In Men's club news, five top East Coast men's clubs have formed the Atlantic Rugby Premiership, to mirror the Pacific Rugby Premiership on the West Coast.

The PRP formed this past spring as a response to the lack of an elite-level men's club in the USA. The teams on the East Coast were unable to put together a similar competition, despite plenty of effort, but now have done the deal for the 2014-2015 season.

These are familiar rivals, with Boston, Boston Irish Wolfhounds, NYAC, NY Old Blue, and Life University facing off in a home-and-away round-robin that gives all teams eight games over ten weeks. The first half of the season will run in September and October, with the second half running from mi-April to May 9. This schedule perhaps addresses concerns by some clubs (notably NYAC) that an all-fall schedule would be too much.

The ARP runner up will then enter the USA Rugby DI playoffs, while the league champion will potentially (details to be finalized) play the champion team of the PRP.

This is big news for top young players looking to hook on with clubs in the future, as the schedule and the establishment of the ARP could signal a better level of competition and some stability in the men's club scene. The choice to put the ARP #2 team into USA Rugby's playoffs keeps USA Rugby in the picture, and also gives more teams something to play for.

Click here to see a PDF of the full schedule.