📺 Torrey Pines vs Cathedral Catholic
Saturday, Jan 24
5:30 EST Kickoff
Live-streaming here.

🗓️Puriri Memorial Invitational
Feb 20–21
St. George, UT

🗓️Carolina Ruggerfest
Feb 28–March 1
Charlotte, NC

🗓️Friendship Cup
March 28—29
Nashville, TN

🇺🇸USA U18s reloading at Head Coach

USA Rugby announced they’re searching for a new Head Coach for the U18s. That’s big news.

This age group sits at a critical point in the pathway, and it’s vital that the U18 national side starts hitting its potential over the next few years. This move feels like a signal that USA Rugby is open to fresh energy and a new perspective within the Pathways system.

We’ve said this before, but this role should prioritize someone with recent high school coaching experience. U18 players are still high schoolers. You need a coach who gets that dynamic and can get the most out of these players.

👊Cavemen roll at Dennis Storer Classic

The Cavemen are already hunting—and it’s only January.

Last season, The Cavemen gained national attention at the Friendship Cup in Knoxville, a run that helped fast-track them to a spot at Nationals. The Dennis Storer Classic may not carry the same weight, nor do they need it to, but this weekend clearly belonged to the Cavemen.

They went 3-0 in their matches at UCLA.

Briggs Love, Fisher Baldwin, Aiseah Hafoka, and Luke Vernon were standouts. Love—a capped USA U18 player—was a bruiser with ball in hand, crashing over for four tries. Vernon, Baldwin, and Hafoka each notched multiple scores and anchored the back line throughout the weekend.

Going 3-0 is impressive, but what stood out more was the focus from this group. Team meetings. Whiteboard sessions. A jersey ceremony. For a club side to be this dialed in so early in the season sends a message: this group isn’t satisfied with last year.

The Cavemen look hungry.

🤔Questions in the South

This weekend, a couple of reigning state champs take the pitch—and with them, a few questions worth tracking.

How will The Woodlands look this year? Last spring they captured an eighth state title and turned in a solid showing at Nationals, but the sense was that this group skewed younger than usual and took time to find its rhythm. Now, with a new head coach in Eric Thomson and a year of experience behind that youth, the pieces are in place for another strong run.

Another matchup to watch is Boks vs Spartans. Both made pushes in last season’s state playoffs, with the Boks advancing to the final against The Woodlands. This one should offer an early read on where each side stands.

Okapi is also on our radar—not because of last year’s results, but because of what’s ahead on their schedule. A demanding slate that includes Charlotte Cardinals and the Friendship Cup should provide some team-defining tests for the boys from Florida.

👉NorCal comes alive this weekend

We’ll get our first look at the defending CA state champs, St. Francis, this Saturday as they take on Rio Americano.

We were impressed with St. Francis’ level of play in last year’s state final, particularly their physicality and execution in the big moments. This will be an early opportunity to see how much of that form carries over into the new season.

We don’t have a deep read on Rio Americano just yet, but early-season matches like this tend to reveal something on both sides. Consider this one an opening data point.

⚔️ NC Dishes multiple bangers

We’ve talked about the Charlotte Catholic vs Hough matchup below, but don’t sleep on another North Carolina clash happening this weekend: South Charlotte vs Marvin Ridge.

Both squads sit at 3–1 on the season. Marvin Ridge turned heads with a gritty 14–12 win over Hough the last time they took the field, while South Charlotte has quietly put together an impressive résumé, with their lone loss coming against Hough.

Both teams have shown they can put points on the board, and Marvin Ridge’s narrow win over Hough offered a glimpse of their resilience.

Should be a fun one. Stay tuned.

You’ve probably already seen this—it’s been well circulated this week. But we thought it was worth sharing this strong endorsement of high school rugby from former Eagle Will Hooley.

He’s dead right about the importance of the high school game, especially as we look ahead to the 2031 World Cup on home soil.

More of this, please.

We couldn’t pick just one this week…

Charlotte Catholic received a lot of attention this week. Traveling to SoCal and beating one of the region’s best school teams will do that.

But Hough—still criminally under-ranked by Mr. Goff—is right up there with Catholic and Marvin Ridge as one of the best 2026 teams in North Carolina. Last year’s tilt between these two was intense as they come, and ended in a 24-19 Catholic victory.

The Huskies could be forgiven for underestimating Catholic last season—almost everyone did—but this season there’s no excuse. Expect Hough to come into this one fired up and ready to throw some haymakers.

Catholic, meanwhile, is undefeated. But that’s a dangerous place to be sometimes. The target on your back grows each week, and the pressure to keep a perfect record can tempt distraction.

I do not have a prediction for this banger. But you can vote here.

The Battle of Del Mar Heights Rd is back!
⌚️5:30 EST Kickoff
📺 Watch it here.

The rivalry between Torrey Pines and Cathedral Catholic is fascinating. They literally live on the same street, and when they face off, they tend to bring out the best in each other.

Last year’s matchup was especially intriguing, thanks to the added storyline of the “dueling 9s”—Spencer Huntley and James Curtis—and it finished in a 28–28 draw. Those two are now playing for their respective college teams, but the intrigue hasn’t gone anywhere.

And that’s because the stakes are much higher this year. In seasons past, bragging rights and team pride were the prize. Cathedral competed in the SCIRF league, while Torrey played in SCYRU, making this a crossover game.

This time around, the matchup carries the weight of the newly formed SoCal Premier League—and a potential run at the state title.

Torrey Pines and Cathedral sit in the same Premier League bracket. Only one can advance to the eventual SoCal final. This isn’t the final—but it will go a long way toward shaping the playoff picture.

So yeah, it’s a big one.

Keys to the game:

Who do you think will win? Vote here.