Florida Collegiate Conference Kicks Off This Weekend
The Florida Collegiate Conference received a good piece of praise from GRR and as the FCC returns for its 2023 season, let's revisit that.
The reason the FCC came under praise was because every team was good, some very good, and the games were played. That may not seem like much, but it presented a nice example for other conferences—ensuring that your weakest team is still a good, capable team that can show up and play rugby—is the key to long-term success.
This coming weekend, the FCC kicks off with defending champs Florida State hosting South Florida, North Florida at Florida International in a clash of two teams that were 3-3 in 2022, and 2022 runners-up Central Florida at the Florida Gators.
Florida Atlantic has a bye.
Central Florida comes in after having lost the final by a whisker.
Tough Slog in the Rain for Saint Mary's, UBC, and UC Davis
The idea that the USA and Canada should cooperate in developing high-level rugby extends past the national teams, and certainly has a place in the collegiate game; witness then this past weekend's clash between Canadian champions UBC and USA runners-up (spring 2022) Saint Mary's.
As expected, this game was intense, thumping, and close. Played on the eighth day of a nine-day series of rainstorms in California, UBC at Saint Mary's was a back-and-forth slog which the Thunderbirds won 33-28. Certainly UBC had trouble staying out of penalty trouble early and realized, as most good teams do, that complaining about it doesn't really help, and so they adjusted some things.
Top 150 DII College Players of 2022: Wing and Fullback
We wrap up our Top 150 players in men's D2 college rugby with Wing and Fullback.
The number 150 is really just a suggestion, but on our last count we're actually right on 150. If that's correct (and it's close), you'd expect 10 players per position, or 20 for positions that show up twice (like prop and lock and wing). We've been tracking that because we don't want to end up with all our picks being players who suit up at No. 8 or flyhalf.
As it is, the most represented positions compared to the average are ... yes, sorry, flyhalf and No. 8. However, most of the positions were close to the average. We were a little unhappy with the number of props, and the lowest-represented position is wing. We have 12 wings, when we should have 20. Then again, we have 11 fullbacks when we should have 10.
NCR All-Stars A Great Idea That Needs One Thing Changes
The New England Independents won their second straight NCR All-Star Championship on Sunday, defeating the Pacific Coast Grizzlies 28-0.
The tournament echoes some of the old ways of playing, with top players coming together in regional squads to play each other in what is intended to be a higher-level step to even greater heights.
What this tournament showcases is how players who coaches (or the players themselves) consider to be good play with new teammates in a short-assembly system. But the format itself, much like the Territorial Championships of old, have a few drawbacks. One of those is that quick assembly and a largely unknown mix of players can lead to a mistake-riddled performance, or perhaps a game plan so simplified as to be less than exciting.
Cal, Cal Poly Emerge 3-0 at Storer Classic
Cal won the Storer Classic, giving up zero points through the weekend and beating UCLA 45-0 in the final game on Sunday.
Flyhalf Nate Salter dummied his way into a gap in the second minute for a try where he'd be the first to say was set up by the forwards. UCLA made some key cover tackles and put themselves in position to score a few times in the next 10 minutes or so, but Cal held them out. A massive shove from the Cal pack won a tighthead they needed, and a rather calm little left-footed soccer kick from Cal center Reed Santos prevented a charged-down clearance kick from becoming a Bruin try.
Santos acted like he swooped in to save his team's bacon every day of the week.
Four Teams Lead The Way in Storer Classic
Cal, Cal Poly, UCLA, and Utah all went 2-0 in the Storer Classic Saturday at the UCLA campus.
Rain of course affected play during the day but the games had been moved to turf fields that allowed the tournament to proceed.
Utah had the toughest outing of the day of the 2-0 teams. After beating Loyola Marymount 55-0, the Utes battled a tough UC Santa Cruz side in the rain. Utah scored early in the game (all games were 40 minutes long) with a long counter-attack run after a UCSC kick. Utah's scrum started to show and shoved Loyola's pack back, leading to a penalty 10 minutes in.
Storer Classic, UBC v Gaels This Weekend in College Action
The British Columbia-California collegiate rivalry enters a bit of a new chapter with UBC at Saint Mary's this weekend.
