NSCRO Teams from the West are converging on Claremont Colleges in Southern California and New Mexico this weekend to decide which teams get into the national playoffs. 

Two parts of the brackets are in play. In the Cowboy Cup, Rocky Mountain winner Denver plays LoneStar Runner-Up St. Edward’s, and LoneStar winner Angelo State plays Rocky Mountain 2nd-place team New Mexico Highlands.

"We have a lot of respect for the St. Edwards program," Forwards Coach Stu Halsall told the local press. "They have a strong coaching team and a talented squad. Our last matchup was a close 27-23 encounter and we are expecting a tough game." 

Denver’s issue has been injuries. They welcomed the spring break if only to rest up - they are hoping to have Jake Wilson, Josh Jolly, and Alexander Hutchins back and ready to play.

In the Pacific Coast Cup, Gold Coast winners Claremont Colleges will face Santa Rosa Junior College, and NorCal champions Cal Maritime takes on Azusa Pacific.

All of these teams will play once, with the winners moving on to the Region 4 Championships in Vallejo, Calif. April 16-17. 

Cal Maritime expects to win their game if only because the Keelhaulers are hosting the next round. Cal Maritime has lost to UC Davis, Santa Clara, and Cal, but they haven’t lost to any same-division opponents, and hope to return to the National Small College Rugby Organization semis.

“Most of our players are walk-on,” said Coach Steve Hiatt, who runs a varsity program at Cal Maritime. “Our athletic pool is small, but the guys come in ready to work. They’re very committed, even though most of them haven’t seen rugby, let along played it.”

Codi Jones and Ryan Morris both received pro rugby offers (Morris had to decline his), but the entire team is contributing. No.8 John Bulaich, and the center pairing of Evan Chambers and Chad Mensinger have been very impressive.

“We take our rugby seriously,” said Hiatt. 

Maritime has been pretty dominant. beating UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Monterey Bay, and University of Pacific. Then in February it was Sierra College, Sonoma State, a loss to Cal, and then the big one, against Santa Rosa JC. That game, the Keelhaulers won 34-12, and sealed their status as the strongest team in Northern California.

Favored in the other game is probably hosts Claremont Colleges. Claremont faces SRJC, and Coach Scott Bracken said winning is nice, but it’s not how he approaches things.

“We talk about the performance; we don’t focus on the score.”

It’s been a weird season in some ways for Claremont Colleges because they enjoyed an intense January and February, but only played one 15s game in March. 

“Our team is a bunch of hard workers,” said Bracken. “They are bright, dedicated. I like our chances and how everyone’s working together.”

Claremont is led by hooker Omar Rodriguez, with flanker Sanders Windham also having a good season. The link between the forwards and backs is handled smartly by scrumhalf Bobby Chui.

The NSCRO championship has been whittled down now to 14. Two of those 14 are in the national semis already - Southern Indiana and Eastern Connecticut State. Eight play in Southern California this weekend, going down to four. And also this weekend, the Region 2 bracket, will play off in Charlotte, NC with North Florida against Mt. St. Mary’s, and Bucknell against Duke.