Men’s Division 1 – October 2025 Recap

With October coming to a close, it is yet again time for another USA Club Rugby Monthly Recap where we cover all of the goings-on from this past month in the USA Club Rugby scene. It’s a spicy time of the year for some regions who have completed their regular season this month and are entering playoffs. Other regions have just kicked off, while even more have just finalized schedules for the spring season. And we’re covering it all right here. As always, recaps are organized by division, so take a seat as we dive into what happened in the Men’s D1 Competition this past October!

Before I forget, all of this information is gathered from team-entered data on Rugby Xplorer. If you see something wrong, please check first on Rugby Xplorer and talk to your Geographic Union; if it’s right on RugbyX but wrong here, I could have just made a mistake. Unfortunately, I too am a human. I am always open to hearing comments and suggestions, so don’t be afraid to reach out. Any additional commentary is added for fun from someone who has zero standing in the outcomes of these games. Sounds good? Let’s get started.

The season has come to a thrilling close with both conferences finishing their league play this past weekend. The top two teams from each conference will advance to the semifinals, with the Midwest Champion going directly to the National Final Four next year. There’s a lot on the line here, let’s see how everyone finished. 

In the Eastern Conference, the Detroit Tradesmen (7-0-1) finished undefeated (because a tie isn’t a loss right?) after a couple of back and forth high point games. They took down the Cincinnati Wolfhounds (2-5-1) 53-34 at the start of the month before their dramatic 36-36 draw against the Chicago Griffins (5-1-2). The Griffins of course were the reigning champions of the Midwest after their 31-24 defeat of the Chicago Lions last year. So to go toe to toe with the Griffins isn’t too bad. Detroit also neatly packaged up a home semifinal berth after closing out the season with another win over the Wolfhounds; this one 52-43 (defense optional?). Now, this wasn’t even the only tie that the Griffins had this season, they drew with Pittsburgh Forge (0-6-2) all the way back in August when the season kicked off. Poor Pittsburgh, they drew with the Wolfhounds on October 11th, then dropped their second to last game of the season against the Indianapolis Impalas (3-5) 33-31; finishing the season winless. The Impalas had a decent year, particularly for their first in the D1 competition. Highlights included their two wins over Pittsburgh and their season opener over the Wolfhounds. So, Detroit takes the top spot and the home advantage, and the former champs hit the road in order to take on the Western Conference champion.

Over in the Western Conference, we actually had one less game played than expected as the top of the table clash between the St. Louis Bombers (7-0) and the Chicago Lions (5-2) didn’t take place. Before you start calling foul, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Chicago couldn’t possibly take the lead from St. Louis, nor could they drop down any further than they were, and the weather was like, really bad. Thus, the seeds were confirmed. The Chicago Blaze (5-3) made a late push for playoffs, but needed to defeat St. Louis last weekend in order to hop over the Lions. In the end, the Bombers proved too strong and held off the Blaze’s attacks, keeping them locked in at third. Metropolis (2-6) finished their season with a 27-20 win over the Kansas City Blues (0-8) last weekend, Ekapatelisio Veamatahau scoring twice for Metropolis in the match. Kansas City had a number of games where they came close, but still couldn’t find a win to end their season on. They will head back to the planning board to plot for next year. 

So our semifinals have the St. Louis Bombers (W1) hosting the Chicago Griffins (E2) and the Detroit Tradesmen (E1) hosting the Chicago Lions (W2) in November. I’m getting deja vu, because these are the same match-ups as last year, including who hosted and who was the lower seed. Both the Lions and the Griffins upset the top seeds to advance, and both Detroit and St. Louis will be doing everything they can to prevent that from happening again. Whatever happens, these are going to be two very good games of rugby that you will not want to miss. 

The Mid-Atlantic Men’s D1 has also finished out their regular season this past weekend, and will now lay low until April comes around for playoffs. With one conference and seven teams, the top four will advance directly into semifinals to determine a Mid-Atlantic Champion. This champion will then face off against the Empire champion (determined by ARP head to heads in the Empire/New England region) for the slot in the National final four. But that’s all in the spring, let’s talk about what happened in October.

The top three spots on the table all went to teams who finished with 22 table points. The top two spots had a difference of FOUR POINT DIFFERENTIAL to determine who was one and who was two. That’s insane. So, who finished on top? That would be Rocky Gorge (4-1-1). They were on top during our last check-in, and while it got spicy there for a bit, they did enough to hold on. They defeated NOVA (4-2) (who were undefeated at the end of September) 45-38 the first weekend of October before cutting it close against Baltimore Chesapeake (1-4-1) the following weekend. They won that 19-12, but failed to get a bonus point which would come back to haunt them. It was this past weekend that Rocky Gorge finally stumbled, dropping their final match of the season to Schuylkill River (4-2) who needed this win to jump to second place. Rocky Gorge were able to get the bonus point in the loss that kept them tied, but were they able to get a second losing bonus point (for coming within seven) they would have been a bit safer on top of the table. In the end they secured first and that’s all that matters.

