Men’s Division 2 – March 2025 Recap

Rumor has it that March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb; that is most certainly not true in the world of USA Club Rugby. Our spring-only teams are entering do or die time, our split season teams are finally back in action, and our fall-only teams are getting back to the practice field as they count down the days until their Super Regional opponents are finalized. And I’m going to cover all the drama, right here.

As always, the disclaimer – this information is gathered from team-entered data on RugbyXplorer. Now if something is wrong or missing, you should probably double check that your club or your GU has entered it correctly on RugbyXplorer. If they did and I’m wrong, by all means reach out – I’m only human after all. Everything else added is solely for entertainment value by someone who has no stake in the outcome of these matches. So, take a breath, have some fun, and read on to see what happened in the USA Club Rugby Men’s Division 2 competition this March.

As one of our last divisions to start, we’ve still got a few weeks of regular season left here in Northern California. Currently Silicon Valley (7-0) is the team to beat with two matches left to play. They’ve gotten maximum bonus points in all matches, with an overall point differential of 213 (that’s an average of 31 points differential per match!). They still have to face the number two team on the final weekend, Santa Rosa (6-2).

Santa Rosa is one of the only teams to have already played eight of nine matches, and they’ve also had an incredible season. They toppled East Palo Alto (1-6-1) 49-26 last weekend, and Olde Gaels (3-4) earlier in the month. They did lose a last minute heartbreaker against Sacramento (5-2) on March 1st, 40-38.

Sacramento have one less game played than Santa Rosa and are currently in third place. Their only loss of the year was by three points to fourth-place San Jose (5-1). Both Sacramento and San Jose are sneakily hiding in the middle of the table, with a few matches left to play, they could easily hop into second or even first with a well-timed win. 

Olde Gaels, SF Golden Gate (3-5), and Fresno (3-4) are in those five through seven spots, all with three wins apiece. Olde Gaels beat Golden Gate last weekend 41-12, and Golden Gate beat Fresno earlier in the month. However, surprise surprise, Fresno beat Olde Gaels by two points in February. So, all a bit up and down. They’ve all got games left against the top three in April.

Berkeley (2-4-1) and East Palo Alto are tied on 13 table points each. They each have one game left on the road to close out their season, so it looks like playoffs might be a dream for next year.

Colusa (0-7) is still searching for that first win of the season. They’ve got two chances left, traveling to San Jose this weekend, or hosting Berkeley on the 12th. Either way, Colusa is done for the season after that weekend.

Up in the Pacific Northwest, Boise (9-0) runs the show. After a phenomenal defeat of D1 Seattle this past weekend, Boise has shown that they are ready for a run back to the Nationals, but this time, they’re going for gold. They’ve been steadily growing as the season progressed, notching a 47-19 win over Eastside Tsunami (7-2) and two 60+ wins over ORSU (3-4) in March. Having locked up first in the division, Boise must remain focused on each task at hand, and not let their minds wander too far into the future. 

The Valley Kangaroos (8-2) have already finished their season and are currently in second. They must wait for the outcome of Eastside Tsunami’s April 5th match against ORSU to see if they can hold onto that place for the postseason. 

Eastside eked out a 38-31 win over the Chuckanut Bay Men (4-5) last weekend to put them in third. They also topped second-place Kangaroos 49-27 back on the 22nd; so should they win this upcoming weekend, they will be well placed in second. Only the top two progress to the Championship on April 12th, so Eastside is do or die this weekend to qualify. 

Just missing out on the playoff action are Chuckanut and Tacoma (3-6). Tacoma unfortunately had their last match forfeited against them, and they finish by hosting Boise, a tough end to the season. 

The Bend Roughriders (2-8) and Clark County (1-9) have already hung up their boots for the season having played all 10 games. Clark County’s last played match was a down to the wire 31-30 loss against ORSU, they had to forfeit out the rest of the season. Bend may be bottom of the table, but don’t forget they put 34 points on Eastside earlier in the season. Plenty to build on for next year.

Boise will play either Eastside Tsunami or the Valley Kangaroos on April 12th for the PNW Championship and the bid to the Pacific Super Regional. The last time they played those teams it was 47-19 over Eastside and 35-26 over the Kangaroos; definitely nothing guaranteed for Boise yet. 

