It’s officially playoff season; the Geographic Unions have wrapped up their league finals and crowned champions who are advancing to the Super Regionals. There are four Super Regional tournaments across the country, representing the four main regions: Northern, Atlantic, Gulf Coast, and Pacific. The Pacific and Gulf Coast tournaments took place last weekend, which means this weekend is all about the Atlantic and Northern competitions. The four regions have slightly different matches; some host Women’s D3 and Men’s D4 (non-National Championship seeking leagues), others have semifinals for Men’s and Women’s D1, while others only have a single championship. Either way, all four are epic tournaments showcasing the best rugby that the USA Club scene has to offer. And I’m going to cover it all.
In this article we’re going to preview the matches taking place at the Chicago Blaze Rugby Facility in Chicago, IL. Teams from the Mid-America, Midwest, and Rocky Mountain Geographic Unions are here to battle it out for four spots in the National Final Four (one per league), while the Men’s D1 already booked their ticket through the regular season. Semifinals for Men’s D2, D3, and Women’s D2 will take place on Saturday along with the standalone Women’s D1 final. With only seven matches on Saturday and three on Sunday, this is our smallest Super Regional event across the country. But that doesn’t mean the games are going to be any less thrilling! Let’s check them out.
MD3: Denver Highlanders vs Chicago Blaze
Starting the day off will be the Men’s D3 semifinals, with the Rocky Mountain Champions, the Denver Highlanders, taking on the home team, Chicago Blaze.
The Denver Highlanders successfully defended their Rocky Mountain title after a whirlwind playoff run in Colorado. The Highlanders finished second in the regular season with a 5-3 record, the same as the third-place Littleton Scots. The two extra bonus points gained over the season meant that the Highlanders claimed home-field advantage in the semifinal, an edge that would pay off. Despite the 10-point loss to Littleton the weekend before, Denver turned it on when it mattered, defeating the Scots 45-28 in order to advance to the Rocky Mountain Championship to defend their title. There they faced the Queen City Rams, who upset the league leader, the Colorado Springs Grizzlies, 24-22 in their semi. A try from Connor Twigg, and his subsequent conversion in the 67th minute, sealed the deal for the Rams, who headed back to the Championship match for a rematch of last year’s final. In a wild coincidence, the Highlanders won both finals by almost identical scorelines; 36-22 last year and 38-22 this year. Heading back to the Super Regionals, Denver are going to hope the coincidences continue, as last year they topped the Red River Ruffians in the semi, and the South Pittsburgh Hooligans in the final in order to advance to the National Championship. If they can do that again, they might be on track to turn it up a notch at Nationals and bring home the D3 title.
It’s no easy feat however, as the Highlanders will face the Chicago Blaze in the first round. The Blaze may have finished second in the Midwest Championship, but they are the home team for this Super Regional, and you can guarantee that Chicago will be there to back them. We’ve got to go all the way back to October, to the Midwest D3 CARFU league, in order to track Blaze’s path to this tournament. Chicago finished 5-0 with a +295 PD, hitting triple digits twice in the regular season. They took down the Wisconsin Sharks in the round of 16, and upset the Fox City Gargoyles 41-21 in the quarterfinals in order to make it to the Midwest Championship. After defeating the Red River Ruffians in the semis, they had booked their spot at Super Regionals; the final match was just for Midwest glory and advantageous seeding. The final was a surprising loss for the Blaze, but with the home crowd behind them, Chicago could very well pull out a win. And if they manage to get two wins, the National Championship is right back here in Chicago; wouldn’t the home fans love to see that?
MD3: Detroit Tradesmen vs St. Louis Hornets
Our second Men’s Division 3 semifinal pits the Midwest Champions, the Detroit Tradesmen, against the Mid-America Champions, the St. Louis Hornets.