Schuylkill River made a very late surge to finish second overall. Their bonus point win over Rocky Gorge was necessary following their 34-21 loss to the Potomac Exiles the week before. They did take down both NOVA and Baltimore Chesapeake earlier in the month, but their season opening loss to the Washington Irish still haunts them. Despite missing the top spot by only four points (of differential), Schuylkill has still done enough to secure a home semifinal come spring. 

Finishing third (and our third team with 22 table points) is NOVA. NOVA were undefeated in September, so what happened? They lost (but got two bonus points) back on October 4th when they hosted Rocky Gorge, and then lost (but got two bonus points) the next weekend when they traveled to Schuylkill. They finished with two wins over Washington (0-6) and the Washington Irish (3-3), but it was really those bonus points that moved them into third. 

Our fourth place team and the last team to qualify for semifinals in the spring are the Potomac Exiles. Ah Potomac, they sure kept it interesting. Potomac tied both the first place and the sixth place team, on back to back weekends. They beat second place Schuylkill, but lost to third place NOVA. And they came awfully close to Washington, who finished the season winless. The Exiles may be all over the board, but they’ve got something special; and when the postseason run comes, you never know what Potomac is going to show up with.

In April we expect Rocky Gorge to host Potomac and Schuylkill to host NOVA. As the first of those matches was a tie and the second was an 83-point barnburner, we know the semifinals are going to be fun.

In Northern California the Men’s D1 and D2 teams play in a hybrid conference before following separate postseason pathways. Last year’s champions, Life West, made it all the way to the Pacific Super Regional final where they fell to the eventual National Champions, Belmont Shore. They will be joined by Olympic Club who moved up to D1 after their 2019 D2 National title. Games won’t start until January, so nothing to cover until then!

We’re deep into the action in the Pacific Northwest, and the best match of the season took place this past month. The first battle between the two D1 sides, Seattle and Boise United, was a bit of one-way traffic in September. Boise kept the gap close the first half, but the Orcas ran away with it the second, pulling out to a 51-17 final score. However, the two powerhouses met again on October 17th in Boise. Boise came out roaring, showing the Orcas that they were not going to get run over again. It was a thrilling match, back and forth, with impressive play from both sides. With seven minutes to go, Boise held a 10-point lead over the Orcas. However, Seattle found the try zone and brought the gap within one score. The final minutes were a flurry of action as the Orcas pressed Boise against their goal line. In the final minute of the match, the Orcas dove over, scoring the game-winning try. The full-time whistle sounded, and it was all over. Seattle finished the fall D1 season 2-0 over Boise United. Both teams are still playing interdivisional matches through the end of year, and that’s actually where it gets a bit interesting. 

On October 4th, Seattle dropped their match against Eastside Tsunami 43-38. This was the same Eastside Tsunami that Boise United demolished in September 64-7, which is interesting. There’s a few more interdivisional matches that will take place between D1 and D2 sides, but that’s all just preparation for the big Boise vs Seattle games.

Down the coast, in Southern California, lives the reigning National Champions, Belmont Shore. Belmont capped off their season last year with a 27-12 win over Old Blue in the D1 National Championship final, claiming their second title ever; their first back in 2012. Joining Belmont will be fellow former National Champs Old Mission Beach Athletic Club [OMBAC], as well as SoCal stalwarts Santa Monica and Eagle Rock. The San Diego Old Aztecs were in the fold last year as well, no word on whether they will return to D1 play. No rush on this one though, games won’t start until January.

The Texas Men’s Premiership will formally kickoff in January, but there are a number of warm-up matches to look forward to at the end of this year. Our first preseason friendly took place this past weekend as the Austin Huns hosted San Luis Obispo Rugby from Southern California. It was a successful runout for the Huns who tested their full premier roster against the Californians. There’s a few new names to be wary of entering the regular season; Seimou Smith and Ayemere Oiyemhonlan are two former MLR additions to the men in blue, joining hooker Mason Koch who returned to the squad last year. 

Looking forward to November, Houston Area Rugby Club [HARC] will play against former D2 foes, Houston United Rugby Team [HURT] on the 8th; while the Dallas Harlequins will take on the D2 Grand Prairie Mavericks on the 15th. The first of our D1vD1 preseason clashes will happen in December, so you’ll have to hold out a bit longer for that action.

The Miami Tridents have indicated their intention to participate in the Men’s D1 postseason again this year, after their 2024 D2 title and D1 debut last year. The Tridents play in the American Rugby Premiership [ARP] in the fall and then in the Florida D2 competition in the Spring. With different eligibility guidelines across the competitions, some players won’t feature in the NCS-seeking roster, however with the Miami Sharks out of the MLR, we’re not sure who will be turning up this year. 

Entering October, the Tridents were 0-3 in the ARP, and I can’t say much has improved. They dropped their October 4th match against Atlanta Premier Rugby 52-5 and their October 12th match against Life 76-10. The Tridents will retire for the winter and come back in the spring; their first match is scheduled to be the 17th of January hosting last year’s Florida MD2 champions, the Fort Lauderdale Knights.