Hey there, Rugger!
👊 Happy Friday.
This time of year, you can throw a stick and hit an exciting, high-stakes match anywhere in the country. We’ve got playoffs, tournaments, and top ranked teams facing off across the board.
We’ll probably miss something—hit us up if we do.
Packed with rugby. Let’s go 👇
📊Check out the Riot Rankings here. They update every Monday night.
🏟️Montana Invitational
Bozeman, MT
🗓️April 24-26
🏟️Gonzaga Classic
Alexandria, VA
🗓️April 25-26
📝Storylines
That Utah Game
Herriman vs Cavemen was an absolute bruiser. Herriman controlled the early proceedings and looked in control. But a couple key Herriman injuries, and plenty of Cavemen grit, saw the game flip back to the Cavemen. And it might have stayed that way had not a Cavemen try been called back—due to a curious referee decision—and kept the door open for Herriman.
In the end, Herriman showed tremendous resilience, snatching the victory with a last-second try by senior captain Mote Kinikini.
This one hurts for the Cavemen, but a short memory will serve them well as they prepare for Nationals and a difficult Club division at Elkhart.
Herriman is still the team to beat in the School division in our opinion. Cavemen are one of the best clubs in the country and Herriman just gutted out a statement win—controversial call or not.
The controversial call—let’s talk about it. First off, we thought the center ref did a terrific job in a high emotion game. But the not-straight-scrum-feed call was a bit perplexing. That might be the least enforced law in rugby. And having it come at such a pivotal moment—with Cavemen taking what would have been a 21-7 lead, and about ten minutes left—is the type of call that can leave a blemish on a game.
If you missed it, the Cavemen try was called back and Herriman clawed back to take the win.
Unfortunate for both sides, because it distracts from the players’ performance.
To be clear, we’re taking nothing away from Herriman’s win—they played their hearts out in this victory.
And to the Cavemen’s credit, they bounced back quickly with a strong 40-26 victory over Highland (UT) the very next day.
Riot note: MacRae Parker is a game changer for Herriman. When he went down with an injury, the entire complexion of the game shifted.
Texas Finals loading
Cheers to the Barbarians for locking up a spot in the Texas Club final. The Spartans were hungry as hell and pushed them to the limit in the rematch, but the Barbarian hordes sacked Sparta 24-21 and advance to take on Woodlands.
Celina just beat Dallas Jesuit 36-19 last night, booking their spot in the Varsity Cup final against St. Thomas Houston, who defeated Strake Jesuit last weekend.
Fun Fact: The Woodlands are the only team returning to the state final from last year’s crop of teams. Fresh faces in both divisions.
Sacramento Jesuit…👀
Jesuit deserves a shout out. Granite Bay is formidable in the NorCal club scene, and the Marauders just dropped 38 points on them, giving up only 15. With all the talk about St. Ignatius, Herriman, and Xavier, you’d be unwise to overlook the Sacramento lads.
“Granite Bay has had our number the past few years, but it was a good hit out for our team. We are a bit rusty with no rugby for a couple of weeks. A good game to honor our seniors.”
SFGG is class
We didn’t see footage of this one, but the 28-26 score from the SFGG/Wolverines game indicates two things: Wolverines 100% belong in the Premier division in NorCal, and SFGG is the cream of the crop this year. Golden Gate hasn’t lost a game yet in 2026—remarkable considering the level of competition they face each week.
Can anyone stop them?
St. Martin’s (KS) travels well
An interesting take by the Goff Rugby Report suggested that St. Martin’s doesn’t travel enough (or play enough ranked teams) to warrant a higher ranking. The timing is peculiar—as the Kingfishers just traveled to Memphis and defeated the Raptors (TN) 16-7 in an impressive single school/club game. Color me delusional, but that feels like a good reason to have them climb the rankings, not drop. Maybe I’m missing something here…
SoCal #2 fuzzy
Aside from the SD Mustangs, the competitive parity in SoCal is uncanny. Belmont Shore edged the SOC Raptors in a tight 19-17 match over the weekend, which tells you how tight things are in the region. Between the Raptors, Belmont, and Thunder Rugby, finding a second team to represent SoCal at Nationals must be giving people headaches. They all look worthy, and nobody has truly separated from the pack.
It’s a shame only one more spot is available—we’d bank on any of these three making a run.
Notable: The SOC Raptors face the Mustangs this weekend. Belmont Shore and Thunder face off this weekend too. 👀 Talk about a loaded slate.
Brother Martin (LA) locks spot in final
The Crusaders earned themselves a spot in the Louisiana state final for the 6th consecutive year. Saint Paul’s — one of our favorite feel-good squads of the year — kept things close until the last ten minutes, but Brother Martin showed class in pulling away for the win.
Brother Martin will square off against Jesuit New Orleans in the state final. Keep that one on your radar—April 25th, 6pm.
Okapi (FL) falls to Key Biscayne (FL)
Maybe the surprise of the week, Key Biscayne grabbed a victory over the Wanderers 14-7. Maybe we were too early in assuming Okapi the presumptive state champs…
You can see highlights from that match here, courtesy of Rugby In Florida.
