Men’s Division 2 – January 2026 Recap

It may be a new calendar year, but we’re only halfway through the USA Club Rugby 25-26 season. However, January does mark the start of league play in most of our warmer-weather regions. They will dominate the lion’s share of this article as competitions in the North have either finished or remain on winter break until the spring. We’ll still be sure to note what happened in the fall or what lies ahead for playoffs in those competitions. 

All of the information gathered for these articles come from the team-entered data on Rugby Xplorer. This means that the more accurate your team is about entering data, the more detail I can go into in these recaps. The power is in your hands. Or your team’s admin’s hands… If there does happen to be a mistake – feel free to reach out; I’m always in the interest of providing the most accurate information. Any additional commentary is added just for fun; from someone who has zero stake in the outcomes of these matches. 

Now that we’ve covered that (or skipped over it because you’re a regular reader of the monthly recaps), it’s time for some rugby! Let’s kick it off with what’s happened in the Men’s Division 2 Competition.

The Midwest wrapped up their competition back in November with the Southside Irish and Fort Wayne winning the semifinals and advancing to the Northern Super Regional. The Southside Irish will take the higher seed (thanks to their win over Fort Wayne in the Midwest final), and the pair will play the champions from Mid-America and Rocky Mountain. For more detailed information on how this competition wrapped up – you can check out the November Recap.

Mid-America has a few more regular season matches left to play; kicking off in March. Currently Kansas City (4-0) are on the top of the table, despite having only played four of their games. 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. 

Rocky Mountain crowned their champion back in November, with the Gentlemen of Aspen winning back to back titles. The Gents will play the Southside Irish, Fort Wayne, and the undetermined Mid-America champion at the Northern Super Regional later in the spring. We expect the Gents to play a few warm-up matches before heading off, when we know, we will cover them here. Until then – nothing new to report!

New England also wrapped up their regular season competition in November, with Portland taking the title over the Boston Irish Wolfhounds. Portland will take on the champions from the Empire, Capital, and EPRU regions in the spring – the only team qualified so far. 

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. 

Capital has finished their regular season and the next matches scheduled are the semifinals on the weekend of 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.

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. We’ll have to wait until March for those games.

Northern California plays a hybrid Men’s D1/D2 competition that kicked off two weekends ago, so we’re just at the beginning of this action. Last year’s champions Silicon Valley (2-0) are back in their spot at the top of the table after two wins. Their first match was a solid 71-15 defeat of D2 Santa Rosa (1-1). Silicon Valley averaged more than a try every 10 minutes with six different players scoring, as well as flyhalf Tyler Fraas going eight for eleven on conversion kicks. Their second game was a massive statement, as they defeated D1 Olympic Club 38-33. It was tied for the final five minutes, but Daelan Denenberg dove over in the final play of the game to take the lead and give Silicon Valley the win. In case there was any doubt, Silicon Valley is absolutely back. 

Santa Rosa and San Jose (1-1) are tied for second in the D2 standings with identical records. Santa Rosa lost their opener to Silicon Valley, but managed to eke out a win last weekend in a gritty 19-12 defeat of Sacramento (0-2). Santa Rosa took the early lead, but failed to score any points in the second half as Sacramento chipped away at the deficit. Both teams were scoreless the final 20 minutes with Santa Rosa taking the win at full time. It was Sacramento’s second loss of the season, as they also dropped their opening match 22-17 against San Jose. They’ve gotten two bonus points so far for two losses within seven, but they’re going to need to add some games to the win column to have a chance at a post-season run.

East Palo Alto (0-1) may be near the bottom of the table, but they’ve only played one match. That was a decent fight against D1 Life West back on January 24th. They put up 29 points in that, an impressive showing against a team that defeated San Jose 118-0. They travel to Santa Rosa on February 7th, a good time to show how they fare in the D2 comp. 

More games to look forward to this season include EPA hosting San Jose and Silicon Valley hosting Sacramento, both on the 14th. 

The Men’s D2 up in the Pacific Northwest looks to be on a winter break, with a number of games to return to in March. Eastside Tsunami (5-1) currently top the table with an overall PD of 196, despite that September loss to the Bend Roughriders (2-3). They also managed to defeat the D1 Seattle Orcas back in October (not counted in the record). 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. The Tacoma Nomads (2-5) are sitting in third, having played the most matches of any side. 

Games kickoff on March 1st with the ORSU Jesters (2-2) hosting the Valley Kangaroos. The following weekend the two heavy-hitters face off with Eastside hosting the Kangaroos and the Chuckanut Bay Geoducks (1-3) get in on the action when they host the Roughriders. Plenty of action still to come in this region!

Down in Southern California, all ten teams have played three matches each, and there’s some very clear patterns emerging. 

First up, our top tier. These three teams have all gone 3-0 in the opening rounds: Belmont Shore, Los Angeles Rugby Club [LARC], and San Luis Obispo [SLO]. Belmont is by far the front runner, they have a PD of +318, which is an average of over 100 points per match. There was only one game they didn’t hit triple digits, and that was when it was 99-0 against Ventura County (1-2). LARC have a PD of +189, still pretty intimidating; their closest game was opening weekend against newly-promoted Beach Cities (1-2) who were D3 Champions last year. SLO have the lowest PD of the top three, and it’s still +137, which is an average of over 45 points per match.

Fortunately for the rest of the teams in this comp, this run will have to end soon, as LARC host SLO on February 7th, and one of them will finally record a loss. Belmont on the other hand, they won’t play LARC or SLO until March, so watch out for that train.

