CRAA Opens Door to Dual-Postseason Women's Teams
The College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) has announced that women's collegiate teams that are dual-registered will be eligible to compete in CRAA's Spring National Championship Pathway.
What this essentially means is the door is open for teams registered with NCR who compete in NCR's fall playoffs to also shoot for a CRAA title.
This is all because, as we talked about in our long piece about the monetary issues between NCR and CRAA, neither side is getting enough competitive rugby. NCR's fall D1 season is about seven or eight regular-season games and then the playoffs. For some programs, that is sufficient. But others want to play more.
US Rugby Foundation Launching College Jumpstart Program
San Diego, Calif. – The US Rugby Foundation and Madak, a leading rugby marketing agency, today announced a strategic partnership to launch the Collegiate Alumni Activation Jumpstart Program. This innovative initiative is designed to empower collegiate men's and women's rugby alumni associations across the United States by significantly enhancing their alumni engagement, fundraising capabilities, and overall program sustainability.
The grant program, developed in partnership with Madak, offers a comprehensive, four-month process designed to provide selected collegiate rugby programs with strategic guidance and a clear roadmap for growth. Recipients will undergo a multi-step journey, starting with an in-depth onboarding assessment, followed by intensive analysis and strategy sessions, culminating in recommendations and a recalibration session.
NCR Names Top Students Among Their Ranks
NCR has announced their "Scholastic All Americans" for the 2024-25 academic year.
Players who receive this recommendation must carry a 3.5 GPA and be rostered on their team for at least 50% of the matches or tournaments in a season.
It's a high academic bar and tough to clear, and 220 players have made the grade, with the most coming from Brown University's men's side, with 29 recognized. Georgetown men have 27, South Carolina men 23, Northeastern women 22, and Dartmouth men 22 also.
U23 Women Tournament Kicks Off Friday in Boston Area
USA Rugby and the New England Free Jacks are holding a women's U23 tournament icing off tomorrow, Friday, in Quincy, Mass.
This is a buildup toward, hopefully, the selection of a USA U23 team, but is notable for a few other reasons, too.
This brings back the old territorial all-star tournament format, and does so with 15s, which is important in developing high-level players, especially those who do not play in high-level divisions.
Both the USA 15s Head Coach Sione Fukofuka, and the USA 7s Head Coach, Emilie Bydwell, will be in attendance.
RuggaMatrix: Following the ... You Know
Our last episode of RuggaMatrix America saw Alex Goff speak with Jeremy Ognall about the rift between CRAA and NCR, and what he sees as issues—issues he has been dealing with as an intermediary.
See that episode here:
This episode follows on the same topic, but now it's Alex Goff's turn. Goff breaks it down to one major issue—money. How can a merger happen and NCR still remain financially viable?
That's the big question, and, with a bunch of information, but maybe not all of it, Goff attempts to find an answer.
Thank you to all the Patreon Patrons and Anonymous Patrons who support this content. Go here to support us: goffrugbyreport.com/support-grr
NCR Making Staff Shifts
National Collegiate Rugby is making a series of strategic staff realignments and role expansions.
NCR will double its full-time staff from four to seven, and will also create some part-time roles while also eliminating some other positions.
Consolidating Divisional Oversight
Beginning Fall 2025, NCR will transition the Men’s and Women’s Director roles to full-time positions. These expanded roles will now oversee 7s competitions, serve as the commissioner for all divisions, and lead club development. As a result, the part-time Growth and Development position will be eliminated, the 7s Director job will be eliminated, and the D3 Commissioner positions will be phased out.
The Director jobs will be open to any applicants—current Men's Director Brad Dufek and current Women's Director Angelo Smarto will be candidates for those new positions.
NCR Griffins Return from Algarve 7s With Impressive Records
After going 3-0 on Day One of the Algarve 7s, the NCR Griffins select team ran the table to win the Open Division at the Portuguese tournament.
The Griffins beat GD Dirieto in the quarters 17-10, CR Évora 33-12 in the semis, and, in the final, shut out Clonasti Scombinati 28-0.
In the final the Griffins worked the ball patiently from side to side before Kutztown's Archie Grayson broke a tackle and was in from 45. Grayson got the movement going for the next try, which ended with Aidan Smith (Kutztown) selling a dummy and cutting through for the score.
Then with Scombinati shorthanded because of an injured player, the Griffins struck, getting it wide to Everett Boys (Queens U.), and he stepped out of a tackle to speed around and under the sticks. That made it 21-0 at halftime.
Treacy, Tafuna Receive their Awards at 10th WAC Awards Event
Freda Tafuna and Oscar Treacy officially received their Washington Athletic Club College Player of the Year awards Saturday at a gala event in Seattle.
This was the most-attended even in the 10-year history of the awards, with Tafuna receiving her second-straight MA Sorensen Award and Oscar Treacy becoming the first Central Washington University player to receive the Rudy Scholz Award.
