Many games in men's college rugby this month are up in the air as the Omicron variant of COVID sweeps through the region.

Colleges have closed campuses or gone remote, making assembling a rugby team impossible or, in some cases, against school policy.

Still, it's not the same everywhere. Here is what we see so far:

DIA Games

Saint Mary's has been able to secure a game with Life West, a team they have played before. Life West is a big, physical squad and Saint Mary's Head Coach Tim O'Brien said his players need game time, so they will just have to front up. O'Brien thanks Life West Head Coach Adriaan Ferris for being so accommodating. The Gaels are coming off a big win over Cal Poly—a team O'Brien was impressed with. The win was marred by 17 penalties and 19 turnovers by Saint Mary's, things the coaches will want cleaned up. "A lot of forced offloads," said O'Brien. But, he added, that Cal Poly "is a vastly improved team and they do not take their foot off the gas."

Keep an eye on flanker Francois Pieterse, who is a completely fearless flanker whose main problem has been injuries. He's a force when he's healthy. The Storti brothers, Erich and Mario are combining very nicely in the backline and tackle exceptionally well. And they are all led by prop Joe Marchant, who puts one in mind of the great US prop Chris Osentowski—you might think he's too short but he's strong, smart, has leverage, and is a leader.

UCLA, under new coach Harry Bennett, travels to Arizona for the PAC Rugby Conference opener. Arizona Head Coach Sean Duffy said he is feeling very good about his team. 

"We have one of out stronger freshmen classes, and we have some really good team leadership as well," he said. Some players who could have moved on decided to stay for one more season, and Jon Rogers will captain the side this spring. "They know the drills," said Duffy. He added that the team has taken on any restriction or impediment to training and just dealt with it and moved on. Their maturity and dedication is something to see. 

Cal had their game canceled last week but are making up for it this week with two games, with UC Santa Barbara, and the San Diego Legion U23 Academy. With the Bears having to cancel their games against UBC, a tradition that goes back about 100 years.

As for DIAA ...

The Gold Coast is a DIA/Small College hybrid league, although since NCR runs their 15s championships in the fall exclusively now there is no small-college playoff tournament to look ahead to—perhaps there'll be a crossover challenge match. On-campus restrictions have the USD v UCSD game being moved.

In Florida they should be able to play. Florida Atlantic feels pretty good about their prospects and open up against Florida this week. North Florida takes on Central Florida, the team the coaches voted as the top team in the state after the preseason. FIU at Florida State could well be the toss-up game.

Check back for scores.