As mentioned above, the Detroit Tradesmen defeated the Chicago Blaze in order to claim the Midwest title this year. They fell short of qualifying for the Super Regionals last year, going out in the semifinals against the South Pittsburgh Hooligans. The year before, they finished second in the Midwest, but fell to the Colorado Springs Grizzlies in the Super Regional semi. As a club, Detroit have made it to two National Championship matches, in Division 2 in 2016 and 2018; the latter they lost by a single point to the Denver Barbarians. This year in Division 3, the Tradesmen finished undefeated in the D3 Michigan league, going 6-0 with a total PD of +306. In the round of 16 they defeated the Toledo Celtics 59-24, then took down the Michiana Moose in the quarters, 40-19. The semifinal was the qualification match, as the top two Midwest teams would advance to the Super Regional. Detroit had the home field advantage in this one, eventually securing the win over the Cleveland Rovers 45-31. Onto the final where they kept their undefeated streak alive with a win over the also-undefeated Chicago Blaze, final score 45-31. Now that was all back in the fall; Detroit have been busy this spring, preparing for the playoffs. They defeated the Tri-City Barbarians on April 11th, 51-17, as well as clocking a big win over the Indianapolis Impalas last weekend, final score 47-36. The Tradesmen look to be in excellent form heading into this weekend, and they’ll need to hit the ground running in order to top the Hornets.
Coming out of the Mid-America region are the St. Louis Hornets, who claimed the D3 title after a 14-year drought. The Hornets have been excellent this season, racking up a 5-0 record in the Mid-America East league after a disappointing 2-4 finish last season. In 2024, the Hornets came so close to a championship, only to be taken down by the Royal Ramblers, 19-17 in the Mid-America final. But no longer, the Hornets stormed their way through the playoffs and secured a dominant 34-12 win over Springfield in order to claim this year’s title and the golden ticket to the Super Regionals. St. Louis are a bit of a wild card in this year’s playoff bracket; the last MARFU title they won was back in 2012, and they haven’t been to a National Championship as far as I can tell, but that certainly doesn’t mean you can overlook them. The Hornets held off an impressive late push from Kansas City in the MARFU semifinal to clinch the win 22-18. Then, when the conference championships rolled around, the match unexpectedly changed venues the morning of, but that didn’t phase the Hornets. They rolled with the punches and delivered an outstanding performance to take the title over Springfield. The Hornets may be viewed as the underdogs in this Super Regional tournament, but the passion and effort they bring is unmatched. When the going gets tough, expect St. Louis to put everything they have on the line.
WD2: Milwaukee Scylla vs Salt Lake Slugs
Heading into the women’s competition, we have the first of two semifinals, with the Midwest Champions, the Milwaukee Scylla, taking on the Rocky Mountain Champions, the Salt City Slugs (listed in RX as Utah Vipers).
The Milwaukee Scylla are no newbies when it comes to playoff rugby, they won the National D2 Title back in 2017, defeating San Francisco Golden Gate 16-15. In 2023, the Scylla made it to the Final Four, only to fall to Severn River in the semis, final score of 39-24. After two years of the Grand Rapids Growlers representing the Midwest in D2, the Growlers were promoted to D1, and the Scylla are back on top of the table. Milwaukee’s had no easy preseason to prepare for the playoffs, they elected to face both Chicago North Shore and the Chicago Lions this past month, truly facing the toughest competition to make sure they are ready for the test. Though no score was reported for the North Shore match, the Scylla fell to the Lions only 29-14; not shabby for a cross-divisional contest. Thanks to Grand Rapids’ defeat of St. Louis in the final last year, Milwaukee got the top seed entering this year’s Super Regionals; but even if they came in at the bottom, the Scylla would find a way to rise to the top.
Taking on Milwaukee in the first round are the champions from Rocky Mountain, the Salt City Slugs. The Slugs finished 3-1 in the regular season, taking on a 38-19 loss to the Colorado Springs Pikes Peaks back in October. They held onto second place in the standings, which granted them the home field advantage in the March 21st semifinals, hosting Denver Black Ice. That match was close, with Denver scoring to come within one try in the final five minutes, but the Slugs held onto the victory, final score 34-29. This win set up a rematch against the Pikes Peaks in the final. Utah were dominant from start to finish, with Taya Waggonner and KC Whiting both scoring twice in the 34-14 win. This is the Slugs first time at the Super Regionals, but they have been building alongside their D1 side, the Vipers, who are the current defending D1 National Champions. To have both sides in this playoff tournament is a testament to the growth of this club, and the local talent they have in Utah. Watch out for the Slugs, just because they’re newbies, doesn’t mean they can be counted out.
WD2: St. Louis Sabres vs South Buffalo
The second Women’s D2 semifinal has two teams who have recently been to the Northern Super Regional, the St. Louis Sabres and South Buffalo.