Tafuna was there to receive her trophy, supported by a massive family contingent and her Head Coach, Trevor Locke. Former USA prop, Dr. MA Sorensen, was again on hand to present the trophy that bears her name.
Good Day One for NCR Teams at Algarve
The NCR Griffins teams found themselves on the winning side at the Algarve 7s in Portugal on Saturday.
The Griffins women did lose their opener, but that was to the Kazakhstan national team and it was close, 22-17.
But after that they blew past Ubuntu (a Portuguese team) 43-0 and St. Andrews 57-0.
For the men's team, it was a 3-0 day.
NCR Teams Set for Algarve 7s in Portugal
National Collegiate Rugby has a men's and a women's team in the Algarve 7s in Portugal this weekend.
Dubbed the NCR Griffins, the women's team will play in the Women's Championship bracket.
they will face off against Kazakhstan, Portugal-based team Ubuntu, and St. Andrew's University out of Scotland on Day One on Saturday in Lisbon. They aren't the only American team in the bracket, with the Ohio Seals women's select side also there.
The NCR Griffins men will be in the Men's Open bracket. The Men's Elite bracket is full of very experienced professional sides, so the Open bracket makes sense here.
Dartmouth Clearly Top of Women's 7s Heap
Dartmouth defeated Life University in quite emphatic fashion Saturday to win the CRAA Women's Premier 7s, taking the final 31-0.
This tournament once again lived up to its billing, providing outstanding entertainment for a strong fan following, and also giving fans some upsets, and plenty of drama.
Day One for CRAA Women 7s Produces Comebacks and Surprises
Saturday's quarterfinals saw Dartmouth handle a surging Princeton 34-5, and Life defeated a Long Island University side that had provided plenty of excitement the day before.
Day One for CRAA Women 7s Produces Comebacks and Surprises
Day One of the CRAA Women's 7s is in the books; here's what happened.
Challenger 7s
With NIRA and D1A teams in the Premier 7s, other programs played in the Challenger Series.
Three pools of three teams faced off, and it was a day for the Californians.
Stanford defeated San Jose State in impressive fashion 40-7, and followed that up with a 59-0 shutout of McKendree. Led by Journey WashingtonHigh's speed and elusiveness out wide and with Kirsten lees thundering through tacklers in traffic, Stanford could mix it up and spin it, too. In fact, they were most effective creating turnovers and sending the ball wide quickly. Sydney Davis was very tenacious in the breakdown while Laura Bocek made sure that ball went wide.
Freda Tafuna Wins the MA Sorensen Award for the 2nd Time in a Row
Lindenwood University loose forward Freda Tafuna has won the MA Sorensen Award for the second year in a row.
The first multiple winner of the award, Tafuna was a unanimous choice by the Sorensen Award selection committee.
The MA Sorensen Award is given to the best woman collegiate rugby player in the USA, and this is the 10th year of the award, which is presented and sponsored by the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle, Wash.
Of the nine women who have won the award, six are playing in this weekend’s USA vs Canada test match.
Two others played Rugby 7s in the Olympics for the USA, and one is not eligible for the USA as she is Canadian.
Tafuna joins Hope Rogers, Ilona Maher, McKenzie Hawkins, Emily Henrich, and Keia Mai Sagapolu in the USA lineup to face Canada.
Interesting Slew of Winners in CRC Women's Tournaments
Brown University came away with the Women's Premier CRC title for the third time in a row this past weekend.
The Bears beat Adrian 38-0, Navy 24-7, Penn State 19-7, and, in the final, Army 19-7.
In the final, Army broke through for a try early, but Brown clamped down on defense, and two Laryssa Barbosa tries, converted by Julia Murray, staked Brown to a 14-7 lead. As Army worked to try to tie it up, Akilah Cathey iced it for Brown.
"We could not be more proud of our whole squad, led by three amazing seniors, Aziza Alford, Akilah Cathey, and Nikki Lynch," said Brown head Coach Rosalind Chou. "They all showed up with so much heart and intensity and dominated defensively. They have left quite a legacy."
CRAA Championships Set for This Weekend in Indy
The College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) caps off its season (with one exception) this coming weekend at Kuntz Stadium in Indianapolis.
The weekend will be three days of rugby, with men's 15s championship games plus two women's 7s tournaments. Here's what's up:
Women's 7s
The CRAA Women's 7s was a massive hit last year and produced some surprises as many expected Lindenwood and Life to dominate, and they didn't. Instead, Harvard took the championship.
This year, the Women's Premier 7s tournament was supposed to include 12 teams. However, since just a couple of weeks ago Central Washington learned that funding for rugby had been pulled by the University, the Wildcats had to pull out and it was too late to land a replacement. So there will be one pool of three teams and two pools of four. All of these teams are either in women's D1A or NIRA.
