Men’s Division 2 – October 2026 Recap

This past month we had FIVE bumper weekends of rugby action; from teams finally kicking off their season to the Midwest and New England dealing up some intense playoff games, there’s a lot to cover from October. We’ve also gotten some of the answers to the questions we asked at the end of September, and a few more competitions have posted schedules, so hang on for the ride, because this is going to be a long one.

Disclaimer – before anyone gets mad at me – all of this information is taken from team-entered data in Rugby Xplorer. The quicker you are about updating information and the more info you include, the better picture I can paint. The rest of the commentary is added for fun from someone who has no stake in the outcome of these matches. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. If you do like it, then welcome!

Without further ado – let’s dive into what happened in the Men’s D2 Competition over October!

The Midwest wrapped up their regular season in the middle of the month and the top eight teams advanced to the quarterfinals on October 24th. The four winners got a short break for Halloween weekend, but will head back to the pitch on November 7th for the Midwest semifinals. The quarterfinals were epic clashes, but before we get to them, we’ve got to cover the end of the regular season for our three regional subdivisions.

Starting in the Central league. Last month both the Grand Rapids Gazelles (7-0) and the Chicago Blaze (5-2) were undefeated and tied with maximum bonus points. Well, things have certainly changed as the Blaze lost their first match of the month to Lincoln Park (6-1) then fell big time to Grand Rapids. The Lincoln Park game was close, not close enough for a losing bonus point, but still only a ten point differential, final score 41-31. The Grand Rapids match was a bit tougher, with the Gazelles dumping 60 points on the Blaze in the victory. With these losses, the Blaze fell out of the top two, forfeiting their coveted position to Lincoln Park. Fortunately the top three Central teams ended up making the cut, so the Blaze still qualified for the playoffs as one of the top two third-place teams. Grand Rapids qualified in the top spot thanks to their win over the Chicago Riot (1-6) closing out their perfect record. Lincoln Park advanced as the best second-place team, managing to secure a home quarterfinal fixture.

Despite not making the playoffs, the rest of the Central league also ended their season in thrilling fashion. The Southside Irish (4-3) won both of their October matches to finish with a winning record; 68-34 over the Fox Valley Maori (1-6) and 48-10 over the Riot. The Chicago Lions (3-4) also managed to have a winning October, defeating the Fox Valley Maori 103-5 and the Westside Condors (1-6) 56-14. Unfortunately both teams had lost enough fixtures in the earlier months that there was nothing more they could do except hope for some upsets over the top teams in order to somehow snag a playoff spot. The Westside Condors won their first game of the season at the last possible chance, defeating the Fox Valley Maori on October 17th, 48-31. The Condors were already long out of the playoff conversation, but still can go home on a high knowing they got at least one in the win column. 

Heading over to the Eastern league, it was all about Buffalo (6-0) last month, who only had one final match to play on October 3rd. Spoiler alert, they won, again, 79-24 over the South Pittsburgh Hooligans (2-4). Playoff spot secured, home field advantage secured, and a couple of weeks off to rest and recover before playoffs hit. The second-place spot came down to the final weekend as both Fort Wayne (4-2) and Columbus (4-2) had the potential to clinch it. Fort Wayne were in a better spot at the end of September, but they faltered on October 3rd, losing a close one to the Cleveland Crusaders (3-3) 27-26. However, they got two bonus points in that loss, crucial for the end of the season standings. They smashed Detroit (0-6) the following weekend 87-0, before their end of the season clash against Columbus. Columbus had won their first match in October 33-30 over the Detroit Tradesmen (2-4), putting them close enough to take second place if they beat Fort Wayne the final weekend. With everything on the line, Fort Wayne sealed the deal with a confident 45-15 win over Columbus on October 17th, securing second place in the standings and the playoff berth. Columbus managed to sneak into the playoffs as well as one of the top two third-place teams, but had a big task at hand as they were slotted to play the number one overall. The Cleveland Crusaders missed the playoff cut, but went back to back in October with their win over Fort Wayne, followed by a 63-7 rout of the South Pittsburgh Hooligans. The Detroit Tradesmen also managed to close out their season with a win, taking down Detroit 41-31 on the 17th. 

