It’s Regional All-Star Tournament time, as age-grade select sides from around the country get on the field to represent their state, and get seen by national team coaches.

 

First up this late spring will be the venerable Rocky Mountain Challenge, which is the oldest of these sorts of tournaments, and the Midwest Rugby Challenge.

 

At GoffRugbyReport we will split up our previews and reviews of the tournaments by gender. Here’s a snapshot of the Boys brackets for the Midwest and Rocky Mountain:

 

The Rocky Mountain Challenge is stacked with talented teams. Nine squads make up the Boys Varsity division, with two of the favorites in one pool.

 

In Pool A, Heart of America, New Mexico, and Wisconsin face off.

 

Pool B is Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Texas - a pool that is about as competitive as any you’ll find. All three teams have the potential to be very strong - big, powerful, and skilled. Will the fact that Minnesota players just finished their season be a positive or a negative?

 

Pool C is Colorado, Utah, and Nebraska. While Nebraska is fervently hoping that rumors of USA U20 flanker Hanco Germishuys is nursing an injury are exaggerated, Colorado and Utah have to be considered two of the strongest teams in the competition. Colorado finished 2nd in 2013, losing in the final to Southern California. Utah were runners up tp Washington in the Great Northwest Challenge in 2013.

 

The teams will all play two shortened games on Day One (Saturday), with the top four teams going on to the semifinals.

 

The Boys RMC also has a robust JV bracket, with Colorado Springs, Texas, Wisconsin, Utah, Colorado, Heart of America, and Minnesota slated to play. 

The Ricky Mountain Challenge will be held June 14-15 at the Aurora Sports Park in Aurora, Colo.
 

 

In the Midwest Rugby Challenge, the brackets are somewhat smaller as (see above) two Midwest programs decided to go to Colorado. In addition, some teams are looking ahead to the RAST in Pittsburgh a week later, and are using the Midwest tournament as a warmup.

 

That’s why Indiana will be fielding an Indiana North and an Indiana South team. Ohio is represented by a Cleveland-area team, while Illinois and Michigan send their team squads to Elkhart, Ind.

 

The JV bracket is small, but the MWRC extends down the ages, with brackets for 7th-8th-graders, and for 5th-6th-graders.

 

The schedule is expected to be confirmed Friday.

 

The Midwest Rugby Challenge will be held June 14-15 at the Moose Rugby Grounds in Elkhart, Ind.