Men’s Division 1 – March 2026 Recap

This isn’t basketball, but it sure seems like March Madness out there. With the return of spring and the rising temperatures, we welcome back the return of club rugby to many regions across the country. Not only have the teams started playing again, but we have landed smack dab in the middle of playoff season, and it’s spicy.

If you’re new here – all of the information for this article comes from team-entered data on Rugby Xplorer. You know the rules – the more accurate your team admin is about entering data, the more accurate I can be in these articles. Any other commentary is added for fun from someone who has zero stake in the outcome of these games. 

Also worth a note – with Super Regionals at the end of April/start of May, this is our last “monthly” recap for the 2025-26 XV season. We’ll preview all four Super Regionals as well as the National Championship tournament, and in there we will cover the last bits of how local competitions wrapped up. But don’t worry about that just yet, we’ve got all of March to cover! Let’s dive in and see how the Men’s D1 Competition fared this past month.

The Chicago Lions started their spring campaign with the Chicago Cup this past weekend when they faced the D2 Southside Irish. Now, we’re not entirely sure if the Lions side was D1 players, D2 players, or a mix, but Chicago won handedly, 71-12. It’s critical for the players to get some competitive minutes in, as the Lions will head straight to the National Final Four in the middle of May. There they will face teams who have come straight off competitive seasons or regional playoffs, and they have to hit the ground running. 

Atlantic Men’s D1

Joining our monthly recap is the Atlantic Men’s D1 competition, which is essentially the Empire and NERFU American Rugby Premiership teams who will play a shortened season to determine who will advance to the Atlantic Super Regional to face the Mid-Atlantic champion for the bid to go to the National Final Four. This includes teams such as Old Blue, White Plains, Mystic River, and NYAC; three of whom have won National D1 titles in the past 15 years. 

Games kicked off on March 14th with NYAC (2-1) defeating White Plains (1-2) 43-36 and Old Blue (3-0) toppling Mystic River (0-3) 71-10. White Plains bounced back the next weekend with a 57-14 defeat of Mystic, while Old Blue made it two for two with a 35-12 win over NYAC. Brock Duncan scored twice for Old Blue in that win while Kieran Joyce was 100% on kicks, converting all five tries. This past weekend we hit the official halfway point in the season with Old Blue having their closest battle to date, a 41-33 win over White Plains, who keeps improving as the season rolls on. Old Blue took an early lead in that match, scoring four tries in the first half, but White Plains put the pressure on as the game ticked down to the final minutes. Joyce kicked a penalty goal in the final minutes, ensuring that even a converted try wouldn’t win it for White Plains, but it was still too close for comfort. NYAC dealt a third blow to Mystic River this past weekend with their 45-34 win at home. Fortunately for Mystic, it’s not too late to turn things around and still have a chance at qualifying for playoffs. With every team playing three of six games, these next matches will count for everything. Mystic must win their next three to top the table (and hope a lot goes wrong for everyone else), NYAC need Old Blue to start losing, and White Plains needs both Old Blue and NYAC to start losing. The top of the table come April 25th will head to Buffalo to take on the MAC champion at the start of May.

Nothing has changed from the last recap (or the one before that); the next thing on our calendar is the semifinals scheduled for April 11th. Schuylkill River (4-2) will host NOVA (4-2) and Rocky Gorge (4-1-1) will host the Potomac Exiles (3-1-2). 

Schuylkill and NOVA last went head to head on October 11th, with Schuylkill taking the win 50-33. The two have identical records and identical table points, the only difference is the overall point differential; Schuylkill has +92 while NOVA only has +27. In the regular season, Schuylkill lost to the Potomac Exiles and the Washington Irish while NOVA took their second loss from Rocky Gorge. As far as National Championship experience goes, both have had their opportunities. Schuylkill were National runners-up in 2022, but NOVA made the trip to the final four in 2024. Schuylkill won the Mid-Atlantic last year, but NOVA won the 7s National title this year. Based on the stats, it’s going to be a pretty solid match-up.

