👊 Happy Friday.

The rankings are still sorting themselves out. NorCal is a math problem. Club season is heating up. And this weekend is stacked.

Packed with rugby. Let’s go👇

School:

Note: Most of the teams above are either done for the season or will be within two weeks. Expect some new faces in the top ten as the rest of the country comes alive.

Check out the full rankings picture here 👉

Club:

Note: NorCal and SoCal are still in school season, but things will get interesting in a few weeks when club season is fully underway nationwide.

Check out the full rankings picture here 👉

The Woodlands (TX) | +55.2 average point diff. | 5 games played

Southwest | 11.4

Sounds bad, huh? Not exactly. The Southwest has had the tightest games so far this year. The margin for error is tiny, and teams are hard to put away. SoCal’s competitive density has a lot to do with that.
If we were rankings regions, Southwest has the early lead.

St. George gave us an early-season temperature check.

Here’s what stood out 👇

Cavemen

The Cavemen were terrific over the weekend. Three wins. 86 points scored. Just 32 allowed — best defensive mark at the tournament.

The big one was a 24–17 win over Herriman. It was a forward-centric affair. All four Cavemen tries came from the pack, and when the game tightened up, they were ruthless in contact and finished phases inside the 22.

They also edged the B-side clash 19–17 after a scoreless first half, which says something about depth.

Solid February rugby.

Herriman

Herriman is going to be a really tough school team to beat.

Cavemen went toe to toe with Clubs like the Charlotte Cardinals and Woodlands last year. And Herriman just held them to 24 points and took them to the wire.

A few too many penalties hurt them in the headline match, but they have the kind of talent that will trouble plenty of sides this spring.

There’s a reason Goff has them ranked #1 (School) this early in the year. They’re a special group.

Teams to keep an eye on

Red Mountain (AZ) is the real deal. Quick taps near the goal line, organized around the fringes, and good awareness in tight spaces. They put up three scores in their loss to Cavemen and won’t be an easy out as their schedule moves forward.

Don’t sleep on Brighton (UT) either. They quietly led the entire tournament in total points scored with 91. That shouldn’t get lost in the shuffle.

With programs from Hawaii and across Utah in the mix, Puriri once again felt like what it’s becoming known for — an early barometer for teams with local and national ambitions.

It’s only February. But we learned a few things.

Doylestown (PA) would have been a solid side at last year’s nationals tourney. Maybe they’ll get the chance this year?
Their 62–28 road win over an experienced Fort Hunt (VA) club should put them firmly on the nationals committee radar.

Standout players were:
Nick Miletto | 2 tries, Man of the Match honors
Jackson Reilly | 1 try, 2 conversions
Louie Cipollo | 2 tries, 1 conversion
Liam Hoey | 2 tries
Davis Parisi | 1 try
Brandon Zubyk | 1 try
Brady Flynn | 1 try
Jamie Weir | 3 conversions

The 2025 Pennsylvania state champs are off to a hot start, but the next couple weeks will be a huge test—Xavier (NY) this weekend, and then a big one against the Charlotte Cardinals on March 7th. Stay tuned.

Torrey Pines went down early against La Costa Canyon when a box kick bounce landed directly in the hands of a racing Henry Mallory for the opening points of the game.

The first half was a grind. Neither side found much space, and they went into the break tied 7–7. The second half belonged to the Falcons and their pressure. Mistakes mounted for LCC, and Torrey kept pounding the gain line until opportunities appeared. There was nothing flashy about it, but the Torrey lads made the grind look beautiful. Solid defense and a methodical attack saw them get over the line — and between the posts — enough times to close it out 24–7 and claim a spot in the SoCal Final.

LCC should be proud of their season. There’s a reason Goff finally bumped them into his top-10. They just made a few too many mistakes against a Falcons side that knows how to capitalize.

On the other side of the bracket, Orange Lutheran defeated Mira Costa 34–22 to advance.

Note: Unfortunately, there’s some off-field drama in SoCal that could jeopardize the final altogether. We’ll update you once that situation settles.

St. Francis. Rio Americano. De La Salle. Sacramento Jesuit. St. Ignatius.
Who’s actually pulling away here?

Short answer: nobody yet.

Here’s where it stands, according to our research:

St. Francis is 3–1 in league play and sits on 15 conference points — good for first place. Now they wait.

Rio Americano and De La Salle are both 2–1 with one game left.

If Rio beats St. Ignatius this weekend and scores 4 tries, they’d move to 15 points and tie St. Francis. Because Rio owns the head-to-head win, that would push them into the top spot.

Simple enough, right?

Nope.

If De La Salle beats Jesuit and also scores 4 tries, then all three could finish at 15 points. And that’s where it gets messy. Rio beat St. Francis. De La Salle beat Rio. Now we’re layering head-to-head scenarios and potentially sliding into deeper tie-breakers depending on how the math shakes out.

Also, if Jesuit beats DLS — or even just holds them under 4 tries — De La Salle could slip out of the picture entirely. Same story if Ignatius keeps Rio under 4 tries.

Bottom line: St. Ignatius and Jesuit’s defenses might hold the keys this weekend.

My head hurts.

Turns out, Okapi doesn’t give a damn about pregame polls or opinions. They just quietly went about their business — assassin-style — and dispatched the upstart Boca Raton squad 52–12.

The win moves them up to #2 in the Club rankings this week. Whether they hang onto that spot will be determined by a major clash in Charlotte this Friday when they face the Cardinals.

Speaking of which…

California has been a generous host to North Carolina teams this year. First Charlotte Catholic traveled to SoCal and defeated Cathedral Catholic in January. Now, the Cardinals — sporting many of those same players — returned home from NorCal with an 86–0 win over the Wolverines under their belt.

We understand the Wolverines were missing key players still representing their school teams in the region, so a small asterisk might be warranted. But there’s no denying the eye test—these Cardinals play fast as hell and have dynamic players across the park.

Whispers have started circulating — how would Granite Bay or Danville Oaks fare against the North Carolina boys?

We’d love to see that game.

Next week we’ll have more dope rugby stuff to share with you; scores, highlights, stories… all the goods.

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Be well, ruck with gusto, and may your compression shorts always stay in place.

-The Rugby Riot Team