Foreigner Limit on College Teams?
Three major University teams have made an informal agreement to limit the number of non-USA-eligible players they use in any given game.
Wednesday Lindenwood University Head Coach JD Stephenson announced that he, Life University Director of Rugby Dan Payne, and Davenport University Head Coach James Wood have entered into an agreement to limit the number of non-USA-eligible players on the field to five. This rule somewhat mirrors the current club rule, which has been in effect for close to ten years now.
For a player to be USA_eligible, he doesn't have to be a citizen. If he has been in residence in the USA for three years or more, or has an American parent or grandparent, he is eligible to play for the USA 15s team (the 7s team is the same, but when falling under Olympic rules, requires citizenship).
Men DII College Rankings 2014-15 #3
Goff Rugby Report's latest Men's DII College Rankings are in.
We have expended the rankings to 40, and will likely expand them to 50 when all is said and done.
Teams that have dropped out did so because they lot more than once, or lost to teams we don't rank or aren't close to being ranked. Some teams in the current rankings (Louisiana-Lafayette, IUP, for example) have lost but to ranked or almost-ranked teams, and the losses were close. There is no change at the omentin the top nine, but after that we've got several changes. Cortland jumps in at #15, which might be a little generous, but they have the opportunity to earn it. Fairfield moves up to #10 and we think they might move up further.
Winona, UW-Stout, Vassar, Rowan, Salve Regin, Furman, East Carolina, VMI and Louisiana Tech are all big movers up.
Minnesota-Duluth Lays Down a MarkerMinnesota-Duluth made a big statement with a 61-12 defeat of previously unbeaten Northern Iowa. The defending national champs put in a very strong performance against a team that was hoping to challenge them. “The first half was the best rugby that we have played this season,” said Duluth Coach Jeramy Katchuba. “We have really been focusing on our open field play and it showed against UNI.
Deep South DII LatestIt’s all to play for in the Deep South DII Men’s College league as Louisiana-Lafayette, Troy, and Louisiana Tech all won to bunch up the picture at the top of the standings. The only official game in the books was Louisana-Lafayette hammering a good Spring Hill team 60-0. Spring Hill was hurt by injuries on the day and ULL powered through with a strong forward attack and some pace out wide. It was just not Spring Hill’s day. But at least they pitched up a full side. Southern Mississippi couldn’t as La Tech beat them soundly with four tries from Aaron Gootzeit and three from Jalen Brown.
ACRC Coaches Poll Week 4
In Week 4 of the ACRC Coaches Pool, there is previous little movement at the top. All of the major teams did essentially what was expected of them. Maryland and Wheeling Jesuit moved up a shade, while LSU droped, but they are essentially tied. Indiana and Bowling Green moved up, and West Virginia, St. Joe's, and Virginia Tech joined the Top 20.
This coming weekend there are six games involving two ranked teams.
Maryland (#7) v. Virginia Tech (#20)
Wisconsin (#11) v. Michigan (#10)
AIC (#4) v. UMass (HM)
Iona (#16) v. Kutztown (#1)
St. Bonaventure (#15) v. Penn Sate (#3)
South Carolina (HM) v. Florida (HM)
Potomac Top Dogs Bare Teeth
The Potomac DII Men’s College league has in recent years been one led by Salisbury University and Towson University, so it was of interest this past weekend that two other teams - undefeated teams - faced off against those longtime powers.
But when the dust settled, it was the old guard firmly on top, as Salisbury hammered Georgetown 52-19, and Towson put George Mason to the sword 67-12.
“We’ve been playing well,” understated Towson Head Coach Don Stone. “We’re fortunate. We have 12 out of last year’s 15 starters coming back this year. We have a really nice cohesion, which helps us.”
No. 8 Pat McKenna heads up the Towson attack, while their halfback combo is comprised of multi-year starters.
Strong Start Has Badgers Thinking Big ... 10The University of Wisconsin has charged ahead in the first couple of weeks of Big Ten Conference play, beating Iowa and Illinois by large margins to go 2-0. With a new coach, Nick Tyson at the reins, the team has shifted their focus somewhat, and it’s paying off, said captain and loosehead prop Dan Gaenslen. “We have shifted our focus to defense more than anything,” said Gaenslen. “When we talk about what number we care about, we care about zero - we want to stop the other team from scoring. It’s a good approach and the players really like it.” Boasting a smaller pack than many of their rivals, the Badgers still, as always, pride themselves on their scrummaging technique.