Finally in the Western subdivision, Palmer College (7-0) were undefeated with only one match left to play, against Green Bay (5-2). It was a lot closer than anticipated, with Green Bay making a late surge with two tries from Jacob Becker and Conrad Hillesheim. Aiden Farrel added a penalty goal with minutes to go in order to get a losing bonus point, but Palmer College held out for the win 29-23. This secured them home field advantage in the quarterfinals and an undefeated regular season record. Fighting for second place in this division were three different teams who all finished 5-2. Wisconsin (5-2) managed to get the nod thanks to three wins this past month, 33-7 over the Eastside Banshees (3-4), 104-7 over the Lake Country Coyotes (0-7), and finally 24-15 over Green Bay, that one for all the marbles. Wisconsin scored all of their points in the first half, but then Green Bay methodically scored try after try in the second half to bring the score within nine points. There wasn’t enough time though, as Wisconsin held on for the win, and the final spot in the quarterfinals. Green Bay finished third overall, and Des Moines (5-2) finished in fourth. Des Moines did everything they could, but ultimately it was always out of their hands. They got back to back bonus point wins over Milwaukee (1-6) and the Lake Country Coyotes, but they still needed a few more upsets to take down Wisconsin and Green Bay and give them a shot at the postseason. The Eastside Banshees won their final two games of the season, 71-0 against Milwaukee on October 10th and 54-28 against the Milwaukee Barbarians (2-5) on the 17th. Not enough to be considered for the postseason, but a positive end to the season for the Banshees. 

With all that said and done, we had our eight quarterfinalists, who really put it all on the line to qualify for the semifinals. 

We’ll start with the biggest differential; Buffalo (E1) hosted the Chicago Blaze (C3) (a 12.5 hour trip). It was certainly one thing after another for Chicago, who had the longest trip and played one of the top opponents. Buffalo controlled the match from the kickoff, running in 10 tries and holding the Blaze without a try until the second half. The final score was 66-20 in favor of the home team, Buffalo advancing to their first Midwest semifinal. 

The other three quarterfinals were much closer. Palmer College (W1) hosted Wisconsin (W2) for the second time this season, the first match ending 20-17 in favor of Palmer College. Wisconsin clearly studied the tapes and made some key changes, as they took the win in this one 27-22. Palmer started the scoring early with two tries in the opening 10 minutes, but it evened out a bit before halftime, teams trading penalty kicks and tries in order to go into the sheds with a halftime score of 20-16 in favor of Wisconsin. Palmer College scored first in the second half with only about 15 minutes to go, pulling into the lead 22-20, but Wisconsin closed it out with a try from Christian Overman, Jared Kissinger adding the conversion, final score 27-22 in favor of the second-place team, Wisconsin. 

If that wasn’t exciting enough, the Grand Rapids Gazelles (C1) hosted Columbus (E3). One team undefeated and one lucky to make the cut, this game was going to be like the Buffalo one right? Not a chance. Columbus came to play despite the five hour trip they took to get there. Grand Rapids ran up the score in the first 50 minutes, pulling into a 36-17 lead with a half hour left to play. Columbus scored twice though and converted both thanks to Hayden George, making it a five point match with still ten minutes to play. The final phases were chaotic, but the Gazelles finally got a penalty in the red zone and elected for points. The kick at the end wasn’t crucial to the win, but brought the differential to over one converted try, a score that stood at the final whistle 39-31, Grand Rapids advancing.

Our final quarterfinal was of course the most dramatic, because we saved the best for last. This match-up had Lincoln Park (C2) hosting Fort Wayne (E2), a battle of the second-place teams. Fort Wayne scored first, but Lincoln Park added a quick three, making it 21-5 at 20 minutes played. By the time halftime rolled around it was back in Fort Wayne’s hands, 24-21. Each team scored once more heading into the last half hour when Fort Wayne picked up the pace and dotted down three in ten minutes. Lincoln Park looked left in the dust, but added one, then another, then another in the waning minutes of the game to come within three points. Corey Jahner slotted the final conversion for Lincoln Park, but it was too late, the final whistle blew, Fort Wayne pulling off the upset by a final score of 48-47. 

