Familiar Rivals Highlight D1A Semis
Familiar Rivals Highlight D1A Semis
The D1A semifinals are here.
For the first time since 2019 we don't have a Service Academy in the semis. OK, that's a little bit of a misleading stat since COVID kiboshed the playoffs in 2020 and 2021. Still, despite the fact that the names in the final four are probably the four teams you immediately think of when you think of elite-level collegiate rugby, there has been a little bit of a change.
Lindenwood visits Life after having lost to the Running Eagles 28-24 earlier in the season. Is this a different Lindenwood team, or a different Life team? Possibly. Lindenwood might be in a position to win their first semifinal ever. Eight semifinals, and they haven't won one yet. Many felt the 2021 Lions side was possibly positioned to win a national title. But ... as we said ... COVID.
A hard0hitting team that can play high-scoring games and (very) ow-scoring games, Lindenwood just wants to win, baby.
Life will punish dumb penalties ... actually they will punish smart ones, too. Kick aimlessly at them at your peril. This will be an entertaining game.
Saint Mary's at Cal is a very common matchup in general and this is their third meeting in a semifinal in the last four season. Cal won in 2023, and Saint Mary's in 2022. Both lost in the final. Cal, in fact, despite being the flagship program is high-level college rugby, having pursued it when few others were, has only won D1A once, in 2011. Does that stick with them? Maybe.
Saint Mary's has won it all four times, including last year. This year's team is not necessarily precise, not necessarily perfect, but also not necessarily predictable. As we pointed out in this guest appearance with The Rugby Network (who show both games), the return of Sosaia Pongi makes Saint Mary's potentially much more dangerous.
It's Cal Day at the University of California in Berkeley this weekend; could it be Cal day on the rugby field as well?
