🏉Gonzaga Classic: 8 days (April 12th)

🏔️Montana Invitational: 22 days (April 26th)

🇺🇸Nationals Tournament: 48 days (May 22nd)

Let’s talk about the rankings for a sec.

We launched the system in January, and it’s been a ton of fun watching game results roll in and the standings shift each week.

But we want to be totally transparent with you—players, coaches, fans—as we keep improving things. So, without further ado, let’s lay it all out there.

✅ What’s Working:

• Game volume is strong.
  We’ve logged over 500 varsity games! That’s incredible. And the total number is probably 20% higher since we can’t catch every single result yet. This is a great sign for American rugby—more games, more teams, more energy.

• The system works (mostly).
  Teams are generally rising and falling in proportion to performance, which is the whole point. No major glitches, and the rankings are giving everyone a better sense of where things stand.

• Movement arrows are awesome.
  Easy visual = better experience. Enough said.

• People are checking it.
  After a slow start, we’re now seeing around 2,000 visits a week. Appreciate the love!

• Regional breakdown is a hit.
  Being able to see how you stack up in your region has been really popular—especially for teams not going to nationals or looking to line up strong local matchups.

• Top teams bonus is live.
  We added a gradient bonus for playing top 50 teams. It helps stabilize rankings so one tough loss doesn’t always knock a team out of the top 50, and rewards teams for scheduling hard games. Basically: Play a top 10 team and you get 50 points—Down to 40th-50th which awards 10 bonus points.

⚠️ Where We’re Hitting Snags:

• Getting all the scores is hard.
  No shocker, but we still have to chase missing scores every week. We rely on coaches submitting them via match report—when they don’t, we’re stuck scrolling social media or shouting at rugbyxplorer.

• Big drops & big jumps.
  Sometimes the system penalizes a loss more harshly than feels right—especially early in the season. It’s mathematically fair, but we’re exploring ways to dampen the swings.

• Visually confusing starting point.
  Everyone starts at 2,000 points, so even a big early-season win doesn’t guarantee a high rank. If we have 400 teams, you might be ranked around 200 even after a win. We’re working on factoring in last season’s performance to help with this.

• Mixed levels.
  We originally wanted to rank just D1 varsity squads. But with so many crossover games vs D2 teams, that’s messy. We may start tagging D2 teams and eventually give them their own ranking tier—so it’s apples to apples.

• Club vs. Single School: it’s a thing.
  Most states have crossover, so it makes sense to include everyone together. But in places like California and North Carolina, club and school seasons don’t overlap at all. That makes comparisons murky.
  So here’s our working idea: a toggle. Want to see just Club teams? You can. Just Single School teams? Easy. Or leave it combined.
  If that sounds useful, let us know below 👇

That’s all for now.
We’re building this to be useful, unbiased, and—hopefully—fun to follow. Thanks for riding along with us.

Cheers!
Ipse, Chief Rioter

Here are some games to keep an eye on this weekend 💥

St. Martin’s (KS) vs St. Thomas Aquinas (KS)
4/5/25

After a full helping of “humble pie” last week, St. Martin’s is looking to get back on track. And they’d better do it quickly—St. Thomas Aquinas isn’t going to show any mercy in this rematch of the 2024 state final.

There’s a short but ferocious history between these two teams. We did a write-up last summer, which paints the picture for you.

Safe to say: this one’s gonna be a banger in Kansas.

Rye (NY) vs Greenwich (CT)
4/8/25

This one is intriguing.

Rye is coming off a big win over Staples—who won the CT state title last year, over Greenwich.

Greenwich, meanwhile, just dropped a tough one to Xavier (NY), who’s starting to look like the top dog on the East Coast. By all accounts, the wind played a major role in that match, and Greenwich had it in their face the entire second half.

Both teams have played two games, so it’s early in their season. But we’re curious to see how this one shakes out—it could tell us a lot about each team as they both chase a State title in their respective states.

St. Ignatius (OH) vs St. Xavier (OH)
4/5/25

On paper, this one might look lopsided—but don’t count it out just yet.

St. Xavier had a rough start to the season, but they’ve strung together two solid wins in recent weeks and may be finding their footing.

St. Ignatius’ last game (in the US) was a few weeks ago against St. Edward. They just returned from a Spain tour where they performed very well against some solid Spanish teams.

We’re curious to see: Can St. Xavier ride their recent momentum into a strong showing? How is St. Ignatius going to look after their tour abroad?

Eastside Lions (WA) vs Panther Rugby (WA)
4/5/25

Eastside has been rolling through Washington, firmly establishing themselves as the team to beat in the state. They’ve also logged a solid win over Marin (CA) in a cross-state matchup. With a big, physical forward pack, they’re known for wearing teams down.

The Panthers have had more of an up-and-down season—posting solid wins over Budd Bay and School House, but also taking losses to Chuckanut and Liberty.