After those thrillers, we definitely needed a week off in order to prepare for the semifinals this upcoming weekend. Buffalo will host Fort Wayne while Grand Rapids will host Wisconsin. It’s a 6.5 hour trip for Fort Wayne and a 5 hour trip for Wisconsin (with or without the ferry). It’ll be worth it though, as all four teams have a very equal chance of winning and advancing to the Midwest Championship.

We left at the end of September about halfway through the regular season, on track for the final weekend of games that took place on October 24th. Mid-America’s Men’s D2 Championship will be held this upcoming weekend, so let’s get into it to see who will be fighting for the hardware. 

The Omaha Goats (3-3) were on top of the table with one more match played than Kansas City (6-0) but that all has changed thanks to Kansas City going four for four this past month. They smashed the St. Louis Bombers (1-5) on back to back weekends at the start of the month, 55-8 on the road then 77-12 at home. They had a very close match against the Goats the following weekend, just barely pulling out the win with a come from behind victory in the final minutes. Oliver Jones scored and converted his own try with 10 minutes to go to pull the Reds into the lead, but the Goats had one last chance when they optioned for a penalty kick at goal after a yellow card to Kansas City’s Darius Harris at full time. The kick was unsuccessful, and Kansas City held onto the win 38-36. The Reds would go on to top Wichita (2-4) the following weekend, but that match against Omaha is sure to stick with them.

Despite an epicly close match against the undefeated top of the table, Omaha went on to drop their final match of the season against the Bombers, final score 32-21. Even if they had lost that one, Wichita would have had to defeat Kansas City the same day in order for the Goats to get knocked out of the playoffs. It was still surprising, you would expect Omaha to want to keep the energy high heading into playoffs, but perhaps they were saving some key players for November 7th. 

The Barbarians managed to finish in third place, while St. Louis took fourth. The Bombers pulled out all the stops in the final match of the season, managing to end on that win over Omaha. Wichita’s closest match of the month was back on October 10th when they battled it out with Omaha. It was close for almost the entire match, Omaha managing to score in the final few minutes to draw away, final score 30-15. 

Kansas City and Omaha will play one final match this weekend in order to determine the Mid-America Men’s D2 Champion. The winner will advance to the Northern Super Regional next spring in hopes of making the trip to Nationals in May.

The Men’s D2 competition in the Rocky Mountains came down to the very last weekend of games, and boy was it a nailbiter. 

Back at the end of September we had the Haggis on top with a 2-2 record. The Gents were still undefeated at 2-0, and the Barbos were 2-1. Instead of one team pulling away from the competition as the clear leader, all three remained neck and neck through October, finishing with identical 4-2 records. Kicking off October, the Gents kept on their winning streak with a 64-31 defeat of the Barbos. It was the next weekend that the Haggis dealt them their first loss, a 50-26 defeat in Utah. The Gents bounced back with a big win over the Denver Water Dogs (0-6), but lost their final match of the season to Denver 50-38 on the 24th. Park City added to their win over the Gents with a season ending win over the Water Dogs 87-19. The Barbos also notched a win over Denver earlier in the month, then took down Aspen for their spot in the final two. But what ended up being the difference between the teams for the top two spots? Haggis and the Barbos both got two losing bonus points when they played each other in September, Haggis losing 41-40 and Barbos losing 33-26. Aspen didn’t get double bonus points in either of their losses to Park City or Denver, putting them one table point behind the top of the table. Haggis secured the top spot over Denver thanks to winning the head to head PD by five points. The Gents actually had the largest total PD across all of their matches (+135 compared to Haggis’ +131 and Denver’s +37), but bonus points came back to haunt them. Come spring Haggis and the Barbos will battle it out to determine who will advance to the Northern Super Regionals. Until then, all teams will take a well-deserved rest after an intense season. 

There’s a ton to cover out of NERFU this past month. The teams wrapped up their regular season play on the 24th and headed straight into semifinals this past weekend. The stage is already set for the NERFU Championship this upcoming weekend, but let’s not jump ahead too quickly. First let’s wrap up the season and see how our top four teams advanced. 

