Men’s Division 2 – December 2025 Recap

It’s the holiday season, and that means there’s slightly less rugby to cover than usual. Most of the competitions in the northern half of the country are off for the winter; either waiting to decide champions in the spring or already having crowned their champions in the fall. The southern teams are a bit more active, we have some matches from December to recap, but only a few weekends. So in addition to our recaps this month, we’re going to dive into a bit of a preview of what the spring will hold as well as a look at the history books to see how it’s played out in the past. There’s still plenty of USA Club Rugby content to devour while you’re waiting for the rugby to return in 2026. 

As always – all of this information comes straight from team-entered data on Rugby Xplorer. If you see something that doesn’t seem right, please first check on there or with your local GU! The historical data comes from a couple other sources, there’s been a fair amount of movement in divisions and leagues that no longer exist, so I did my best. Obviously I can make mistakes; please don’t hesitate to reach out if you notice something off.

Without further ado, let’s dive into the last USA Club Rugby recap of 2025; Men’s Division 2.

The Midwest hosted their championships back in November, crowning the Southside Irish as the D2 Champion. However, the top TWO teams advance from the Midwest to the Northern Super Regional. So in addition to the Irish, Fort Wayne will be making the trip to playoffs. They will take on the Gentlemen of Aspen (Rocky Mountain champions) and the TBD Mid-America champs.

Looking back on the last three years of Super Regionals, we’ve only had one Midwest team make it out of regional playoffs and advance to the final four; this being the Indianapolis Impalas back in 2024. They ended up falling to the Miami Tridents in the semifinals, who ended up winning the whole thing. However, if we turn the dial back to encompass the last ten years of Men’s D2 Championships, we have a fair amount of Midwest representation. From 2015-2018, the National runner-up was exclusively from the Northern region, and three of those years it was a Midwest team (Detroit Tradesmen twice, and Wisconsin once). 

It’s been a minute since the Southside Irish or Fort Wayne represented the Midwest at regional or national playoffs, but don’t count them out. They made it through some pretty stiff competition to get here, and they’ve certainly got nothing to lose. 

Heading to the Heartland of America, we’ve got our Mid-America competition. This season is currently on break for the winter, with games scheduled to resume in March. Currently Kansas City (4-0) are on the top of the table, despite having only played four of their games. That should tell you a little bit about how dominant they were in the fall. If that doesn’t convince you, maybe the +278 point differential will. Over four games, that’s an average of 70 points per match! The Omaha GOATS (3-3) are currently in second place, but have one more match played than the third and fourth place teams, Wichita (2-3) and the Bombers (2-3). The GOATS do have more than twice as many bonus table points than those teams, a product of all their close finishes through the season. The Royal Ramblers (1-3) are down on the bottom of the table but they still have the same number of losses as all three teams above them, so they’re definitely not out of the picture yet. A spring winning streak for the Royal Ramblers could easily shoot them up the standings. 

If the playoffs are the same as last year, the top two teams will progress to the Mid-America Championship for a chance to go to the Northern Super Regional to play against the Southside Irish, Fort Wayne, and the Gentlemen of Aspen. 

How does the Mid-America Men’s D2 typically do on the regional and national stage? Not great (according to the stats). The last time (and only time) a Mid-America Men’s D2 team was in the National Championship game was back in 2017 when the St. Louis Bombers came second to the Life Running Eagles. However, it is worth noting that last year Kansas City defeated the Gentlemen of Aspen in the Northern Super Regional game to advance to the National final four. There they lost by only four points to Boise United, who just moved up to D1 this year. Given the tear that Kansas City are on again, they could very well be the catalyst to throw Mid-America Men’s D2 back into the National spotlight. That’s a long ways away though for a competition that still has half their season left to play. Once we dig Kansas and Missouri out of the snow, we’ll be back with more rugby.

Our final competition in the Northern region is far west, in the Rocky Mountains. This league has already crowned their D2 champion, and for the second time in a row, the Gentlemen of Aspen clinched the title. This confirms that the Gents will make their return trip to the Northern Super Regional to take on the Southside Irish, Fort Wayne, and the undetermined Mid-America champion. 

