🏆Friendship Cup: 14 days (March 28th)

🏉Gonzaga Classic: 29 days (April 12th)

🏔️Montana Invitational: 43 days (April 26th)

🇺🇸Nationals Tournament: 69 days (May 22nd)

🔥Match of the Week🔥

Charlotte Cardinals (NC) vs Gonzaga (DC)

Saturday, March 15

Well, well, well, what have we here?

A matchup between the reigning Single School National Champs and the Club Team National Champs? Now THAT is something to get excited about.

Each team comes into this one with a loaded roster and a coaching staff that knows how to win big games. The last time these teams met—at the Gonzaga Classic, 2024—it came down to a kick, with Gonzaga triumphant in the final moments.

We expect a close game—buckle up.

⭐️Fun fact: Peter Baggetta, Gonzaga’s head coach, actually coached Jason Zehmke, the Cardinals head coach, back when he was a young chap playing for the regional all star team at MARFU. These guys go way back, and they have immense respect for one another.

Here are some thoughts from the top dogs themselves:

This is our match of the week, but you could argue that it’s one of the most important games this entire season, especially for East Coast rugby.

📺 👎Sadly, no live-stream will be available. But we’ll provide a game recap early next week with all the details.

Just curious, who do you think will win this one? 👇

St. Edward (OH) vs St. Ignatius (OH)

The first round of the Cavoli Cup happens this weekend! We won’t spend too many words on this, since you can read about the Cup here. All three sides—Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Freshman—will play each other, with each game contributing toward their team’s efforts to win the Cup. Excellent stuff!

Xavier (NY) vs Staples (CT)

Some solid Northeast action between two high-level teams.

Xavier is on a roll, having won their first two games versus quality opponents. Staples is just getting the 2025 season launched, but they are the reigning Connecticut State Champs and typically field a disciplined and talented squad.

Xavier’s roster is nursing a few injuries, so the lineup might feature a couple new faces. Despite that, the Xavier boys are buzzing at the chance to play another top-notch team. Head Coach Greg Norris summed it up, saying, "They are the CT Champs and play a solid game up front traditionally. We have not played them in a few years so it will be exciting.”

Rye (NY) vs Jesuit New Orleans (LA)

Rye gets their season off the ground with a trip down south, opting for the muggy bayou instead of the (finally!) reasonable Northeast weather.

This should be a good test for Rye, as Jesuit has been playing for weeks now and against several strong opponents. We’ll catch up with the coaches after this one and share their thoughts with you next week.

Granite Bay (CA) vs Sacramento Jesuit (CA)

Sacramento Jesuit holds a 4-3 record and has steadily improved throughout the season. They’ve had close losses to some very good teams, and beat St. Ignatius SF twice. Granite Bay is starting to groove now, having recently beaten a solid Marin team. On paper, this match could go either way. They’re both strong squads who know how to compete at a high level.

Here’s what Granite Bay Head Coach, Chris Miller, had to say:

Cavemen (UT) vs East High (UT)

This is the second meeting of these two Utah teams. The first was a Cavemen victory… a close 29-22 game.

Since then, Cavemen clobbered someone 93-10, and East lost to a very strong Herriman squad. Will this rematch be as close as their first meeting, or will one of these guys assert themselves in the Utah hierarchy?

Berks (PA) vs Aspetuck (CT)

Berks beat the MontCo Bucks in their first game action a couple weeks ago. Now they face off against a very talented Aspetuck team that just barely lost to Fairfield Prep one week ago. Aspetuck is going to cause trouble for lots of teams this season. They have talent all over their roster and they play a lot of good competition—which will sharpen their skills further.

Berks is an intriguing team this season. Historically known for a ground-and-pound style, they won the PA 7s Title in the fall with a variety of shifty running, high IQ moments, and good ball movement. Sevens is very different than 15s, but we couldn’t help but wonder if their young playmakers are going to bring a dangerous element to their attack this season.

This game is a big deal for another reason too: It’s a Nationals play-in game. Does that mean the winner is definitely going to Nationals and the loser is definitely not? 🤷‍♂️ Your guess is as good as mine. This whole play-in/invite system is confusing as hell.

Gregory the Great (PA) vs Doylestown (PA)

Pennsylvania regular season games have arrived. Gregory the Great had last weekend off after losing the previous week to Xavier (NY). We’re curious to see how they’ll look as they begin their attempt at a State Title three-peat.
Doylestown always has good athletes—you can count on elusive running from their playmakers every season. This will be a challenging first game for them against the reigning state champs, but I wouldn’t count them out.

St. Paul (LA) vs Brother Martin (LA)

The last time these two met, Brother Martin demolished St. Paul 64-5. So why are we including this game in our games to watch? Two reasons. First, we love a good redemption story. Second, St. Paul has been improving lately—albeit against opponents that aren’t at Brother Martin’s level. But this game could be closer than you’d think.

St. Paul Head Coach Eric Orphys certainly knows what they’re up against in Brother Martin:

And one more just for fun 👇

Think you know rugby? Prove it!

Oddball musings, induced by borderline hypothermia.

🏉 Squidge Rugby has done an outstanding job growing the game. The fact that the Six Nations and World Cup are telling him to quit sharing their footage just shows that rugby’s leadership would rather sit around sniffing their own farts than actually grow the sport. For shame.

🏉 Depending on ChatGPT’s mood, there are either 1.8 million or 30 million rugby fans in the USA. The real story here: Nobody actually knows—because traditional sports media couldn’t care less. Let’s change that.

🏉 Is cauliflower ear going out of style? Scrum caps are everywhere these days—forwards, backs, coaches, parents…
I get it—concussions are bad—but now we’ve got an entire generation of ruggers who’ll never know the struggle of keeping their AirPods from falling out. Tragic.