The Boston Irish Wolfhounds (6-1) have wrapped up Pool A’s top spot after a bumper month, taking home four wins with a combined score of 210-78. Their two closest matches were both against fellow Pool A teams, Worcester (3-4) and Boston (2-5), but they still managed double-digit differentials in both. Worcester wraps up second place in the standings thanks to their win over Boston back at the end of September. The Shamrocks also took down Pool B’s Mystic River (3-4) and Newport (1-6) in October, securing themselves a spot in the playoffs. Boston finished bottom of Pool A but also managed to clinch a playoff berth; not sure how that shook out to be honest, but that’s what showed up on the schedule.

Over in Pool B, Portland (6-1) kept up their winning ways, posting two wins (plus one forfeit win) at the end of the regular season. First they absolutely dominated Newport 91-5. Shea Wagner and Jake Roberts both scored three tries in that win, while Reese Kneissler, Killian Miller, and Jason Barnes all added two. Their next match was a forfeit win over Mystic River, while their season finale was a 35-17 defeat of Pool A’s Boston. This was enough for them to secure home field advantage in the semifinals, heading back to defend their NERFU title. Despite wrapping up second place in Pool B, Mystic River did not advance to the playoffs (possibly that forfeit against Portland played a part), and had a rough go of October. They were scheduled to play both top teams as well as Worcester, so a pretty tough month. Newport also closed out their season at the end of league play with a 1-6 final record. Their lone win was back at the end of September over Mystic River.

Four teams headed into the semifinals, Portland hosting Worcester and the Boston Irish Wolfhounds hosting Boston. In a league known for upsets (looking at you 2025 Portland), the semifinal outcomes were largely what everyone expected. However they were two VERY different games. The Boston Irish Wolfhounds showed dominance from minute one of the game, finding the try zone just a couple of minutes off the kickoff through Killian Berthoz. From there it was try after try as the Wolfhounds racked up 81 points en route to the win. Boston got their opportunities as well, finding time to score 26 points, but it just wasn’t enough. The Wolfhounds advance back to the NERFU Championship, seeking to win back the title from Portland.

The other semifinal was an absolute thriller, with Worcester pushing the defending champions to the limit in the 28-18 brawl. The home team emerged victorious, but it was a very different match than their 45-7 victory earlier that season over the Shamrocks. Shea Wagner scored twice in the win and Ross Maiden was perfect off the tee to send Portland to yet another NERFU Championship game, taking place this weekend. 

It’s guaranteed to be a thrilling championship game this weekend, Portland taking on the Wolfhounds. The two met last year in the final, with Portland pulling off the upset and taking the win 31-28. This year these two played against each other back on September 26th, Portland winning 33-27. A trip to the Atlantic Super Regionals is on the line, as well as the NERFU title. 

We are almost done with the regular season over in the Empire Men’s D2 conference with two matches left to play at the start of November and one postponed match that still needs to be rescheduled. Given the matches that are left, there’s still a few unanswered questions about final standings in this league. 

First big news from October – it appears that White Plains has bowed out of the competition, forfeiting all four matches from the past month and proactively forfeiting their two final matches in November. All those forfeits are counted as wins for the other four teams in the conference, but since everyone gets two – it’s even across the board. 

With that addressed, let’s check in on the top teams; New York Rugby Club (6-1) and New York Old Blue (5-1) are neck and neck, with NYRC having one more match played than Old Blue thanks to the postponed fixture from the end of September. Old Blue won the first head to head battle against NYRC back on October 10th by a score of 32-25. NYRC took home two losing bonus points in the clash, whereas Old Blue only got one losing bonus point in their first loss to NYAC back in September. The two will go head to head again next weekend and if NYRC can win and prevent Old Blue from getting two bonus points, they’ll be the favorite to win the conference. Old Blue does still have to reschedule their match against Montclair (3-3), postponed from the 26th of September. The two did play just this past weekend, which ended as a 63-26 victory to Old Blue, so unless Montclair have a few tricks up their sleeve, we can hazard a guess as to how the postponed fixture will fall. 

