well as kicking off their D3 season. How these programs will affect their D2 team, we have yet to find out, but when we know we will cover it all here.

After a tough season last year riddled with forfeits, the True South have condensed down to three core D2 sides: New Orleans, Nashville, and the Birmingham Vulcans. Nashville took the spoils last year, going 5-0 and advancing to the Gulf Coast Super Regional. There they faced Atlanta Old White, which as we mentioned above, went Old White’s way (like everything else last season). However, with a smaller, more consistent season, perhaps True South will be able to piece together their own champion to go the distance. Games started in October last year, so we expect to see a formal schedule out early next month.

We’ve got eight teams vying for supremacy in Texas’ Division 2 this year, spread around the state. Houston Athletic Rugby Club have moved up to D1 and DARC dropped down to D3, but outside of that, the teams remain the same. Last year the Austin Blacks topped the division (and the D1 and D3, not like anyone is counting) and advanced to the Gulf Coast Super Regional, where they beat the Ft Lauderdale Knights before falling to AOW in the final. Games will start in January, so we’ll check back in post-Christmas break.

We’ve got six teams in this hybrid division this year, down from nine last year. Jacksonville, Palm Beach, and the Southwest Florida Hammerheads have moved down to Division 3, while the Miami Tridents remain as the sole D1 side. Last year the Ft Lauderdale Knights shocked the Pelicans in the D2 final to advance to the Gulf Coast Super Regional. They eventually fell to the Austin Blacks in the semifinal but claiming the Florida title was an incredible achievement for the Knights after going 5-2-1 in the regular season. Games are scheduled to kickoff in January, so we will pick back up in the sunshine state at the start of next year!