The Gents finished second in the Northern Super Regional last year, falling 44-39 to Kansas City after defeating the Indianapolis Impalas in the semifinal. Rocky Mountain has more than a few appearances in the Men’s D2 National Championship matches. Most of these are thanks to the Denver Barbarians who won the title in 2018 and 2023, as well as coming in second place in 2022. Aspen also has their own titles, but most of these come from the Rugby Super League competition, back in the late 90’s. They also defeated the Las Vegas Blackjacks in 2009 to win their last National Title, after leaving the Super League in 2005. From there Aspen went a bit quiet. They always got together for the annual Aspen Ruggerfest, but didn’t really have National-seeking hopes. This changed last year when we saw the Gents approach both the Rocky Mountain season and playoff pathway with a newfound intensity.

The Gents are definitely on a mission to win the National title this year, and step one is already done; qualify for the Super Regional. 

New England also wrapped up their regular season competition in November, with Portland taking the title over the Boston Irish Wolfhounds. Last year the Wolfhounds defeated Portland (then ranked top in the division) to advance to the Atlantic Super Regional, but this year both Portland and the Wolfhounds pulled off upsets to get by Mystic River who claimed the top spot. Portland actually finished a surprising 2-4 in the regular season and pulled off the comeback of all comebacks to upset everyone they faced in the quarters, semis, and the final. 

New England’s Men’s D2 champion has won the Atlantic Super Regional for the last three years, advancing to the final four. Unfortunately, they have yet to go beyond that; no NERFU Men’s D2 side has featured in the National Championship match in the last ten years. In fact, the last time a NERFU D2 Men’s team made the big dance was in 2004 when the Fairfield Yankees defeated Nashville 23-3 to claim the National title.

At the Super Regional, Portland will be taking on the champions from Empire, Capital, and the EPRU, all of whom have more league games to play in the spring. In order to keep the streak alive for NERFU winning out, Portland will have to find some tough opponents in order to knock the winter rust off and be prepared when Super Regionals roll around.

Over in the Empire Men’s D2, we’ve got three games left to finish out the season, all of which take place at the end of March. Buffalo (6-1) and New York Rugby Club (6-1) are tied on record, but Buffalo has three more bonus points to put them in first place. Both teams have one match left to play, Buffalo faces NYAC (3-3) while NYRC has to travel to Old Blue (1-5). Old Blue also has to play NYAC once more, which happens the weekend before, so we’ll get an idea of how those two fared coming out of the winter break. 

Last year, NYRC went undefeated to advance to the Atlantic Super Regional. They defeated the Riverlands Golden Boars 27-24 in the semifinal, but lost to the Boston Irish Wolfhounds 31-10 in the D2 final. Similarly to New England, no Empire Men’s D2 team has made the National Championship match in the last ten years. In 2002, New Haven Old Black defeated the Southside Irish to bring the Natty home to Empire, but that’s about it. What I’m saying is – it’s not impossible, but it’s certainly not going to be easy. Either Buffalo or NYRC will have a challenge on their hands come spring.

Down in the Capital competition, we’ve finished out the regular season and scheduled the semifinals for April 11th. The Raleigh Vipers (4-2) tied the Riverlands Golden Boars (4-2) on record and table points, but won out in the head to head PD battle. Despite the Riverlands and Raleigh each winning one of the games, the total point spread was 70-65 in favor of Raleigh. That’s how close it was. Raleigh takes the top spot and hosts fourth-place James River (1-5) while the Riverlands host the third-place Norfolk Blues (3-3) in April. 

The last match Raleigh played against James River was a solid win in favor of the Vipers, 80-24. However, roll the clock back to September and you’ll see that Raleigh barely snuck by James River, winning 17-12. Raleigh will thrive having the home field advantage in this one, but definitely don’t count James River out. The Riverlands split their games with the Norfolk Blues in the regular season, losing the first 52-35 and winning the second 41-24. Again, home field advantage played an important part in those two matches, which the Golden Boars have on their side this time. 