As reported on a little earlier—Saint Mary's Looks North as 2023 Opens—UBC will take on Saint Mary's instead of Cal this week, emphasizing the tradition of top BC colleges playing not just one (Cal) top California-based college. In the past, UCLA, USC, and Saint Mary's have all been part of the World News Cup, as was University of Victoria. This week we see the Thunderbirds, fresh off a rather dominant Canadian national championship run, take on 2022 D1A Runners-up Saint Mary's in Moraga.
Saint Mary's, deep as they are, will also face UC Davis in their California Conference opener.
Top 150 DII College Players of 2022: Center
Here's a look at center in our list of Men's D2 College Top 150 players for the fall of 2022.
Our list of 22 (we added a few and reworked our list because ... we missed a few) midfielders covers 12 different conference. If you think we missed someone, please email us here>>
The Top D2 Centers in alphabetical order.
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Heart of America Names All-Conference Selections
Forty-six players have been named to the Heart of America All-Conference selections.
With the conference having expended, it was decided to make selections based on the two divisions, North and South. Each division had 23 players selected based on position. The entire Heart of America Conference has over 325 registered players competing.
Top 150 DII College Players of 2022: Scrumhalf and Flyhalf
One of the interesting things in our annual Top 150 players list is that sometimes there is a larger list in one position than there was in the previous year.
In 2021, we named 16 players at scrumhalf; this year we list only 14. We named 24 players at flyhalf for the fall of 2021, but this year's list is down to 21 (updated with one addition).
Maybe this is down to just one or two players graduating, or maybe it's just down to what we see when we see it. Maybe we're just biased because it seems like we're up on forwards and down on backs this year.
Here is our list for scrumhalf and flyhalf.
If you think we missed someone, please email us here>>
Top 150 DII College Players of 2022: Loose Forward
Next up in our Men's D2 College Top 150 players for the fall of 2022 are the flankers and No. 8.
We've got a lot of these guys, with 39 on our list (updated with one more name).
But ... if you think we missed someone, please email us here>>
The Top D2 Loose Forwards in alphabetical order.
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Saint Mary's Defeats Trinity Western in 2023 Opener
Saint Mary's opened the New Year for pretty much everyone in US college rugby with a 45-10 defeat of Trinity Western.
The British Columbia-based Spartans made the most of their trip to California, even holding their jersey presentation at Alcatraz.
Trinity Western got a try from captain Caleb Gerth. Director of Rugby Andrew Evans said the trip was a good lesson against a very strong Gaels side.
Top 150 DII College Players of 2022: Lock
Our second list for our Top 150 players in Men's D2 college rugby for the fall of 2022 goes to the second row.
We've looked all over, and while this is traditionally a tough position in which to find really great players (because the more athletic they get the more likely they are to play No. 8 in D2), this year has seen some really special ones.
If we missed someone, or you're worried we're going to miss someone, please do email us here>>
The Top D2 Locks in alphabetical order.
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Texas A&M's Lowrey Moving On, Program Seeks Coaches
Texas A&M Men's Rugby is launching a search for a new Head Coach and additional coaches to start in the fall.
The search is prompted because current Head Coach James Lowrey will be leaving College Station for new professional challenges once the current season is over.
Lowrey is a hugely popular coach and has been very successful for the Aggies. But he has other non-rugby goals as well and it is time to move on.
"The next part of my journey is something different," Lowrey told Goff Rugby Report. "Coaching at A&M has been amazing. When you coach for the right reasons with the right people and the right culture, it can be really rewarding. Rugby for me is a conduit to you through other things in life."
Saint Mary's Looks North as 2023 Opens
Only one college rugby game this weekend but it is the kickoff for the New Year.
Saint Mary's will, weather willing, host Trinity Western out of British Columbia. For TW, this is a tough test for a team that finished fourth in the Canadian University Men's Rugby Championships. Trinity Western beat UVic 23-22 in the quarterfinals but dropped two other close game, 17-11 to McGill and 32-31 to Guelph. UBC went on to win the whole thing, more on them later.