Below Old Blue and NYRC are another pair of close teams, Montclair and NYAC (3-4). NYAC has one more bonus point than Montclair, but Montclair won the first battle between these two sides back at the start of the month. A couple of late tries from Willem Van Zyl and Milan Orlovic sealed the deal for Montclair in the final 20 minutes, final score 43-28. Montclair still needs to play Old Blue, as well as one final game against NYAC this upcoming weekend. Every match matters for final standing now, and third place is up for grabs for both teams. 

October was a busy month for our four Capital Men’s D2 teams, who are playing solely for seeding in the April semifinals. 

The Raleigh Vipers (5-0) have locked up the top spot and home field advantage with one match left to play in November. October saw Raleigh rack up three wins and one forfeit win, scoring an average of 49 points per match while only allowing 22 total. Their October 10th win over the Norfolk Blues (0-4) was recorded as a forfeit, but with a final score of 49-0 to Raleigh, so perhaps a played forfeit? Either way, no other team has a chance of taking the top spot from the Vipers, who have one match left to play on November 7th at the Riverlands Golden Boars (2-2). 

Now the second-place spot (and home field advantage in the semifinals) is still undecided, and is currently hotly contested between James River (2-3) and the Golden Boars. James River topped the Riverlands back at the start of the month, the second of the two fixtures between the sides. It was a wild match with an epic finish, Chris Newcomer scored the winning try and Stefan Klopper converted in front of the home crowd to take the win 24-22. Now unfortunately it wasn’t enough to take the lead in the head to head differential, as the Golden Boars defeated James River 39-34 back in September, but it was a crucial step to staying in the fight for second. The Golden Boars have two matches left in November, hosting Raleigh before traveling to Norfolk. If they can win at least one and get at least two bonus points, they will jump into second place. The last time the Riverlands faced Norfolk was just this past weekend, a 64-22 victory to the Golden Boars. James River also faces Norfolk once more this season; a bonus point win will force the Golden Boars to get a bonus point in their match with Raleigh in order to take second.

There’s a lot on the line for the next two weekends and every match matters. Regardless of final standing, all four teams will advance to the playoffs in April, but having home field advantage would be a big help.

Last but certainly not least in the Atlantic Super Region, we have our Men’s D2 teams from Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union. We only have one week left in the regular season, to be finished up this weekend, before teams pack it in for the winter. If the competition is following the path of last year, only the top four teams will advance to the conference semifinals. While two have already booked their tickets as the home teams, the other two spots are still up for grabs, as well as who will take the top seed overall. Even with only one weekend left, there is still everything to play for between these eight teams.

Let’s start with the top of the table. We still manage to have two teams undefeated, as both North Bay (6-0) and Old Gaelic (6-0) racked up a number of wins this past month. North Bay had two teams forfeit against them, South Jersey (0-6) on the 3rd and Doylestown (1-5) on the 31st. Old Gaelic got a forfeit win as well, over Monmouth (2-4) on the 17th. Despite all those forfeit wins, North Bay still recorded two massive wins this past month, 102-3 over Monmouth and 67-0 over Media (3-3). Old Gaelic put up similar numbers in their wins, 67-5 over Media and 51-8 over the Lancaster Roses. It wasn’t as much as a rout in the match against Philadelphia Whitemarsh (3-3) though. Whitemarsh managed to come within five points of Old Gaelic back on October 10th, with a penalty goal from Jonathan Ahern getting them within losing bonus point range. That bonus point definitely came in handy, as it puts them above Media in the standings. Fortunately for all of us fans, North Bay hosts Old Gaelic this weekend, and we will finally get to see the two heavyweights duke it out for first place.

Our top contenders for the final two slots in the playoffs are the three teams all with three wins. Philadelphia Whitemarsh, Media, and the Lancaster Roses are all sitting in the middle of the table with 15-16 table points (15 for the Roses, 16 for Media and Whitemarsh). Whitemarsh defeated Media 39-26 back on October 3rd, but the Roses defeated Whitemarsh this past weekend 40-19. Media and the Roses played back in September, but as you could have guessed, Media won that one 34-17. So there’s a fair number of permutations that could happen in terms of wins, losses, draws, bonus points, but here’s the main point. All three teams have got to do their best to win this upcoming weekend. All three are playing teams below them in the standings so they should win, but anything is possible. Doylestown poses the biggest threat, having put 31 points on the Roses and 21 against Whitemarsh this past month. They will be taking on Media in Media on the 7th. If all three teams have the same results (win with BP, win without BP, lose, etc) then Media and Whitemarsh will advance to the semifinals. It all comes down to this!