Semifinalists are confirmed in Southern California, due to kick off this weekend at the higher seed. The Oceanside Chiefs (8-1) secured first place and home field advantage against the fourth-seed thanks to a strong finish at the end of the season. They took down fellow semi-finalists San Luis Obispo (7-2) and Belmont Shore (7-2) in March, as well as a throttling of Ventura County (7-2). 

SLO and Belmont are slated to go head to head next weekend. Belmont gave it all they had to sail into the top three in the final weeks. They may have lost to the Chiefs but they dropped 100 points on Kern County (0-8-1), put 85 on San Fernando (0-8-1), and walloped the Grunions (4-5) at the start of the month. SLO had more matches played at the start of the year so their March was relatively quiet. They confidently took down LARC (6-3) at the start of the month and then just waited patiently at their chance to crack the top seed. While they were unsuccessful in that, they still managed to get home field advantage for their semifinal next weekend against Belmont. The last time these two played it was an absolute cracker of a match, coming down to the wire as Belmont closed out SLO 34-33. 

Oceanside will host Ventura County the same day, the last time these two played was only at the start of the month and it wasn’t pretty, the Chiefs stormed Ventura 90-7. But it’s over a month later, something could have changed!

Winners from those matches will play in the SoCal Championship, and that winner will head to the Pacific Super Regional in just a few short weeks to take on the champions from Pacific Northwest, Southwest, and NorCal. 

Las Vegas (9-0) rule the table in the Southwest after a perfect season. They’ve been clinical in attack, ruthless in defense, and accurate off the tee the entire season. And it hasn’t been easy! Scottsdale (6-1) and the Red Mountain Warthogs (5-3-1) are formidable in their own right, but Las Vegas has prevailed. As the host of the Pacific Super Regional at the end of April, Las Vegas is keen to qualify out of their region so they can dazzle fans at home in their quest for National recognition. 

Scottsdale have been on a three-game winning streak, defeating the fourth-place Tempe Old Devils (3-5-1) this past weekend to secure their spot in second. Their last loss was 44-16 when they traveled to (you guessed it) Las Vegas. Scottsdale will hope their luck continues as they head into the postseason and try to upset Las Vegas for a surprise trip to the Super Regionals. 

The Red Mountain Warthogs also got a clutch win over Tempe on March 8th, slotting three penalty goals along with their 7 tries in the 52-34 barnburner. They end the season in the third; unsure of playoff structure, we’re not positive if they advance or not.

Camelback Rugby Club (3-3-1) won big last weekend over Phoenix Men (1-6) to vault them into fifth overall. Landshark (2-4-1) and Tempe tied at the start of the month 20-20, a big statement from Landshark against the fourth-ranked team. Tucson Magpies (0-7) were unable to find that elusive win this season, they came close a number of times but were unable to seal the deal at the final whistle.

Las Vegas and the Red Mountain Warthogs will go toe to toe on April 12th to qualify for the D2 slot at the Pacific Super Regional.

Still slumbering up North as the Chicago Blaze and the Indianapolis Impalas anxiously await their opportunity to show off in the Northern Super Regional against the Gentlemen of Aspen (RMR Champions) and the undetermined Mid-America Champions. Indianapolis was selected as the host venue for the National Championship, so expect the Impalas to give it all they’ve got to compete for glory on home turf.

One weekend left of play for our D2 Men’s teams in Mid-America.

Kansas City RFC (5-1) picked up where they left off last fall by clenching a 71-7 win over the Arkansas Gryphons (2-4) last weekend. The Wichita Barbarians (5-1) are close on their tail thanks to an impressive 38-35 win over the Kansas City Blues (0-6) this past weekend. It’ll come down to these two for the top spot heading into playoffs this weekend. KCRFC travels to the St Louis Bombers (2-4) who have had a mixed season, while Wichita hosts the Omaha GOATS (4-2). 

St Louis struggled in the fall, finding only one win over the Kansas City Blues. However spring awakened the beast as the Bombers beat Omaha on the road last weekend 32-18. Omaha were holding strong to second place in the standings until that upset win. The GOATS are also the only team to beat first-place KCRFC this season thanks to their 32-27 win back in September. The Gryphons host the Blues next weekend as well; too late to make a push for playoffs but still enough time to end the season on a high note.

