Four teams qualified for the 15th Collegiate Rugby Championship Saturday, with new teams booking their trip to nationals in Men’s Premier Cup, Women’s Division I Club, Women’s Division II and Men’s Division III.
Host Iowa defeated in-state rival Northern Iowa to claim the Hawkeye 7s title Saturday in Iowa City, punching its return ticket to the Collegiate Rugby Championship in Women’s DI Club. The Hawkeyes dropped a pool match to Ohio State, but bested Purdue once and Minnesota twice to reach the final.
The hosts also won the weekend’s Division II AQ, Razorback 7s in Fayetteville, AR, with the Hogs going 4-0 Saturday. Arkansas averaged 44 points a game on offense, conceding just one try the entire tournament. The Razorbacks blanked Mizzou in the final, 29-0, to book a second-straight trip to the CRC.
At Silverbacks Park in Atlanta, defending Premier Cup national champion Wheeling punched its return ticket to the Collegiate Rugby Championship, as did Wisconsin-Eau Claire, champions of the Division III qualifier. The Cardinals went a perfect 5-0 Saturday, their closest contest being a 24-7 win over Tennessee in pool play. The Blugolds also went unbeaten, becoming the first DIII men’s team to qualify for nationals.
Wheeling defeated Indiana in the Premier Cup final, 38-7. The Hoosiers led 7-5 early thanks to a try from Luke Peters, and trailed just 12-7 at halftime, but a pair of Indiana injuries and an offensive explosion from Wheeling contributed to a 26-0 Cardinal second half. Panashe Mugorogrodi led all scorers with three tries in the final.
Christendom was perfect in DIII until facing Eau Claire in the final, which proved to be a seesaw contest. The Crusaders struck first and often, but the Blugolds answered the bell every time before separating in the second half. The lengthy forward pair of Andrew Boucher and Luke Pugh proved a mismatch for the smaller, speedy Christendom.
As campuses empty across the country for spring break, there are no automatic qualifiers this weekend. The Road to the CRC commences with eight new teams slated to qualify from four tournaments March 22.
View the teams that have qualified so far for the 2025 Collegiate Rugby Championship National 7s.