Heading over to the West Coast, most of these games won’t start until 2027, so expect this section to be a little light. In Northern California, we had a D1/D2 hybrid last year, but Silicon Valley did so well, I wouldn’t be surprised if they moved up to D1. The Life West Gladiators had a banger of a season in D3 as well, I could also see them joining the mix as a newly minted D2 side. On the other end of the table, Sacramento forfeited a few matches at the end of the season last year, so they could theoretically move down to D3, but so did EPA and Santa Rosa, and they still finished with solid records. This is all speculation, so don’t hold me responsible for any of these statements. Until the schedule is formalized, we won’t know for sure. 

The only currently active competition in the Pacific Super Region is the Pacific Northwest, and it is busy. Every team has played at least three matches and there are a ton of points being scored across the board.

The Portland Pigs (5-0) are leading the way with the most matches played, but also notably an undefeated record. Four of these wins came this past month as Portland systematically worked their way through the entire PNW D2 table. Their closest match was on the 24th, when they topped the Chuckanut Bay Geoducks (1-2) only 24-5. They allowed two teams to get losing bonus points, the Moscow Mules (0-3) with a 60-26 loss, and the Tacoma Nomads (2-2), who lost 48-27. The Pigs also notched a win over D1 Boise back on the 17th, a massive statement for the new D2 frontrunner. Portland has one final match scheduled this fall, hosting Chuckanut Bay this upcoming weekend. 

The Tacoma Nomads got their second win of the season this past month when they beat the Moscow Mules 36-29 back on October 24th. The Nomads are certainly keeping it close this season, with both wins within seven points. Both the Chuckanut Bay Geoducks and the Valley Kangaroos (1-2) recorded wins in October as well; the Geoducks defeated the Mules 64-24 just last weekend, while the Kangaroos collected a forfeit win on October 17th over the Geoducks. The Moscow Mules went 0-3 this past month but impressively they are tied with the Portland Pigs on bonus table points. They’ve scored at least four tries in all three games, and came within seven points against the Nomads. It’s unlucky they haven’t won one yet, but I think their luck is about to turn. 

There’s only one match left on the schedule for the fall, Portland hosting the Geoducks this weekend. There’s still a fair amount of rugby yet to be played in the Pacific Northwest, so stay tuned.

Southern California won’t kick off until the new year, and we haven’t seen a schedule posted yet. Last year Belmont Shore made it all the way to the National semifinals, but as they already have a team playing in Division 1, they won’t be moving up this year. Los Angeles also had a stunning year, and could theoretically jump up if they wanted to, but they probably aren’t required to. I think they’ll be in the hunt for the D2 SoCal title this year. Kern County, Pasadena, and the Gurkhas all finished 1-8 last year, so I don’t think any of them will drop down. The Fullerton Dead Elephants could move up, they finished undefeated in D3, despite losing the final 15-7 to the South LA Soul. Unless there’s a massive restructuring, I think we’ll have a similar playing field to last year’s competition. 

There’s nothing yet posted for the Southwest Men’s Division 2. Last year this league played a hybrid D2/D3 schedule with 16(!) teams participating. Four of these were designated D2 teams, but results were all over the board, so I could see a possible league restructuring in the future. The Scottsdale Blues advanced to the Pacific Super Regional last year after finishing the season with a 6-1 record. Both Phoenix Camelback and the New Mexico Brujos had impressive seasons last year; I could see either one of them moving up to create a larger dedicated D2 conference. I’m just guessing here! While there were one or two matches last fall, the lion’s share of the matches were played in the spring, so plenty of time for a formal schedule to be posted. 

We’ve got a couple of forfeits this past month, and a couple of matches postponed, but there’s still some good rugby that happened that we can cover in this new Carolinas Men’s D2 competition.