Miami, BGSU Lead Tough MACWith most of the games in the Mid-American Conference being between the North and South divisions, the games give an indication of relative strength, but don’t count in the standings. Thus Western Michigan’s defeat of Cincinnati Saturday isn’t in the standings, and neither is their loss to Dayton. Only Miami of Ohio has registered two league victories so far, although they have actually won three games. “We’re looking pretty good,” said Head Coach Jarred Moore in his circumspect way. “What I ask from the guys is to progress, and we are progressing. We have a lot of seniors and a group that’s playing well together.
UVic Wins Viking 7s
On a beautiful fall weekend in the Pacific Northwest, the three teams generally considered the strongest in college 7s in the region finished 1-2-3 a the Viking 7s at Western Washington University.
Over the two-day competition, University of Victoria, Central Washington, and University of British Columbia worked their way through a competitive group of opponents. Ultimately, UVic defeats UBC in the final, garnering some measure of revenge for UBC's victory at the Las Vegas Invitationals in January. Central Washington finished 3rd.
Saturday opened with the Capilano U20s traveling down to WWU for the curtain-raiser.
Men DII College Standings 2014-15 Updated
Men DII College Standings Updated as we get them.
Note: some of the leagues have not started play yet.
If the table doesn't show on your page, refresh the page and it should show up.
VMI Sets Sights on TopVirginia Military Institute moved to 3-0 Saturday with a comprehensive victory over a fairly strong Radford team in Cardinals Conference play. With the 55-21 victory, VMI keeps pace, almost, with the high-flying James Madison team, which won114-0 over Williams & Mary. JMU remains in 1st thanks to one extra bonus point than VMI. Right behind is Old Dominion, who had a bye and are 2-0. ODU and JMU meet next week. VMI doesn’t meet either team until October 18. For VMI this is heady heights at the top of the conference, and Head Coach Wayne Howe said the players are just doing what they’re supposed to do.
Arkansas State Defeats Glendale Club
Arkansas State University shook up the rugby balance of power as they beat the Pacific Rugby Premiership club champions, the Glendale Raptors 59-24 Saturday in Glendale.
It's a rarity for a top college team to play a top club team, although it does happen, and there have been times, such as 2006 when Cal beat NYAC, or 2007 when Cal beat OMBAC, that a college team bests a top club (NYAC and OMBAC were defending Super League champions).
But still ASU's feat was impressive as they ran in 59 points on a Glendale team led by USA hooker Zach Fenoglio and featuring several other national team hopefuls.
ECRC Latest - AIC Leads Top GroupThe hierarchy in the ECRC is setting itself after three weeks, with four teams in the hunt for the top spot, and three who have struggled. This week, one of those top four, Boston College, had the week off, leaving the rest to battle it out. American International was averaging almost 60 points in the first two games, and did 50% better with a 92-7 thrashing of UConn. Adrian Ray, a sophomore center our of DC, scored three tries, while Jihad Khabir, freshman flyhalf out of DC, and Kurtis Werner, senior scrumhalf out of Colorado, scored two each. This was done despite a narrow field and despite Head Coach Josh Macy testing some newer players. "Despite a narrow field we sliced through the defense at will," said head coach Josh Macy.
Canadians Strong at Viking 7s
Day Two of the Viking 7s at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. sees the playoff rounds beginning.
The tournament attracted an impressive group of contenders, and also included a unique twist to the seeding that made things a little more competitive for the smaller teams.
In Pool A, University of British Columbia, WWU, Washington State, and UBC-Okanagan faced off. In Pool B University of Victoria, University of Washington, UBC-2nds, and Western Oregon competed, and in Pool C were Central Washington, Oregon State, Cal State Long Beach, and U. Victoria ends.
Three very competitive pools with excellent programs, including two teams that had won the Las Vegas Invitational, and another finalist of that tournament. In Pool D, however, was Western Washington ends, Pacific University, UBC-Okanagan 2nds, and Reed College.
