We Judge The Women's College-Club Competitions
So, this article was supposed to be something else.
We started with the idea of writing about the new hybrid women's D1 college competition, which includes teams pushing exclusively for the NCR fall playoffs, and teams that are also looking at the CRAA spring playoffs.
And we started it all about saying this: "First off, college rugby for women in club teams and lower divisions continues to do its job—providing enjoyable and at times higher-level play for young women who want to compete and represent their school."
But ... is that true? Not exactly. If you measure the "enjoyable" but, we think the key measurable aspects (short of surveying players to find out if they're having a good time) is to look at what any player wants—frequency and parity of competition.
NCR Women D2 College Round of 16 Ready
National Collegiate Rugby has confirmed its Women's D2 playoff brackets for the fall of 2023.
Defending NCR champs Wisconsin-Eau Claire comes in as a top seed after having rolled through their fall 5-0 by an average score of 75-3.
With lock Calla Dexheimer playing strong up front and deep three backs Cerys Ridd and Izzy Currie running wild, they are very dangerous. But not necessarily unstoppable. Remember that the teams from the old ACRA joined NCR and they bring with them some talented teams—seven of the Round of 16 come from there. Notable, Vassar comes having won ACRA in fairly dominating fashion the last two years.
Does Vassar dominate currently? They had to work for it to get past Fairfield to the conference final, and there they met Columbia, which beat the Brewers 31-22.
Who Plays Where in Women's College Rugby
Who is what and where in college rugby?
It's a question we know players and fans struggle with every year, and every year it seems to become more complicated. Actually this year is probably a little less complicated than last year ... as we have said a few times, the market forces tend to push teams and conferences to the competitions they should be in. That's not to say we have perfect equilibrium, because we don't. But for the moment here's how things are organized.
NIRA
NIRA is for NCAA varsity programs. Not all NCAA varsity teams are in NIRA, but only one or two are outside this umbrella, and that's for geographic reasons. NIRA is divided into DI, DII, and DIII, with some newer programs in those divisions easing their way into playing in the postseason.
New Coach Appointment Sees CSULB Women Focusing on Winning Rugby
Cal State Long Beach women have brought in Rudy Bautista as their new head coach.
Bautista used to coach Los Alamitos HS girls and he has working with him a staff of three assistants: Jocelyn Ortizano, Leeanne Nguyen, and Crystal Elston..
Sierra Boyajian will serve as treasurer.
For Bautista, this is the first step in bringing CSULB women into the arena of higher-performing programs. They compete in D2 of the Pacific Desert League alongside the likes of San Diego State and two-time CRAA champs Claremont Colleges.
Bautista wants the 49ers to challenge at the national level the way Claremont Colleges has.
Colorado Mesa Comeback Seals Women D2 7s Trophy
Colorado Mesa won the CRAA Women’s D2 7s Sunday in the rain and mud in Dallas and needed all sorts of heroics to do it.
In an eight-team bracket that produced some high-level 7s, Mesa wasn’t the only team to impress. In fact, on Day One in the sun and heat they were upended 14-7 by a swift, intelligent San Jose State team.
Here’s how it all shook down:
Day One
SJSU were led by the diminutive but unflinching form of Meghana Narravula, who operated as finisher, playmaker, and emotional leader. With Aimee Ramos organizing well and Katherine Buckley hitting hard, SJSU was just better over the ball than Mesa and Mesa, for their part, got frustrated and started to commit silly penalties.
Women's D1 and D2 CRAA 7s Championships This Weekend in Dallas
Dallas will host two CRAA women's college championship tournaments this weekend.
Seven teams will play in the D1 bracket.
Wyoming, Northeastern, and UConn in Pool A. In Pool B there are four teams, with UMass Amherst, Air Force, Virginia Tech, Boston University.
Pool A will be a tight one and it will be difficult to pick a favorite, although we will pick one, Northeastern. They are coming off a win in the Polar Bear 7s and have also beaten UConn, BU, and UMass; they should be strong.
In Pool B, it looks at though Air Force may well be the favored side, but keep an eye on Virginia Tech.
CRAA Finals Weekend Features 15s and 7s
The CRAA Championship weekend schedule is set as five 15s games and two 7s tournaments descend on SaberCats Stadium in Houston.
The Rugby Network will be carrying these games live.
Here’s what’s at stake:
D1A National Championship Final
Navy takes on Cal in a massive D1A final. This is a rematch of the 1994 USA Rugby D1 final which Cal won. It is Navy’s first appearance in the D1A final, and Cal’s 4th.
Kickoff: Saturday, May 6, 6:35PM
CRAA Adding 7s Tournaments to Spring Finals Weekend in May
The College Rugby Association of America (CRAA) will host its Spring 2023 Championship Weekend on May 5-7 at Aveva Stadium in Houston, Texas.