Charlotte (3-0) are looking good after a positive October that saw them add two wins to their record (and one forfeit win). The Olde Originals traveled to Cape Fear (0-3) on October 3rd, blasting the hosts out of the water with a final score of 69-0. Jeremiah Curry and Tomas Mussi both scored twice for Charlotte while Benjamin Kiernan went 80% on conversion kicks, plus added a penalty goal in the rout. They followed this up with another away game at the end of the month, a massive top of the table clash against the Columbia Rhinos (3-1). This one was much more nerve wracking as Columbia held Charlotte scoreless for almost an hour as they elected for penalty kicks to inch the score along. A big second half effort by the Olde Originals though saw Charlotte soar past the Rhinos and clinch the win, final score 26-18. Charlotte’s got one more league match this season, travelling to the Greenville Griffins (0-2) this upcoming weekend before closing doors for the winter. 

Currently in second place are the Columbia Rhinos, who may have lost a close one to Charlotte on Halloween, but still came out of October with one win. The Rhinos hosted Greenville back on October 17th, continuing their trend of scoring over 50 points per match en route to the 53-17 victory. Esias Kriel was particularly impressive for Columbia, kicking five for six conversions and two penalty goals in the match. The Rhinos next game will also be this upcoming weekend as they travel to the Southern Pines Big Cones (2-0). 

Excellent segue there, because Southern Pines are the victors of our fourth match that took place in October. The Big Cones smashed Cape Fear back on October 17th when they traveled to Wilmington, NC in their first away game of the year. Shane Ferrilli and Adriaan Rabe both dotted down twice for Southern Pines in the win, holding Cape Fear scoreless in the 59-0 win. 

Along with these four thrillers, we also had a slew of forfeits/postponements this past month. The Asheville Iguanas (1-3) forfeited all three of their matches, one to D1 Atlanta Old White, but the other two to Charlotte and Southern Pines. The Griffins were supposed to host the Big Cones on October 10th, but that one was rescheduled. It leaves us with more questions than answers, but as long as teams are still playing rugby, it’ll all work out in the end. 

The True South Men’s D2 is in the process of rebuilding, so for the time being, this is the “all about Nashville” section of the paper. Without a formal schedule in RX I am going largely off Nashville’s resources for final scores and results, but if those are inaccurate they only really affect Nashville – so let’s check it out.

Despite not having a formal conference or schedule, Nashville has done a pretty good job of keeping busy. Their independent Fall 2026 schedule boasted eight matches between September – November, three away and five home. They opened back in September over the Knoxville Possums, winning 40-19, before their first cancellation of the season against Chattanooga. October saw them travel to the Memphis Blues, who dealt them their first loss of the season, a very close 22-17 battle. They turned this around however with a 70-7 domination over D3 Huntsville two weeks later. The final two weeks of October were give and take as they dropped another five-point match to Alabama, 36-31, but then topped Chattanooga 76-22 just this past weekend. They’ve got one more match scheduled for the fall, taking on former True South rival Atlanta Old White on the 14th of November.

The Men’s Division 2 in the Texas Rugby Union gets a shakeup this year as the four D1 sides join in order to create a hybrid conference. Now, the cross-conference D1 results won’t affect the D2 standings, but it will certainly create a more intense environment for the nine D2 sides. After a year in the D1, HARC returns to the D2 comp, while the other eight teams remain from last year. The first matches of the season will be on November 21st when HARC hosts Fort Worth, HURT hosts the Dallas RFC D2, and San Antonio hosts the Austin Huns D2. In December, four teams will taste their first battle against D1 competition as the cross-conference matches kick off in earnest. There’s still two months to go until this league really gets going, but expect preseason to begin at the end of October for some teams. 

Down in Florida, the 2024 National Champions, the Miami Tridents, are now officially back in the D2 mix. After a brief jump to D1, followed by a tough rebuilding year last year, the Tridents have committed to a full season again as a Division 2 side. They will join last year’s champions, the Fort Lauderdale Knights, Boca Raton, the Pelicans, Orlando, and the Tampa Krewe when the season starts on January 23rd.