The Gentlemen of Aspen defeated the Park City Haggis 26-22 back in November to claim the Rocky Mountain crown. I’m sure they’ve been hitting the training field and not the slopes over the winter to prep for their trip to the Northern Super Regional. They will compete against the Chicago Blaze, the Indianapolis Impalas, and the Mid-America Champion in Springfield, MO on the first weekend of May.

Again, rumors abound that Atlanta Old White will automatically qualify as the lone team in the Carolinas D2. They notched a strong 57-7 win over Nashville in mid-March to avenge their loss in the fall. Add that with their 67-0 rout of Charlotte in February, and they seem well-prepared for whatever comes their way at the Gulf Coast Super Regional in May.

Nashville (5-0) secured their place at the top of the table with a convincing 92-13 win over Chattanooga (2-3) at the start of the month. In a league riddled with forfeits, Nashville has only had 16 points scored against them in all three league matches that took place, not a bad point differential stat to hold. They’ve been honing their skills outside of the competition, taking on lone Carolinas D2 team Atlanta Old White and hosting NashBash, an annual rugby tournament that has absolutely nothing to do with drinking, I swear. They will be hosting the True South playoffs on April 5th and 6th at the Hendersonville Rugby Complex. 

Joining them at the True South playoffs will be second-place New Orleans (4-1). New Orleans racked up a few smooth wins over Huntsville (1-4) and the Birmingham Vulcans (3-2) this year. They will be keen to advance through to Super Regionals, as it is being held in their own backyard. 

The Birmingham Vulcans will also be in attendance, thanks to their wins over Huntsville and Chattanooga. We can expect Chattanooga to be the fourth and final team to play. They’ve been inactive since their 67-0 win over Huntsville back in February.

Texas is heading into semifinals this weekend with the top two seeds hosting the fourth and third seeds in a 1v4, 2v3 structure. Wrapping up the top of the table is (drumroll please) the Austin Blacks (8-0) who finished the season on a high with a 72-8 stomp of the Austin Huns (1-7). This makes the Austin Blacks 3-3 for finishing on top of their division this year in Texas. Their closest match was back in February when they hosted The Woodlands (3-5), winning 46-42. For how well The Woodlands fared against Austin, you’d expect them to finish higher than sixth overall. Austin will host the fourth-place Houston United Rugby Team (5-3). HURT was undefeated for a while, tied with Austin at the top of the table. The end of the season caught up to them though as they took on the Blacks, San Antonio (6-2), and the Dallas RFC (6-2) all in quick succession. 

San Antonio and Dallas are set to duke it out in the other semifinal. Although with identical records, San Antonio is hosting thanks to their nine total bonus points collected over the season. What can we say, the men from San Antonio love to score (over four tries in order to obtain a bonus point… obviously). Both teams dropped a game to the Austin Blacks during the regular season, then San Antonio lost last weekend to the Houston Area Rugby Club (5-3). Perhaps they pulled the roster because they had already clenched second place? Dallas lost their second at San Antonio’s hands, 37-18 at the start of the month. I’m sure the rematch will be a different kind of game, both teams are used to Texas playoff footy, and will bring the heat required to make it to the Championship.

The bottom six in Texas wrapped up their seasons with varying degrees of success. HARC finished well, we noted their win over San Antonio just last weekend. They also smashed the Huns and slid by DARC (0-8) 20-19 in February. The Woodlands also closed on a win over Fort Worth (2-6). They came within one point of Dallas RFC in their February match and within four of the mighty Blacks. Fort Worth may have dropped their last game but managed to pick up their second win of the year over the Austin Huns back on the 8th. The Huns and DARC finished bottom of the table, plenty to build on in the coming seasons.

Another division wrapped up with local semifinals to come this weekend. The Pelicans (7-1) finished top of the table, their only loss on March 22nd to the D1 Miami Tridents. Outside of that, the Pelicans were superb on the season, racking up a point differential of 199, and getting 6 bonus points along the journey. The only matches they neglected to find bonus points were the loss at the end of the season, and their opening match against Tampa Krewe (2-6) back in January. They will host Boca Raton (4-5) this upcoming weekend. 