The other semifinal pits top of the table Rocky Gorge against the Potomac Exiles. Now when those two faced off on September 27th, it was a 14-14 tie. Doesn’t get much closer than that. Rocky Gorge had that one loss at the end of the season to Schuylkill, but they already wrapped up the top seed by that point, so how much stake can we put in that match? Potomac not only tied Rocky Gorge, they also tied Baltimore Chesapeake (who finished sixth overall) the weekend before. Their one loss of the season came at the hands of NOVA, back on opening weekend. This semifinal is also a rematch of last year’s semifinal, where the Exiles took the win over the higher-ranked Rocky Gorge 24-17. Back in 2023, the two played in the semi again, that time Rocky Gorge taking the win 17-15. Both semifinals are sure to provide edge of your seat action.

There’s only two teams in Northern California’s Men’s D1 conference, and Life West (6-0) have cemented their place on top after an undefeated hybrid season. They closed off March with a 43-14 defeat of second-place Silicon Valley (5-1), who impressed with their win over Olympic Club (4-3) earlier this year. The match was always in Life West’s control, with the Gladiators leading at half 17-0 before securing a bonus point in the 44th minute. Olympic Club were shocked last weekend by Santa Rosa (3-4) who pulled off a heroic upset, soaring to an early lead over the D1 squad. It was the second time Olympic Club and Santa Rosa faced off this month, with the first falling in O-Club’s favor, final score 26-14. We’re unsure if there will be a final match between Life West and Olympic Club before the Super Regional seed is determined, but as the last one finished 82-11 to the Gladiators, Olympic Club would have to be prepared to pull off a miracle. 

Over in the Pacific Northwest we had the eagerly anticipated rematch of Boise (0-3) versus Seattle (3-0). As you can see from the records, this was the third and final time the teams went head to head, and the third victory for Seattle. It was an incredibly low-scoring match, with only three tries, but still a back and forth battle, final score 14-5 in favor of the Orcas. This win gave Seattle the golden ticket they were fighting for, qualification for the Pacific Super Regionals in Las Vegas at the end of April. Last year Seattle fell 43-36 in the semifinal against eventual National Champions, Belmont Shore. As Belmont has also already qualified for the Super Regional, we could see a rematch between these two titans later this month.

Southern California wrapped up their regular season on March 21st with the top four sides advancing to the conference semifinals on March 28th. While the top two sides were pretty clear throughout the season, there was a bit of a battle for that final qualification slot at the end of the month. 

It’s no surprise to anyone that Belmont Shore (9-0-1) and OMBAC (8-1-1) clinched their home field advantages as the first and second seeds to playoffs. The two heavyweights had gone head to head all season including a draw back in January and a one-point difference in their match on March 7th. Belmont squeaked by OMBAC in that one thanks to a last-minute try from Ethan Moxley and conversion from Michah Griffin; final score 26-25. Belmont also added another triple-digit win in March, over the Old Aztecs (3-7), while OMBAC defeated the same side the weekend before, 41-17. Now, before we start looking too deeply into that, it’s also worth noting that Belmont got a close win over Eagle Rock (5-5) on the 14th, final score 36-25. OMBAC defeated that same side 49-14 the last time they played. So don’t get lost in the details, Belmont and OMBAC are both very, very good. 

Eagle Rock secured third in the standings after going 2-1 in March. Their first match was a 38-7 win over Santa Monica (3-7), which essentially eliminated the Dolphins from the playoff run. Santa Monica needed to win that one or have the Old Aztecs (3-7) fall to Oceanside (1-9), neither of which happened. Eagle Rock, however, followed up this win with a very close match against Belmont and a big win over Oceanside 36-32 in order to claim third. Oceanside fought valiantly in that one, scoring a try with minutes to spare in order to take the lead, but there was enough time for Eagle Rock to score the game winner off the next kickoff and snatch back the lead just in time. 

The Old Aztecs were the final team to qualify for playoffs thanks to their win over the Oceanside Chiefs back on the 7th. It was a high-scoring match, with the difference coming down to kicks. Darragh Casserly added 17 points to the Old Aztec’s total, including the two penalty goals and conversions that made up the difference between the two sides.  

