Friday Night Rugby — D1 Women’s showdown
📍 Notre Dame vs Michigan
📅 Friday, October 17, 7PM ET
📺 Watch it here

West Coast Sevens — Round 3
📍 San Diego, CA
📅 Saturday, October 25
📺 [links coming next week]

💡 Mark your calendars: high school 15s kickoffs are right around the corner — SoCal and North Carolina both start in December.

🏉 Division 1
Brown in command.
After dispatching a tough Dartmouth side the previous week, Brown backed it up with a 31–22 win over AIC to stay atop the Coaches Poll for a second straight week.
#2 St. Bonaventure had the weekend off but returns to action against St. Thomas.

Next up: Brown vs Fordham.

🏉 Division 1-AA
Kentucky in the driver’s seat.
Alabama hosted the Wildcats—and got thumped 60–24. Kentucky holds firm at #1, with Louisville and Tennessee nipping at their heels.

Next up: Kentucky vs LSU • Tennessee vs Alabama • Louisville vs Pitt.🏉 Division 2

🏉 Division 2
IUP flying high.
The Hawks stay #1 after dropping a ridiculous 120 points on Kent State. Next up is WVU, who conceded 88 to Franciscan (whom IUP beat 69–29).
Could be another scoring bonanza for the Hawks.

🏉 Division 3
Shakeup in D3
By all accounts, the Slippery Rock vs Franciscan game was violent. In the end, the Barons pulled off the upset (15-7 final score) and Slippery Rock was dutifully dropped from the top spot in D3—they now hold the 7th spot. Franciscan meanwhile climbed to #5 in the Coaches Poll.

The top dawg in this division is currently Duke, sporting a sparkly 4-0 record. Next up for them is Wake Forest.

St. Bonaventure had the weekend off, but we tapped one of their own for some insider perspective.

Joe Deinhart, now a Bonnies freshman, breaks down their recent clash with Walsh and previews what’s next for their squad.

✍️By: Joe Deinhart

St. Bonaventure vs. Walsh has always been one of the marquee games on the NCR calendar. It is always a tight game, pitting two vastly different styles of play. St. Bonaventure is known for playing some of the fastest and widest rugby in college rugby. With a mobile pack and a versatile backline, the Bonnies thrive in space and punish slower, larger teams on the edges. Walsh plays smashmouth footy. They don’t attempt deception; they just run you over. With a tight five that could all play tighthead prop, they have historically dominated smaller teams

The game began with long probing kicks and big hits from the forwards on each team. Walsh slotted a few penalties, and after tries from Tanya Takaendisa and Troy Heroldt, the Bonnies led 15-9 at half. Walsh clawed back in during the second half, smartly using their big carriers to starve the Bonnies of possession and territory. A last-minute try by Medhi Merah brought the game to a tie, and to a fitting end.

Several standout performances came from the Bonnies. Flyhalf Noah Edwards controlled the game in the air for the Bonnies, both from hand and the tee. Lock Maseah Young complimented this with hard carries and much-needed leadership in the face of Walsh’s imposing scrum.

The Bonnies look to bounce back from the disappointing draw with matches against St. Thomas (FL), Wheeling, and Penn State. St. Bonaventure is frothing at the mouth for the chance to play Wheeling after their agonizing loss in last spring's Sevens National Championship. Wheeling will bring physicality, with dynamic runners in space that constantly look to offload and play quickly. St. Bonaventure must improve in dealing with linespeed and big physical runners that troubled them against Walsh, as Wheeling will use a similar blueprint to defeat The Bonnies. According to wing Troy Heroldt, physicality has been a big emphasis throughout the lead-up to this matchup.

Stanford hosted the second stop for West Coast Sevens, and it went wonderfully. A few lineup changes shook things up — Cathedral Catholic was without several starters, for example — and the brackets looked a little different from Round 1.
Regardless, two things were emphatically true: This is a well-run tournament, and Cal is a beast.

College Men
Champs — Cal

Picking up where they left off two weeks ago, Cal orchestrated another dominant day of sevens rugby. These guys put on a tactical and technical masterclass in NorCal. One area that stands out in their game is awareness. Some teams make the mistake of playing sevens with a 15s mindset—but not Cal. They do an excellent job recognizing space and taking advantage of narrow opponents. Add in a patient yet fierce defense, and Cal is a force. (See: 55-0 over GCU in the final—and GCU looked great leading up to the last match.)

Can anyone stop them in San Diego next week?

High School Boys
Champs — Carmichael

Perhaps the surprise of the day, Carmichael looked sharp throughout and ended the day tops in the division. We were impressed with their athleticism and ball-handling skills, but it was their consistent defense that stood out most. They faced a range of opponents — from Cathedral Catholic’s crisp passing to the Wolverines’ direct, punishing running — but the result was the same: Carmichael covered the field and held opponents in check.
It may be sevens, and yeah it’s early, but Carmichael has some clever rugby players and we’ll be tracking their 15s season closely.

Fun Fact: This is the first time Carmichael has fielded a sevens team. Not bad, fellas!

🏉 Riot Take: Another impressive day of West Coast Sevens. From the on-field action, to the drone footage, to the live commentary—everything was superb. Part of the appeal of sevens is the rapid pace and the threat of a long-range try being scored at any moment. It’s easy to see why the format has grown in popularity—you're never too far away from the next dopamine hit as a viewer, and the players get to showcase raw athleticism with acres of space to exploit. Fun stuff all around.

👉Next up: West Coast Sevens heads to San Diego for the final leg of the tournament.
Saturday, October 25—San Diego

👀Sam Houston’s Lucas Staggs opened the scoring in last week’s Friday Night Rugby match vs Texas State.
That’s a great name for a fleet-footed winger.
You can watch him hoofing it down the pitch right here 👇

FYI, the “big man” is himself, Noah Gomez 😂

Here’s the interview where he said it:

There are two primary forms of rugby played in the world, Rugby Union and Rugby League. They are similar in many ways, but each have distinct features.
Union is more common—and it’s the version we play here in the U.S.

Oddball musings, induced by borderline hypothermia.

🏉 The drop-goal conversion in sevens is one of the funniest things to watch players attempt. It’s an equal opportunity befuddler—everyone struggles with it.

🏉 One of these days I’m going to write an article titled The Dummy’s Guide to College Rugby in the U.S.
Because I’m still confused by it—I’m guessing others are too.

🏉 Ok so I caved and tried the new Sora ai video app. First thing I tried was “Rugby eight-man being tackled by dwarves on a mountain.” Very entertaining. Very weird.