February 17, 2017
2017 NSCRO Men’s 15s National Championships
National Small College Rugby Organization: Medford, NJ 17 February 2017
The 2016-17 National Small College Rugby Organization Men’s 15s competitive cycle is heading towards an exciting finish this spring with both National Championships – the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup – set to take place. Four clubs so far have qualified for the national championships based on the Fall Regional Championship: Tufts University and Xavier University have qualified for the Champions Cup while Bethel College and Trinity College have qualified for the Challenge Cup. This is the first time any of these clubs have played in an NSCRO National Championship.
All NSCRO National Championships will be live-streamed for those who cannot attend in person. Details will be found on our website at www.nscro.org when the event date is near.
Below is a quick breakdown of the road to each of the Championships. Additional details can be found here on our website.
2016-17 Men’s Champions Cup
The Champions Cup will be held at Infinity Park in *Rugbytown USA* Glendale, Colorado on April 28-29.
Tufts University beat the University of Maine-Orono 22-7 in a second-half comeback on November 20 to win the Region 1 – Northeast Championship and earned their first appearance in the Champions Cup.
The Region 2 – Mid-Atlantic South Region Championship will be hosted by North Bay RFC in Aberdeen Maryland on April 1-2. Three of the four teams have already qualified for the event: Elon University, Catholic University and Loyola University (Maryland).
The final team will be the winner of the South Cup hosted by the Atlanta Rugby Foundation and Atlanta Old White RFC in Atlanta, Georgia on March 18-19. Participants will be the champions from the Deep South Conference, Dixie Conference, Florida RU and Georgia RU.
Xavier University handed the 2016 NSCRO Champions Cup third place winner, University of Southern Indiana, a solid 56 – 19 defeat in the Region 3 – Central Region Championship on November 13. Xavier was the first team to ‘punch a time’ to Infinity Park for the NSCRO National Championship.
Region 4 – PacWest is just ramping up their league play. Playoffs will begin with the Cowboy Cup on March 25-26 hosted in Irving, Texas by the University of Dallas. Pending Frontier League confirmation, Regis University and the University of Denver will represent the Rocky Mountain RFU against the top two teams from the LoneStar Conference. Presently the University of Dallas sits atop the Blue Division with 6-0 record, while Angelo State University and Tarleton State University likewise are 6-0 in the Red Division. The top two finishers move onto the PacWest Region Championships on April 8-9, hosted by The Claremont Colleges.
The California Cup will be held on April 1-2 hosted by California Maritime Academy in Vallejo, California. The top two teams from both the Gold Coast and NorCal Conferences will meet with the two winners heading to the Regional to face the Cowboy Cup teams.
You can find the latest results and standings for these league via the links found at the Region 4 page by clicking here.
2016-17 Men’s Challenge Cup
The Challenge Cup will be held at Founders Field in Cheswick, Pennsylvania on April 22-23.
On November 19-20, Mount St. Mary’s University hosted the East Coast Region Championship in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Trinity College (New England RFU) earned their first appearance at the Challenge Cup by defeating Washington & Lee University (Cardinals CRC) 27 to 5.
On November 12-13, the Central Region Championship was held at Cyntheanne Park and was hosted by Southeastern Youth Rugby. Bethel College (Indiana RFU) powered its way over Case Western Reserve University (Great Lakes CRC) 72 to 3 to qualify for the Challenge Cup in their second year of competition.
Iowa Central CC won the Mid-America RFU championship beating Wayne State College 60-22 on November 13. The Tritons will face the Lonestar CRC Challenge Cup team on March 25 at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas.
On April 1-2, Cal Maritime Academy will host the Pacific Coast Region Championship in Vallejo, California with two NorCal teams and one Gold Coast team along with Willamette University representing Northwest CRC.
About National Small College Rugby Organization
Since 2007, the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO) has been at the forefront of fostering and developing small college rugby programs in the United States. NSCRO is comprised of more than 230 men’s and 130 women’s colleges and universities who participate in more than 30 leagues for an opportunity compete on a national level and showcase their abilities to a broader and larger audience.
By focusing on small colleges and universities, we help bring these schools, their teams and players exposure outside of their conference/union while also giving them a chance at a national title and ranking. NSCRO provides a responsive national organization dedicated to small colleges and universities which has helped legitimize rugby in the eyes of school administrators. The increased visibility and recognition from NSCRO has led to better school support, greater on-campus interest in rugby and more alumni involvement.
NSCRO is “The Home of Small College Rugby in America”.
For more information, visit www.nscro.org and follow us on facebook.com/nscrorugby, @nscrorugby on Twitter and on @nscrorugby on Instagram.
