May 4, 2016
USA Rugby Men’s Club DI Playoffs
Doug Coil
The National Division I Quarterfinals and Semi-finals are rapidly approaching. The Eastern Regional is being held at Founders Field in Pittsburgh, PA, May 21-22, 2016. The Western Regional is being held the same time at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Arizona. The National Championship then will be held at Infinity Park, Glendale, Colorado on June 4th.
Western Region
The Pacific North Championship will have Life West Gladiators facing Oregon Sports Union. In the Northern California Championship Life West beat the EPA Razorbacks 22-15. In the Semi-finals, Life West beat the Sacramento Lions 37-26 and EPA Razorbacks won 33-31 over Santa Rosa.The Pacific Northwest Champion ORSU won 31-28 against Eastside Tsunami in the finals.
In Southern California, the regular season concludes this weekend and next weekend San Diego Old Aztecs and OMBAC D1 will meet for the Pacific South Championship. The winner will meet the Pacific North Champion in the National Quarterfinals May 21.
Last week the Red River D1 Champion was determined when the Dallas Reds beat Austin Blacks 16-15. They will have a rematch on May 21st with the winner meeting the the Pacific North/South Winner May 22nd in the National Semi-finals.
The Midwest Semi-finals were last weekend. The Chicago Lions were undefeated until the last regular season match when they lost to the Chicago Griffins. The Griffins then won when it counted, 19-8 over the Lions in the semi-finals. In the other semi-final, Metropolis won 29-22 over Kansas City Blues.
The Chicago Griffins and Metropolis meet this weekend in the Finals. The winner will play Mystic River, the #2 Atlantic North seed, in the National quarterfinals.
The Mid-Atlantic Semi-finals are Saturday. Rocky Gorge plays Baltimore-Chesapeake and Norfolk Blues play Schuylkill River. The winner play the following weekend in the Final. The Mid-Atlantic Champion will then play Old Blue, the Atlantic North #1 seed in the National quarterfinals.