This year’s event will for the first time combine the 15s finals and a Rugby 7s Championship for both men and women. All of the games will be shown live on The Rugby Network.
Headlined by the Men’s D1A National Championship, the weekend will also feature the D1 and D2 Women’s Spring Championship, D1AA Bowl Championships between the California Conference and the Florida Collegiate Conference, and an additional D1A Bowl Game.
NCR Names Women's All Americans
National Collegiate Rugby has announced its 2022 Women’s All-American class, with 69 players representing 34 colleges from 17 states. NCR expanded to three women’s divisions last fall, naming 23 All-Americans per group, including the inaugural Division II team.
Being named to NCR’s Division I list for the second season in a row are Notre Dame College’s Alivia Leatherman, Northern Iowa’s Jessi Inman, and Iowa State’s Madie Dunn. Division 1 Champions Michigan and runners-up Notre Dame College tie for the most representation in DI, with four Wolverines and four Falcons being named.
The selection of Telesi Uhatafe gives Southern Nazarene University its first All-American in the program’s first full season of existence. The Euless, Texas native led the Crimson Storm to a conference championship and national quarterfinal appearance last fall.
What's In a Championship?
The split of collegiate rugby has resulted in a long list of major championships, and while some of that isn't any different from the way it's always been, there are now some championships split upon split upon split.
Remember that up until 2010 there was just one men's DI college championship and just one women's DI college championship. Then after that May the first major 7s championships came up, then what became DIA and a split with DIAA. There also came splits based on the calendar, and now the split along governing organization lines.
If you look at DI men's college rugby we actually will likely end this year with as many as seven men's DI championships this academic year:
Vassar Dominates ACRA Final, But ACRA a Winner Too
Vassar College's domination of the women's ACRA competition was complete on Saturday as eviscerated Temple 74-5.
Temple found no justice in anything they tries. Kick out of your own 22 and fullback Vivika Sheppard is there to burn you and either score (she got two) or set up her embarrassment of riches in terms of talented teammates.
Pound it up the middle and run into Kira Nolan and Lauren Thompson at center or Halle Hutchinson and Hannah Charlson at flanker.
Try to find some width? Sorry, Sheppard, Kasey Drake, and Zoe Lynch were too quick.
Vassar, Temple to Battle for Women D2 Title
There's little doubt that the ACRA final this weekend is the culmination of the biggest and strongest women's D2 college competition.
With NCR dubbing its women's competition D1, and with ACRA boasting about 40 teams and with the CRAA-overseen Rocky Mountain Conference added in for the playoffs, No other competition approached it.
In the spring there will be a CRAA-overseen women's D2 competition, which will have some strong teams involved, but it won't have as many teams.
This coming Saturday at the Mathews Sportsplex in North Carolina, two former USA Rugby national champions, Vassar (2018 fall), and Temple (2004) will clash for the championship.
Making Sense of Women College Playoffs This Fall
As with the men's college rugby, women's college rugby has several postseason pathways this fall and we're coming to a head with all of them right now.
Small College
Women's Small College championships have not changed, as they are overseen by the same (albeit name-changed) organization—what was NSCRO is now NCR. December 4-5 will see the semifinals and finals. Wayne State is the #1 seed and got a bye to the semis. Northern Michigan upset MSU Moorhead 74-16 to get to the final four and face Wayne State.
SUNY Cortland beat University of Rochester and then Endicott to make the semis, and they will take on Lee University, which beat Loyola of Maryland 37-17 to get there.
These teams will play semifinals on Saturday, Dec. 4 and the final and the 3rd-4th game on Sunday, Dec. 4. All games at Knoxville, Tenn.
ACRA Quarters Set for Poughkeepsie This Weekend
The American Collegiate Rugby Association Fall Championship is set for the quarterfinals and semifinals this coming weekend at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY.
Tri-State champs Vassar will play Rugby Northeast winners Colby at 9AM on Saturday. That's followed by Rocky Mountain champions Colorado School of Mines taking on New England-Wide Conference runners-up Coast Guard at 10:45AM.
NCR Women's College Playoff Brackets Set
National Collegiate Rugby (NCR) has announced the final teams for both its Women's Division I and Small College playoffs.
D1
The playoffs feature 16 Division I teams including ten conference champions and six at-large bids.
(NCR's Women's DI is made up of conferences and teams that until this season were playing as DII.)
In the West Region, University of North Dakota will make its first-ever playoff appearance, facing undefeated University of Northern Iowa. Both University of Wisconsin Eau Claire and Bowling Green University qualify as the #2 seeds from their conferences.
The Midwest Region includes two teams with perfect records in Grand Valley State University and Marquette. Purdue enters as the Illinois Conference winner, while Iowa State comes in as an at-large bid.
