GRR: No name
The two top NCR D1AA teams from this fall are in this weekend's final, but spare a thought for two teams that were just inches away.
Louisville didn't even make the NCR playoffs, as the MAC only received one sed to the NCR knockouts. So it was all or nothing in the final. Louisville played Bowling Green twice, losing in the regular season 28-27 and 34-33 in the MAC final.
The rugby community in the New York area was shocked last week to learn of the death of former national team player and recent Morris County HS Coach Troy Bartley.
A longtime standout in the front row for the New York Athletic Club, where he helped NYAC win multiple Super League titles, Bartley was a much-loved rugby man, teammate, and coach.
Goff Rugby Report's recent obsession has been whether iron actually sharpens iron or not.
For the most part we at GRR World Headquarters believe it does—teams that have to struggle and that have to work their way through difficult conferences are better prepared for playoff rugby than those who have an easy time of it. There are exceptions, of course, but generally the adage holds.
The roots of NCR are in the small colleges, and it’s there that the entity-previously-known-as-NSCRO set out its shingle.
And while we at GRR end up talking a lot more about the D1, D1AA, and D2 brackets, for NCR really it’s D3 (what used to be Small Colleges) that made the organization.
The Global Youth 7s is set to kick off on Thursday afternoon Eastern Time, with eight North American teams in action.
USA U18s
The USA U18s program has two teams in New Zealand, with the USA U18 Girls and USA U18 Boys.
In 2023 the USA teams did quite well in this tournament and set up some players for higher honors.