Boca finished fifth overall (excluding Miami). Their 66-5 defeat of Jacksonville at the end of the season was enough to qualify them for the quarter final play-in matches held last weekend. They traveled to the Palm Beach Panthers (4-5), former D3 National Champion, and one place above them in standings. The two had met at the start of March, and Palm Beach captured that one 29-28. Boca Raton knew what Palm Beach would throw at them and prepared for it. Relying on the sure boot of captain Tristan Gray, Boca converted both tries and three penalty goals in their 23-19 win over Palm Beach. They now travel to the well-rested Pelicans to try to earn the Florida title.

On the other side of the bracket, Jacksonville (0-8) forfeited their chance at a quarter final to Fort Lauderdale (5-2-1). After a tough season, Jacksonville just didn’t have what it took to make the trip happen, and ended their season on their terms. This leaves Fort Lauderdale nice and rested for the upcoming weekend as they host the Hammerheads (5-2-1) who found success over the Tampa Krewe 44-31 last weekend. 

As it stands we have #1 playing #5 and #2 versus #3. The last time Boca faced off against the Pelicans was back in February, with the Pelicans getting the best of them 54-14. When Fort Lauderdale and the Hammerheads last saw each other it ended in a 26-26 tie. As we all know, no ties stand in playoff rugby, so this time, there will have to be a winner. 

Down in the Capital region, Raleigh (3-2) played two matches this past month to kick off their spring campaign. They blanked James River (2-3) 27-0 and then took on top of the table Riverlands (4-1). A lot has changed since September when James River toppled Riverlands 60-29. The Riverlands have gone undefeated since then, including payback against James River and a strong win over Raleigh back in October. This past weekend was Raleigh’s chance to take first while the Riverlands had their chance to reinforce their position. A thrilling battle ensued, with Raleigh making a serious last minute push. Riverlands squeaked out the win though, 36-34, and claimed their spot in the April 12th Championship. 

Raleigh and James River have one more game to try to qualify for the final. If Raleigh can repeat what they did earlier in March, they will head to the Championship. If James River channels the energy they brought at the start of the season, they will punch their ticket. The winner of that final will continue on to the Atlantic Super Regional at the start of May.

We are coming down to the exciting end of what has been an action-packed Men’s D2 season in the EPRU. We had two full weekends of games at the end of March followed by two massive quarter final clashes. These will lead into the semifinals this upcoming weekend and the final two will meet to compete for the final bid to the Atlantic Super Regional. 

First up, the end of regular season play. Old Gaelic (9-0) stayed undefeated despite a strong test by Media (6-2-1) on the 22nd. North Bay (8-1) secured a 31-24 win over Philadelphia Whitemarsh (7-2) to claim second while dropping Whitemarsh into third. This win was massive as the top two got automatic byes into the semifinals, while third through sixth were left to battle it out in the quarters. 

Philadelphia Whitemarsh hosted Doylestown (4-5), who managed a narrow win over Reading (2-7) on the 15th before dropping to Whitemarsh just a week before the play-in. The quarter was a rough repeat of the last week of regular season as Whitemarsh topped Doylestown 51-27. Media hosted Monmouth (5-3-1) in the other quarter final after both teams won one/lost one in March. Classically, the last time these two met it ended in a 17-17 tie, so it was really anyone’s game. This time, there was certainly more action; almost 100 points were scored in total as both teams played back and forth end to end to try to advance. In the end, Media got the nod, stretching the lead to 49-41 and securing their spot in the semis. 

This weekend North Bay hosts Philadelphia Whitemarsh while Old Gaelic host Media. Last time North Bay and Whitemarsh were out, it was just a few weeks ago, and North Bay squeezed by 31-24. Plenty of room to play with if you’re Whitemarsh. Old Gaelic and Media was also just two weeks ago as covered above. All four of the top teams could easily take the championship, it’s just about who is better on the day.

Empire crowned New York Rugby Club champions of the Men’s D2 after a stunning season going 8-0. It was a tight division with bonus points galore, so New York are well prepared for high intensity when they hit the road to Rhode Island to compete against the Boston Irish Wolfhounds from New England as well as the champions out of Eastern Penn and Capital.

The Boston Irish Wolfhounds made it a three-peat up at Union Point Sports Complex in November with their win over Portland. They will compete just down the road as their union hosts the Atlantic Super Regional in May.