🏟️NCR Playoff Rugby — Semifinals
A trip to Houston is on the line for these D1 teams:

St. Bonaventure vs Walsh
🗓️Dec 6th, 3pm EST
📍Pullman Recreational Complex — Butler, PA

Belmont Abbey vs Queens
🗓️Dec 6th, 5pm EST
📍Dickson Field — Charlotte, NC

D1-AA Semifinals:

Louisville vs Bowling Green
🗓️Dec 6th, 12:00pm EST
📍Pullman Recreational Complex — Butler, PA

Tennessee vs Texas A&M
🗓️Dec 6th, 1pm EST
📍Tennessee Rugby Park

All games are streaming here, and it looks like you’ve gotta get your credit card out.

🎥Brothers on Three
Info on this rugby film here.

⏱️High School 15s countdown

North Carolina — Friday, December 5th (tonight!)
🏉South Charlotte vs Hough
🏉Clayton vs Charlotte Catholic
🏉Ardrey Kell vs Marvin Ridge

next week…SoCal — December 13th

⏳Last Day!
TODAY is the final day to apply for the Graham Downes International Scholarship at Nelson College.
Here’s where you can get more details and apply for the scholarship.
🗓️Deadline: December 5th

Related Reading:
→ “From San Diego to New Zealand: Rees Curtis’ summer at Nelson College”

📖 Squidge wrote a book

You may know Robbie Owen — aka Squidge Rugby — from his entertaining and insightful YouTube channel. What you may not know is that he recently became an author.

His new book, “So Rugby, What’s That?”, is an enthusiastically illustrated guide that works both as a primer for newcomers and a fun homage for rugby diehards.

We’re not 100% sure if he’ll be shipping to the US before Christmas, but you can hop on the preorder list here.

Looks like a great coffee table piece!

🌎 The stage is set
Just announced this week: the 2027 World Cup pools are official.

Direct your attention to Pool E — the Eagles are grouped with France, Japan, and Samoa. As Mr. Goff pointed out, this looks pretty similar to the 2003 World Cup, when the USA drew France, Japan, Fiji, Scotland.

💥Cardinals College Expo
📍OrthoCarolina SportsPlex (Pineville, NC)
🗓️ Sunday, December 7 — 1-4pm
👥 Ages: 16+
📥 Register now

This weekend, the Charlotte Cardinals are hosting their annual College Expo. We wanted to shine a light on this event because it’s pretty cool — and should honestly be replicated everywhere. It’s a great chance to get in front of college coaches and players, and learn from them as well. And knowing the Cardinals, the post-expo barbecue is likely worth the price of admission on its own.

If you’re on the fence, get off the fence and go.

Colleges attending:
Queens University | UNC Charlotte | Belmont Abbey College | Lander University | UNC Chapel Hill | Clemson University | University of South Carolina | University of Kentucky | App State University | Guilford College | Emory & Henry College | Hampden-Sydney College | Life University | NC State University | Wingate University

▶️ North Carolina hits the start button

High school 15s is here at last, marking the launch of a new season of rugby across the nation.
We have three matches kicking things off:
🏉South Charlotte vs Hough — Dec 5
🏉Clayton vs Charlotte Catholic — Dec 6
🏉Ardrey Kell vs Marvin Ridge — Dec 5

Storylines to watch this NC season:

Players to watch:

🔥Okapi getting ready to rumble

Okapi has a big year planned, and they’re gearing up with a consistent schedule of friendly matches and tournaments. Their next outing is tomorrow, December 6th, at the Tampa Krewe Christmas Tournament.

The tournament will feature several strong Southern squads — Key Biscayne, Wando Rugby, Tampa Krewe, and the Wellington Wizards.

About Okapi’s big year ahead…

The 2025 Florida state champs put together a solid résumé last year against the best teams in the state, plus a few out-of-state visitors. But this upcoming year, they have even bigger plans.

First, they’ll head up to Charlotte to face the Charlotte Cardinals on February 27th.

Then the Friendship Cup in March will pit the Florida squad against some of the top club teams in the country, including the San Diego Mustangs, Charlotte Cardinals, Woodlands (TX), Cavemen (UT), and Raptor Rugby (TN).

We’re excited to see how they stack up — this kind of schedule is a phenomenal way to get on the radar of the Nationals Committee (assuming that’s their goal).