We don’t have a ton of intel on either team, but we’re definitely curious: can a Panthers squad that beat a strong School House side (by a similar scoreline to Eastside) hang with the Lions in this Washington State matchup?

Berks (PA) vs Doylestown (PA)
4/6/25

Doylestown came out hot this season, starting with a gritty win over Gregory the Great and backing it up with solid victories against La Salle (PA) and Malvern Prep (PA).

Berks, on the other hand, has stumbled a bit in recent weeks—with losses to Gregory the Great and La Salle. That said, we know they’ve been missing several key players due to various conflicts. If they’re back at full strength this weekend, this one could go either way.

There are playoff implications here too. While both teams are likely headed to the postseason, the brackets are far from set. A win here would put either side in prime position to make a push for the state final.

But there’s still one big test on the horizon: both teams will need to face off against St. Joe’s Prep before the dust settles in Pennsylvania.

Gonzaga (DC) vs St. Edward (OH)
4/5/25

Let’s keep this simple:

• How will Gonzaga look in their first game back from Italy?
  Their last stateside match was a loss to the Charlotte Cardinals, but our gut tells us these guys are about to find their groove. Plus, with the Gonzaga Classic coming up next week, the timing couldn’t be better for the lads from DC to find some momentum.

• Can St. Ed’s get back on track? The bright spots so far have been a great first half against St. Ignatius (OH) and a win over Moeller (OH). But consistency has eluded them, and a rough weekend in Illinois last week was concerning for a team with nationals aspirations. A solid game against Gonzaga would go a long way towards righting the ship.

Charlotte Cardinals (NC) vs Charlotte Tigers (NC)
4/5/25

The Charlotte neighbors don’t have a long history—or more accurately…the Cardinals don’t have a long history, having only been around for a handful of years. But there’s most definitely a rivalry vibe in this matchup.

Many of these players suited up together during the winter school season before splitting off to choose their spring club. Some chose the Cardinals. Others chose the Tigers. There’s more to the story—but we’ll leave it at that.

The Cardinals, as everyone knows, are the reigning national champs. They’re the team to beat in the Club division—locally and nationally. The Tigers didn’t quite reach that level last year, but this feels like a different squad.

They’ve got a bevy of playmakers, headlined by Jameson Beatty—the same guy who lit up the NC school state final this winter with three tries. He’s dangerous from anywhere on the pitch. The Tigers are also off to a strong start this spring, with several quality wins and only one loss—against The Woodlands at the Friendship Cup.

Should be a great game! We’ll be paying attention.

Woodlands (TX) vs Spartans (TX)
4/5/25

Woodlands may not have performed up to their lofty standards last weekend at the Friendship Cup, but it’s worth noting that they were down several key players and had mostly sophomores on the field. On top of that, they were dealt what—looking back—was likely the toughest schedule at the tournament.

We have lost zero confidence in their ability to clobber most opponents.

Next up for them is a Spartans squad with an impressive résumé: Their one loss (that we could find) coming at the hands of a very talented Barbarians team. And that result was way back in February!

• How will Woodlands look after regrouping from the road trip to Tennessee? Are they back at full strength?

• Will the Spartans have enough defensive strength to hang with this Woodlands squad? We ask that because in their loss to the Barbarians, it wasn’t close. But a lot can change in eight weeks of rugby. We shall see.

SD Mustangs (CA) vs SOC Raptors (CA)
4/5/25

A nationals play-in game between two high octane clubs.

The Mustangs had a week off after their victory over Belmont Shore, so they should be fresh and close to full strength.

The Raptors, meanwhile, are riding high after a convincing win over Thunder. Jesse Torres and Cole Bracken were standouts in that one—but they’ll have their hands full against a Mustangs squad stacked with game-breakers, led by captain and scrumhalf Spencer Huntley.

We’re especially curious to see who controls the midfield early. Our gut says this one comes down to discipline—both teams can punish you if you give up cheap penalties or set-piece opportunities.

Important note: The winner is in for nationals, but the loser is not out yet—there’s still another spot available for the region.

Think you know rugby? Prove it!

Oddball musings, induced by borderline hypothermia.

🏉 A lot of birds of prey get the nod for team names—Eagles, Falcons, Raptors, Hawks etc.
May I offer an alternative? Geese.
Sound weird? Fine. But those things are mean SOBs.
If you’ve ever been chased by a goose, you know exactly what I mean. 🪿

🏉Munchie attack. At a recent game, we saw a referee order DoorDash mid-game—and then go collect it under the scoreboard at halftime. Because nothing says “I’m competent” like inhaling a couple corndogs before the restart.

🏉 Take a deep breath.
Parents, we need a quick word: Shhhhhh 🤫 (is that a word?) Look, it’s already an emotional game—screaming at the ref or players is like dumping gasoline on a smoldering campfire.
Just chill. But hey, scream your lungs out when your kid scores! 🙌