This set up the two semifinals, #1 Belmont Shore hosting #4 Old Aztecs and #2 OMBAC hosting #3 Eagle Rock. Belmont and the Old Aztecs played twice this season, the total difference 188-0 in favor of Belmont. So it was definitely an uphill battle for the San Diego side who hadn’t scored a point against the league leaders all year. Now, in a way, it was a win for the Old Aztecs as they performed better than they had all season, scoring 12 points against Belmont. But in fact it was a win for Belmont, who soared to a 73-12 win, confidently clinching a place in the SoCal championship. Between OMBAC and Eagle Rock, the regular season scores were closer, but still heavily favored the higher seed. In the world of Southern California rugby, it was a relatively low scoring match (SoCal Men’s D1 games averaged 69 points per match this season), proving that defense was the name of the game. In the end, it would be OMBAC who overthrew Eagle Rock for the third time this season, final score 41-5. 

This sets up a thrilling rematch between Belmont Shore and OMBAC for a third time this season. Now if everything plays out the way it did last year, the top two sides from SoCal will both advance to the Pacific Super Regional, giving us the opportunity to possibly see these two sides face off for a FOURTH time this year. Now wouldn’t that be a treat?

We’ve got one match left to play in April, but the outcome won’t matter because the standings won’t change and we’ve confirmed the two top teams heading to the Red River playoffs. 

The Austin Blacks (7-0) are undefeated, awaiting the outcome of the final game hosting HARC (0-7) on April 11th. Either way, they secure the top seed for the Texas final* on April 25th. Now, home field advantage won’t matter much for this game, as it will be played at the Gulf Coast Super Regional at the Austin Huns. The Blacks had one match in March, a whopping 59-10 defeat of the Quins on the 14th. Craig Hunt and Eoin Monahan both scored twice for Austin in that one, with Monahan going seven for nine on conversion attempts. The Blacks will face the Dallas RFC (6-2) in the Texas final, a team they’ve beaten twice this season, a combined 97-25. 

The Dallas RFC confirmed their spot in the final thanks to a gritty 24-18 win over the Austin Huns (4-4) on March 7th. Austin actually held the lead in the final minutes, 18-17, until Obum Imonugo burst through for Dallas. Alex Rees added the extras just for show, as the win was all that was needed to secure their spot in the top two. Dallas have been taking the time to rest and recover their injured players; they won’t have any games between March 7th and April 25th. Whether this will help or hurt Dallas entering that final game, we’re not sure. Both Dallas and the Austin Blacks are familiar with the pressures of playoff rugby; they boast a pair of National Championship titles, 2022 for Dallas and 2023 for Austin. 

The Austin Huns (4-4) managed to finish their season on a high note with a second defeat of the Dallas Harlequins (2-6) on March 21st. The Quins took a roaring 19-0 lead into the half, but the Huns regrouped and redirected at the break. A try from Dante Cappellano opened the floodgates for the Huns at minute 50 and four more followed. Evan Conlon added one more for Dallas in the closing minutes but the Huns defense held for the whistle, final score 31-24. Add this to the 78-8 defeat of HARC on March 14th, and the Huns can go happy into the off-season, knowing they finished their season strong. 

*Due to the Miami Tridents dropping out of the D1 postseason pathway this year, Texas will host a 1v2 final playoff match at the Gulf Coast Super Regional to determine who advances to the National Final Four.

The Miami Tridents (0-4) are officially out of the D1 postseason pathway this year, but I’m going to keep them in this recap because it’s easier. They also only played one match in March so there’s not that much to cover. The Tridents hosted second-place Boca Raton back on March 21st. Miami hadn’t played a match since February 7th; that one being a 33-31 loss against the Tampa Krewe. This was another close match, with both teams scoring five tries and converting four. Boca had two penalty goals that gave them the lead, but they were actually trailing by one point in the last phase of the match. Blake Tedim dove over for Boca at the death, securing the win for the D2 side, and Adam Freeman added the extras just for show. A great win for Boca, but not a great sign for Miami who have pulled out of the D1 postseason. We’re not sure what the Tridents will do moving forward, but we hope the best for the 2024 D2 National Champions.