Keep an eye on the Okapi Wanderers this spring. They’re making big moves, and we think you’ll be hearing a lot about them.

Too long for an Ice Bath Thought, so here’s a longer thought.

Over Thanksgiving, I was chatting with my little brother about his recent soccer season — you know, doing big brother stuff.

To the casual observer, his team had a poor season. They only won a few games and made a quick exit from the playoffs. But he said something that struck me:

A closer look at their record underscores his point. They usually only lost by a goal or two and often held the lead at some point during games. And if you watched them, you’d have seen a fiery intensity — the kind of hair-on-fire attitude that really does make opponents nervous.

I was thinking about our national team, the Eagles.

Let’s face it: American rugby is a step or two behind the likes of New Zealand, South Africa, and England. And it may be a while before we’re truly challenging them for trophies.

But… what if they were scared to play us?

What if the USA adopted a brand of rugby that other countries simply couldn’t sleepwalk through?

We might not beat France, but I’d love it if they lost a little sleep before playing the Eagles.

Imagine this running through their heads at halftime:

“Sacre bleu! These American homies are a nightmare to play. Relentless. Feisty. They just don’t stop.”

America’s greatest endeavors have always been built on an almost reckless confidence. And it’s in our cultural DNA to be ferocious underdogs.

So here’s my ask for the Eagles heading into the new year:
Make the opponent dread playing you — regardless of the scoreboard.

Team culture is the biggest part of this. And maybe we need more actual homegrown Americans on the dang team. Just a thought.

There’s no reason for the USA to be a punchline on the international stage. Hang your hats on something, lads. Make ’em fight like hell to beat you, and make them never want to face you again.

Take it from my little bro:
It feels good.

Plus, that’s a product the rest of the country can get behind.

Looks like it was a blast.

Check out this guy launching himself from the 5 meter to score a try.
Probably not necessary — definitely cool in slo-mo 👇

We recently talked about the upcoming cross-country match between Charlotte Catholic and Cathedral Catholic on January 17th.

We caught up with Charlotte Catholic’s head coach, Jason Zehmke, and asked him how the match came about and what he’s excited about for this first-ever meeting of the Catholics from opposite coasts.

And hey, guess what?
We got name-dropped for helping spark the idea. Boom.

Here’s what Coach Zehmke said:

We had to ask what “braai” meant.

Here’s the explanation we dug up on the web:

“The unmistakable aroma of sizzling meat, the crackle of fire, and the vibrant conversations around an open flame — these are the sights and sounds of a South African braai. A tradition deeply embedded in the nation’s culture, the braai is a quintessential South African experience.

At its core, a braai is a social event. It’s about gathering friends and family around the fire, sharing stories, laughter, and enjoying good food. A braai brings people together and creates unforgettable memories.”

Doesn’t get much more rugby than that.

Why it’s intriguing:
Winner goes to Houston next week for the final.

Let’s set the stage.

In the quarterfinals, Texas A&M edged a blazing-hot Kentucky side 38–36 in a nail-biter. A&M came into the year as a bit of an unknown — new coaching staff, lots of questions — but as the season has developed, they’ve learned how to win the tight, gritty games. That tends to matter in December.

On the other side, Tennessee handled Sam Houston 20–0, continuing the roll they’ve been on all season. The Vols sit at 10–0, returning plenty of experience while adding key young pieces to their lineup. According to Goff Rugby Report, they call their backline the “Hit Squad,” and the nickname fits — they’ll crush you on defense.

And now these two collide for a ticket to the national championship.

Freshmen worth shouting out

We also love shining a light on the recent high school players climbing the ranks:

There are plenty of other names on both sides, but these two represent the next wave of American talent moving from high school into meaningful college minutes.

This semifinal should be a cracker.

📍 Tennessee Rugby Park
🗓️ Dec 6th, 1pm EST
📺 Stream link here

Oddball musings, thanks to the cold tub.

🏉 Whoever keeps peeing in Scott Lawrence’s cheerios the morning before every USA Eagles press conference… please stop.

🏉 Christmas music is wonderful — but isn’t there such a thing as too much of a good thing? I mean, hearing Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” from Thanksgiving through January feels excessive. Maybe I’m the Grinch… I’ll see myself out.