Our next group of teams have all won a little and lost a little. San Fernando (2-1) has notched two wins over Beach Cities and the Gurkhas (0-3), but lost on opening weekend to Ventura County (1-2) who is ranked below them. That match was a close one, with Ventura County taking the lead after trailing 10-0 for thirty minutes. San Fernando scored a late try to come within seven, but never took back the lead. Final score 21-17. 

The Grunions are also 2-1, they won big over Ventura County and Pasadena (0-3), but lost to SLO 41-19. They’re about on par with where they finished last year, sixth overall. Below the Grunions and San Fernando are our 1-2 teams, Beach Cities and Ventura County. Beach Cities were promoted to D2 last year after winning the D3 title, and already notched a win in their debut season. This was on January 17th, with a resounding 67-0 win over Kern County (0-3). They’ve also been strong in both losses; their opening weekend match saw them score 22 points against LARC, and on the 24th they lost by only four points against San Fernando. Their next match is a real test, hosting Ventura County on the 7th. That one will certainly cause some movement in the standings. 

At the bottom of the table are our teams searching for their first win of the season. All three of these teams have been personally victimized by one of the top teams, and lost by triple digits. Now, we don’t love to see that in club rugby, but the silver lining is that once you’ve played Belmont once, you don’t have to see them again for the rest of the season. Pasadena (0-3) has been put through the wringer twice, already playing both Belmont and SLO. Next weekend the Gurkhas will take on Kern County, a win certainly coming for one of those two sides. Pasadena has to travel to San Fernando before they get to play the Gurkhas on February 14th. 

It’s a long season down in Southern California, so all of these standings could easily shake up by next month’s recap, stay tuned for all the action!

There’s still no updates out of the Men’s D2/D3 competitions in the Southwest. With powerhouses like Las Vegas and Scottsdale, we know that something is happening, but it’s not yet available in RugbyXplorer. 

There was a match scheduled for January 24th, but that one got snowed out. The Birmingham Vulcans (0-3) forfeited a match to New Orleans (1-0), who starts their season off undefeated without ever taking the pitch. This status will be tested next weekend when New Orleans hosts the defending National Champions Atlanta Old White (2-0) on February 7th. Nashville (1-1) will have their first game of the spring season when they host New Orleans on February 21st. Birmingham are scheduled for two more games in February; we’re not sure if the forfeit was a one-off, or an indicator for the rest of the season, but we’ll keep you posted. Not a lot of games in this division, which means every one counts!

Texas kicked off their D2 season at the start of the month, and every team has taken the field at least once. The Austin Blacks (2-0) and Grand Prairie (2-0) are currently at the top of the table, having won their two opening matches. Austin opened with a solid 57-12 win over the Austin Huns (2-0-1) on derby day, while Grand Prairie snuck by Fort Worth (0-2) 24-16. A late try from Nick Larsen for Fort Worth helped lessen the pain, but the missed conversion meant that Fort Worth didn’t get the bonus point in the loss. The Austin Blacks also notched an important win over San Antonio (0-2) who have started with a surprising two losses. It was a close match, with San Antonio in the fight until the end, but a late try from Austin’s Benson Salem put the losing bonus point out of reach. The Blacks will host the Dallas RFC on February 14th, while Grand Prairie will travel to Dallas the weekend before. 

Houston United Rugby Team [HURT] (1-0) are also undefeated, but have only played one match. However, this one match was a 43-10 win over San Antonio, who are regulars in the postseason run. HURT’s big game of the month will be February 21st, when they host the Austin Blacks. 

The Dallas RFC (1-1) lost their opener to The Woodlands, but then pulled out a narrow win over Fort Worth on January 31st. Fort Worth scored the final try in that match, but it was the excellent goal-kicking from Dallas that gave them the win 21-18. Dallas hosts undefeated Grand Prairie next weekend, a big test for both sides.

The Austin Huns are still looking for their opening win of the season, they tied The Woodlands last weekend 12-12. The Woodlands opened the scoring just a few minutes in through Philip Devos, then it was quiet. Andrew Heller scored just before the half for Austin, both teams heading into the break 5-5. They would both score one more try and convert in the second half, but the final score would end 12-12, giving us our first tie of the season! Austin’s next chance to get a win is next weekend when they travel to HURT, or the following weekend when they host San Antonio, both difficult matches. The Woodlands will host San Antonio before heading to Fort Worth on the 21st. 

Still looking for their first win of the season are San Antonio and Fort Worth. This is surprising, as both teams are typically mid-top of the table. However, they have both played two difficult matches, so we expect this to shake up in time for our next recap.

Finally we check in on Florida, who kicked their season off on January 17th. The D1 Miami Tridents forfeited both January matches, giving wins to Fort Lauderdale (3-0) and Orlando (1-1). Outside of those forfeits, this season is off to a very spicy start. The biggest differential in the games has been 12 points, with two of five matches being decided by seven points or less. With these kinds of scorelines, bonus points are going to make a big difference at the end of the season.

Along with the forfeit win, the Fort Lauderdale Knights have also notched two wins the old fashioned way. They took down Boca Raton (0-2) on the 24th, and followed it up with a 26-14 defeat of the Pelicans (1-2) on the 31st. The Pelicans won their opener over Boca Raton as well, 19-12. 

The Tampa Krewe (2-0) are also still undefeated; they won their opener over Orlando 34-24, then scraped out a win over the Pelicans thanks to Jaydn Jeanes, who kicked the penalty goal to secure the win. 

The Miami Tridents are slotted to host the Krewe this weekend, no telling if that one will actually go off. Boca will host the Pelicans, the best chance for their first win of the season. Orlando will host the Knights, who are looking to make it four for four to stay undefeated.