BUT, in positive news for Okapi, they were just accepted to Nationals in Elkhart.
St. Ignatius (OH) hitting their groove
It feels funny saying that about a team that’s sitting at 7-0… haven’t they been grooving for a while? Well, something felt different about the Wildcats’ 66-5 victory over Moeller last weekend.
"I think we may have turned a corner as a program. We played closer to our potential than we have in the first half of the year. We were much more dangerous in our attack and our defense was smothering. We're really looking forward to testing ourselves against the outstanding outfit that is Xavier Rugby next weekend."
That showdown with Xavier looms large this weekend. And voters are split on who will emerge victorious 👇
Voting is still open. Just click the image 👆
🧐2 teams we’re watching
Lamorinda (CA)
Lamo is a class team. They’ve been really close in their two losses—to Wolverines and SFGG—and just beat Danville last week. They pass the eye test too when you watch the film—just a solid team all around. We aren’t sure what their Nationals status is (whether they applied or not) but they’ve done enough in our opinion to lock up a spot in Tier 2 at the minimum.
Trumbull (CT)
We keep hearing it from everyone who plays them: “Trumbull is legit.”
Count us among the believers—Trumbull just clobbered Fairfield RFC 92-12 last week. They’ve got big, fast playmakers across the park who know how to find the try zone.
Keep an eye on this squad 👀
👀 Players to watch
Reese Reiter | SD Mustangs | Wing
Back from an injury that kept him out of much of the school season, the speedster has been a dangerous piece of the Mustang attack. Whenever he touches the ball, there’s a strong possibility that a highlight clip is incoming. The guy is a legit problem for defenses.
Thomas Parrot | Lamorinda | Flyhalf
A smart, physical flyhalf with a huge boot. We just watched game film from a recent Lamorinda vs Granite Bay game and came away impressed with Parrot’s decision making and ability to create space for himself and the playmakers around him. If memory serves, Thomas Parrot also represented Mexico at the RAN tournament last summer. Definitely a dude to keep an eye on.
Cole Eversole | Charlotte Cardinals | Center
An injury held him out of the 2025 season, but Eversole is back and badass as ever. He’s a big bruising center who requires a ton of attention in the middle of the pitch. On a team with plenty of lightning in the back line, Cole Eversole adds a dose of thunder to the Cardinals squad.
Greenwich vs Fairfield Prep (4-10-26)
📸 Greenwich Cardinals
🏉The 6/6 club
Ok, this isn’t a real thing… but we couldn’t help but notice: Two players went 6/6 on kick conversions last week.
Levi Hoffman | St. Ignatius (OH) — Slotted all six conversions versus Moeller on Saturday.
Santiago Flynn | Greenwich (CT) — Nailed all six attempts in a victory over BC High.
We might see these guys line up against each other at Nationals.
I smell an epic kicking battle. 😤
Mira Costa flyhalf, Theo Mackaman, was tremendous this season with his chip and chase savvy. This highlight is just one of many that he logged in 2026. Check it out.
The brackets are out. Here are a couple games we’re looking forward to at the Montana Invitational and Gonzaga Classic.
Gonzaga (DC) vs SC Barbarians | Gonzaga Classic
Gonzaga has been finding their rhythm in recent weeks. A trip to New Zealand saw this group return invigorated as they took down a talented St. Edward squad last weekend. But I think you can look back a little further—to a close loss to the Charlotte Cardinals in March—if you want to track their progress and pick a turning point. Gonzaga looked strong in that match despite the loss and may have begun finding an identity that day.
The SC Barbarians boast a talented roster that pushed most teams to the limit at Friendship Cup last month. We were impressed with their sudden attack and athleticism as they took down Pendleton and Raptors (TN).
This is an intriguing matchup we’re pumped to watch tomorrow.
Missoula (MT) vs Sacramento Jesuit (CA) | Montana Invitational
Missoula put us on notice with their early season victory over Eastside (WA). Well, now they get a massive test against a bonafide powerhouse in Sacramento Jesuit.
Jesuit, for their part, just turned heads with an emphatic win over Granite Bay.
It’s an opportunity for Missoula to announce their arrival on the national scene. Can the Stampede leave their mark on the Montana Invitational, or will Jesuit keep rolling?
The intensity is ramped up in these short-format tournament games, leaving little room for error. We’re all about it 🙌
Oddball musings, thanks to the cold tub.
📱 Social media is brutal sometimes. We posted a great try by Brady Murray (Charlotte Cardinals) last week, and it did pretty well. Then a new clip of Murray not grounding the ball in the try zone goes for almost 300k views with opinions flying. What gives?
🏈 The NFL Draft is ridiculous.
23 year old kid becomes a professional football player/millionaire in an instant.
Commentator: “You can see the emotion on his face.”
30 seconds later 👉 Interviewer: “Tell us about the emotion we’re seeing on yo face, kid.”
Gimme a break. 😂
That’s a wrap, gang!
Next week we’ll have more dope rugby stuff to share with you; scores, highlights, stories… all the goods.
If you like this, share it with your friends!
Be well, ruck with gusto, and may your compression shorts always stay in place.
-The Rugby Riot Team