The Sabres repeated as the Mid-America Champions after defeating the Patriots 75-0 in the Mid-America final on April 12th. The day before they also blanked the opposition, taking down the KC Jazz 69-0 in the semifinals. The Patriots on the other hand, had a much tighter contest against the Omaha GOATs, pulling out a 38-24 win. The final was all St. Louis however, as Mandy Smith scored an astonishing six tries from the number eight position. Don’t think all the power is in the forwards though, Jessi Wilcox raked in a hattrick of her own from the wing on the day. The Sabres have been a regular fixture at the regional level of playoffs, making it all the way to the National Championship match in 2018, where they eventually fell to Charlotte. Last year St. Louis won their Super Regional semifinal 34-29 over the Rochester Renegades to advance to the final against the Grand Rapids Growlers. There, they lost by only three points after a game-ending try from the Growlers to snatch the win. Now with the Growlers in D1, the Sabres are back to push further. The competition in the North is stiff, but St. Louis are ready.
Facing off against the Sabres are another former Super Regional competitor, South Buffalo. South Buffalo last featured in the Super Regionals in 2024, defeating the Grand Rapids Growlers to advance to the National Final Four. There they fell hard in the semifinals to the Tampa Krewe, who went on to win the National Championship by a difference of over 45 points. Last year South Buffalo lost out in the Midwest quarterfinals against Buffalo, but they regrouped at the start of this season and hit the ground running. South Buffalo went 3-1 in the regular season, and finished second in the standings. They upset the Cleveland Iron Maidens in the quarterfinals before setting up a rematch with Buffalo in the semis. This time, South Buffalo had the final say, taking down their league rivals 22-12 in order to secure their spot in the Super Regionals. They may have lost the Midwest Final, but they still advance to Chicago to play the Sabres this weekend. South Buffalo took their team north of the border in order to play the Hamilton Hornets as a warm-up match. This makes them (likely) the only team to go international in order to best prepare for USA Club playoffs; a massive commitment. There’s no two ways about it, this game is going to be fiery.
MD2: Kansas City vs Fort Wayne
Our last semifinals of the day will be the Men’s Division 2 semis; the first of which has the Mid-America Champions, Kansas City, taking on the Midwest runners-up, Fort Wayne.
Kansas City went for the three-peat in Mid-America, defending their title against the Omaha GOATs in the final. It looked like a cruisy playoff run for KC, who took down Wichita in the semis by a score of 55-12, but Omaha threatened late in the match to knock off the defending champions. Kansas City scored all of their tries in the first 60 minutes, leading at halftime by a score of 13-6. Omaha, however, found their footing in the second half, chipping back at the deficit to pull within striking distance. Kansas City held on for the win, final score 32-21. Last year Kansas City defeated the Chicago Blaze in the semifinal 43-25, advancing to face the Gentlemen of Aspen in the final. Gordon and Zane Palmer scored three tries combined in that one, while Oliver Jones took on the kicking duties, going 100% on conversions and adding three penalty goals in the 44-39 win. At Nationals, Kansas City fell 29-25 against Boise United in the semifinals, ending their impressive run. But the boys are back and ready to take it a step further; and with Oliver Jones back at the helm, anything is possible.
Taking on the defending Super Regional Champions are the Midwest runners-up, Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne went 6-0 in the Midwest Men’s D2 Eastern League, racking up a total PD of +218. There were some tight matches in the regular season, the Grand Rapids Gazelles came within a try and Columbus put some points on the board as well, but Fort Wayne came out unscathed. In the quarterfinals, Fort Wayne hosted Des Moines, dropping 64 points thanks to a first half hattrick from Tre Sherman. In the semifinal it was more smooth sailing, as Fort Wayne took down the Chicago Lions 50-14. In the Midwest final, Fort Wayne finally met their match; but the most important qualification of the season was already done, making it to the Midwest Final and qualifying for Super Regionals. Fort Wayne have been relatively busy this spring preparing for playoffs; they took on the Indianapolis Impalas (last year’s Super Regional reps) as well as Atlanta Old White (reigning D2 National Champions) to really test themselves against the best before heading to Chicago. Expect the men from Indiana to hit the ground running this weekend, they’ve got nothing to lose.