Whoever wins the Capital championship will advance to the Atlantic Super Regional to take on Portland (NERFU champion) and the undetermined champions from Empire and EPRU. The Golden Boars have attended the last two Super Regionals, falling in the semifinals both times to NYRC. James River made the trip in 2023, losing out to Philadelphia Whitemarsh. What about the last ten years? Capital actually does have a name on the list, something they can hold over everyone else in the Men’s D2 Atlantic. Rocky Gorge holds the Men’s D2 Championship title from back in 2014, defeating the Tempe Old Devils 29-5 in Madison, WI. Now obviously Rocky Gorge has since been promoted to D1, but the credit still stays with Capital. The Raleigh Vipers also won a D2 National title, way back in 2007, and they are still kicking in Capital’s D2. 

Games start back up in April, straight out of the snow and into the fire for these teams!

Our final participant in the Atlantic Super Regional will come from Eastern Pennsylvania. All eight teams wrapped up their regular season at the start of November, giving us the final four that will advance to semifinals on March 21st. 

North Bay (7-0) finished their season undefeated, granting them the number one seed and home field advantage in the semifinals. They will take on Old Gaelic (4-2-1) who finished fourth thanks to a resounding win over Philadelphia Whitemarsh (5-2) the final weekend of play. Whitemarsh and the Lancaster Roses (5-2) tied on record and table points, but Whitemarsh won the head to head back in September, so they get the home field advantage for that semi. 

Last time North Bay took on Old Gaelic was in October, at Old Gaelic. It was a pretty solid win for North Bay, final score 64-21. The whole season has been a strong one for North Bay, racking up a total PD of 317 over their seven matches. Old Gaelic can definitely pull an upset, as we mentioned – they took down second-place Philly Whitemarsh to close out their season. It won’t be easy, but it’s certainly possible. Whitemarsh defeated the Lancaster Roses by a similar score back when they played in September, 71-26 final. However, the Roses are on a three game winning streak. If they come out of this winter break just as sharp as they went into it, they also have a chance of pulling off the upset. 

What happens after a champion is crowned? The EPRU champ will advance to the Atlantic Super Regional to take on the NERFU, Empire, and Capital champions. The last three years the EPRU has had different champions, but they’ve all suffered the same fate. North Bay went out in the semis last year, losing to the Wolfhounds. Old Gaelic made the trip the year before, also dropping in the semis to the Wolfhounds. Back in 2023, Philadelphia Whitemarsh defeated James River in the semi, just to fall to the (you guessed it!) Boston Irish Wolfhounds in the final. The EPRU Men’s D2 hasn’t had a team reach the National Championship match in the last ten years; technically their last representative to the big dance was when Wilmington Rugby finished second in 2013. Brandywine Rugby and the Doylestown Dragons also finished second in 2008 and 2010; a little bit of a streak for the EPRU.

Fortunately for all the teams in Eastern Pennsylvania, the Wolfhounds have already been knocked out of playoff contention this year, so whoever wins out of this conference won’t suffer the same fate as the last three champions when they get to the Super Regional. 

Heading over to the west coast, we’ve got the Northern California hybrid D1/D2 conference. There are two D1 sides and five D2 sides; they’ll all play against each other in league play, but at the end of the regular season they’ll go on their own playoff pathways. This league has had a big shakeup from last year, as it’s gone down from ten teams to five. The top four from last year are back, reigning champions Silicon Valley are joined by Santa Rosa, San Jose, and Sacramento. Ninth-place East Palo Alto also makes the comeback to stay in Division 2. 

Silicon Valley went 8-1 to advance to the Pacific Super Regional last year, their only loss coming from Santa Rosa at the end of the season, when first place was already locked up. They defeated the Oceanside Chiefs in the semifinal, but fell to Boise United in the Pacific final. Both the Oceanside Chiefs and Boise United have been promoted to Men’s D1 this year, so wide open spaces for Silicon Valley to roam if they can make it back to the playoffs. 