MD2: Gentlemen of Aspen vs South Side Irish
Our final semifinal of the weekend will see the Rocky Mountain Champions, the Gentlemen of Aspen, taking on the Midwest Champions, the South Side Irish.
The Gentlemen of Aspen are making their return trip to the Northern Super Regional after finishing second to Kansas City last year. They booked their spot in the playoffs way back in November after a 46-38 defeat of the Denver Water Dogs in the Rocky Mountain Final. The Gents have a storied history as far as National Championships are concerned; they’ve taken home a whopping FIVE Men’s D1 National titles, four in a row between 1997-2000 and one in 2009. However they’ve never clinched a Men’s D2 National Title, the Denver Barbarians typically had that locked down. Now the Gents are making another run to try to get to the Final Four, and this is the first step. One thing clear about Aspen (and most of the Rocky Mountain) is that they know how to score tries. Aspen has scored a total of 315 points over seven league games, an average of 45 points per match. This trend continued in their two warm-up matches, defeating the Denver Water Dogs 36-33 on April 11th, and the Denver Barbarians 83-15 on April 25th. The Gents are primed and ready for the trip to Chicago, and only two matches stand between them and another trip to the Final Four.
Taking on the Gentlemen of Aspen are our Midwest Champions, the South Side Irish. South Side haven’t lost a match all season, they soared undefeated through the Midwest Men’s D2 Central league, racking up a total +264 PD; they cruised through the playoffs as well, their closest match being the 50-39 quarterfinal win over the Grand Rapids Gazelles. It’s been a marked improvement for South Side, who finished 3-3 in the regular season last year. They did finish 7-1 the year before, but with only the top team heading to the playoffs, they lost out to the Chicago Blaze by one measly table point. This year however, the South Side are here to make their mark and represent the Midwest. I haven’t seen any preseason action from the South Side via social media or Rugby Xplorer, but don’t think that means the Irish are just relaxing. In order to entertain the home crowd, the Irish know what needs to be done on Day 1 of Super Regionals; and they are ready to deliver.
WD1 Final: Utah Vipers vs Chicago North Shore
Our final match of the day will be the Women’s Division 1 final between the Rocky Mountain Champions and defending National Champions, the Utah Vipers, and the Midwest Champions, Chicago North Shore. This Women’s D1 playoff is a new match to the Northern Super Regional, who previously sent their champion directly to the Final Four, while Utah battled it out with the West Coast teams in order to qualify. Now, Utah are following their fellow Rocky Mountain GU members over to Chicago, which gives us another thrilling match to add to the schedule.
Utah secured their spot in the Super Regionals after finishing top of Rocky Mountain league by a large margin. Over four matches against the Colorado Grey Wolves and Denver Black Ice, they racked up an impressive PD of +220, which includes a forfeit win of only 28 points, meaning their PD was a lot larger in the other three games. Such a short regular season might make other teams suspicious; maybe Utah didn’t have enough match time, maybe they aren’t ready to be challenged, etc. However, it sure didn’t stop Utah last year as they battled it out of the Pacific Super Regionals, defeating the San Diego Surfers 29-26 in the semis before taking down Seattle 33-26 in the final. They went on to win the National Championship 45-36 over NOVA, a rematch of the 2024 final where they finished in second. The last time the Vipers took on the Midwest Champions was back in the 2024 National semifinals, where they defeated Pittsburgh Forge 31-22.
Chicago North Shore booked their ticket to the Super Regionals with a similar win over the Pittsburgh Forge, 29-22, in the Midwest Final back in November. North Shore has taken the pitch three times this past month in order to prepare for the upcoming playoffs, hosting the Milwaukee Scylla and Columbus Squirrels and traveling to the Pittsburgh Forge. All three matches were victories for North Shore, who scored a combined 134-38 in the fixtures. All the game time will be good for Chicago, who have the home field advantage in this Super Regional final. Chicago North Shore are also not unfamiliar with the pressures of playoff rugby, they claimed their own National D1 title back in 2011, returning to the final twice more in 2014 and 2016 before joining the now-defunct Women’s Premier League. They also finished second in the Club 7s National Championship this past year, falling 17-15 to the Chicago Lions. This match is sure to be a clash of the titans, and without having a long history of these two playing each other, we really don’t know how this one will turn out.