As far as how NorCal fares in the National Championship matches, they had two champions in the last ten years, both of whom have since been promoted to D1; Life West in 2015 and Olympic Club in 2019. If we go back a bit further, we can see that East Palo Alto also won the D2 title in 2009. Last year NorCal didn’t have league playoffs, the team with the best record at the end of the regular season immediately advanced. If that is the case this year, every match is incredibly important. All the action starts on January 24th with San Jose hosting Sacramento and Santa Rosa hosting Silicon Valley. East Palo Alto has the first cross-divisional match of the season, hosting Life West the same day.

Moving up the coast, we have the Pacific Northwest Premiership, a hybrid D1/D2 conference across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. The lion’s share of these games have already been played, but we’re not sure if there are more left in the spring. As it stands, the Eastside Tsunami (5-1) are our team to beat. They’ve got an overall PD of 196, and have gotten a bonus point in every match. They also managed to defeat the D1 Seattle Orcas back in October. Last year’s champions Boise United managed to do the same thing in the regular season, and ended up making it all the way to the National Championship match. 

The Valley Kangaroos (4-1) have the best chance of meeting the Tsunami in the PNW Championship match; they lost 42-20 when they played last, but have defeated the rest of the competition so far in the regular season. They are scheduled to play the ORSU Jesters (1-2) at the end of February, but might have a few more games appear on the schedule. 

As far as representation at the National championships, Boise United have two second-place finishes (2025 and 2023). That’s probably why they have been promoted to D1, but they are still playing in this hybrid division. Some of the Pacific Northwest has access to year-round rugby (albeit wet year round rugby) so they are able to get a large number of games in the lead up to that playoff run. Until more games are posted (if they exist), our next match in this division is that February 28th contest between the Kangaroos and ORSU.

We’re still waiting on two final schedules to be uploaded into RX, the first of which is Southern California. Now, SoCal doesn’t typically start until the end of January, so we do have time, but it leaves me guessing on a few things. It has been confirmed that last year’s champions (and 2024 National runner-up), the Oceanside Chiefs, have been promoted back to Men’s D1. Top contenders to fill the gap left by the Chiefs would be San Luis Obispo [SLO], who finished second last year, or Belmont Shore or Ventura County, who finished third and fourth. Back in 2023 when Oceanside was in D1, SLO won the conference, upsetting Belmont, who were the top seed. Last year’s D3 Champion, Beach Cities, also throws their name in the hat this year. After two years of headlining the SoCal D3, they’ve moved up to D2.

The last ten years of Nationals we’ve only had one appearance in the final match, which was Oceanside back in 2024. The last title win would have been all the way back in 1999 with the Orange County Islanders, but nothing much since then. Perhaps it’s time for a SoCal Men’s D2 National Champion, and the road to that starts in January.

Unfortunately our second division that has yet to upload a schedule in RX are the D2 teams in the Southwest. Last year this division played a D2/D3 hybrid with the Las Vegas Irish going undefeated and heading to their home Super Regional. The Irish lost in the semifinal against Boise United, who ended up as National runner-up. The Tempe Old Devils represented in 2024, also losing in the semifinal, that time to Oceanside (who also finished National runner-up). 

However there is certainly a bright side when we look at the ten year National Championship history, the Tempe Old Devils won the title in 2016, after coming in second to Rocky Gorge back in 2014. The Red Mountain Warthogs also won a D2 title back in 2008, and the Albuquerque Aardvarks came second in 2009. Most recently, Scottsdale Rugby finished second in the D3 championship, and might possibly be moving up to D2 this year (don’t quote me on this I’m just guessing). Either way, the Southwest has some tough competition, maybe that’s why they are keeping it a secret. 

We only had three matches in the fall in this league, with the rest scheduled for the spring. Atlanta Old White (2-0) are currently in the lead, having defeated both Nashville (1-1) and the Birmingham Vulcans (0-2). New Orleans hasn’t yet kicked off their season, but they’ve got one heck of an opening match as they have to travel to Atlanta Old White on January 24th. At the end of the regular season, the top team in True South will take on the champions from Texas and Florida at the Gulf Coast Super Regional. There will be one more team joining, but still hasn’t been decided where that bid will come from. 

When we look at historical national representation from the True South, it’s a bit confusing. For the purposes of this section, I’m going to consider the old “Carolinas Men’s D2” as being absorbed by the True South. The reason I’m doing this is because Atlanta Old White was the last team left in the Carolinas, and joined True South this year. So, when you consider that, True South has done pretty well at Nationals. We’ve got last year’s champion, Atlanta Old White (who also came second in 2019). We’ve got Charlotte who won the title back in 2022 (another member of the former Carolinas conference). We’ve even got the Life Running Eagles who had a brief stint in D2, and won the title in 2017. Now, if we go all the way back to 2011, we have New Orleans Rugby who won the title over the Tampa Bay Krewe, who were defending champs from 2010. That’s four titles in 14 years? Not bad. 

New Orleans has won out the conference the last three years and has done pretty well at the Super Regional. They lost last year in the semifinal to Atlanta Old White, who went on to win the title. They lost in the final in 2024 to the Miami Tridents, who went on to win the title. They also lost in the final in 2023 to the Tridents after an 85th minute try by Miami’s Kyle Burnett. It’ll definitely be a battle between New Orleans and Atlanta Old White this year in the regular season, but don’t discredit Birmingham or Nashville, the season is just getting started. 

Texas is ready to kickoff on January 10th with eight Men’s D2 sides fighting it out. The Austin Blacks went undefeated last year, securing the Super Regional playoff spot with a 40-32 win over the Dallas RFC. They did get blanked in the Super Regional final, but that was to the eventual National Champions Atlanta Old White; and if you’re gonna lose, might as well do it to the best team out there. Houston United won the title the year before, bowing out to New Orleans in the regional semifinal, and San Antonio won it back in 2023, also going out in the semi, this time against Miami. Texas’ last D2 National Titles were in 2000 and 2001 with Fort Worth and The Woodlands taking home the hardware, respectively.  

This year all eight teams will play their opponents once, either home or away, followed by the top four heading to semifinals and then to the final. There were a few preseason matches in December, but it was just the usual suspects looking good as always. San Antonio and HURT are both going to be good, they finished second and fourth last year. You’ve always got to watch out for the multi-sided clubs as well, both the Austin Huns and the Austin Blacks, as well as the Dallas RFC, always big threats. It’s going to be a long season, and it’s almost here.

The Florida season is set to kickoff in a few weeks with the Pelicans hosting Boca Raton, Tampa hosting Orlando, and the D1 Tridents hosting last year’s champions Fort Lauderdale. The winner of the Florida division will advance to the Gulf Coast Super Regional to face the champions of Texas and True South. With the elimination of the Carolinas division, it’s still uncertain where the fourth bid will come from, but it is under consideration from the Club Council. 

The Miami Tridents won the D2 National title back in 2024, and were promoted to D1 last year; but there haven’t been many other Florida Men’s D2 teams repping in National Championship games. The Tampa Bay Krewe had a run back in the 2010’s, winning the title over the Doylestown Dragons in 2010 before coming second the following year. With Miami taking the step up to D1 but still playing a full D2 season, it’s possible that the added pressure will force the other teams to step up. I mean, look what happened to D2 Boise when they beat D1 Seattle last year in their hybrid league. 

Either way, Nationals are a long way away when you’ve got an entire regular season left to play. Florida will go from January 17th until the end of March before playing semifinals and a final to decide who will advance to the Gulf Coast Super Regional.

I’ve decided to start keeping track of the updates/corrections made in the article as I get information from clubs and players. I read all the comments and take emails, so if I get something wrong, please let me know! I want to ensure the most accurate data is out there.

1/2 – SoCal – Beach Cities has moved up to D2