At The Top

The Relatively Easy Part

Coming out of the chute things seem reasonably easy. Raleigh Cobras took second at NC Ruggerfest losing by only 4 to the Valkyries, who based on the roster were essentially an all-star team. Then, the following week Doylestown of PA ran the table at Rugby Showcase South (RSS) including a strong showing and win over the Cobras in an EGRL cross-divisional friendly. This means that (a) Valkyries are essentially unrankable, (b) after a very strong year last year Cobras still look dangerous and (c) Doylestown, having lost only a handful of players look like they are ready to pick up where they left off.

Doylestown starts the season at 1, Cobras at 2.

The Chase Pack

Here's where things get a little tricker. In the Elite bracket at NC Ruggerfest, the Cardinals, who've stepped back from EGRL competition in 2026 pushed the Cobras coming within 1 try in a 19-14 loss however didn't bring the same energy to their game against Valkyries losing by 36. Morris, which got decisive wins over Chapel Hill and Raleigh Redhawks at RSS had moments where they looked dangerous against Cobras, but didn't have the defensive strength needed to keep the Cobras from scoring, conceding 29-15. Also in the mix here is Downingtown who notched 3 wins at RSS, including a win over a Maryland team powered by North Bay/VOC. Both Morris and Downingtown lost big senior classes last year and are going to have to recruit to weather the long Spring lead-up but so far, their core groups look ready to play. As for North Bay/VOC they have talent, which they showed in their last game at RSS. When they gel, they could be dangerous. The Raleigh Redhawks are also in the conversation here. They showed signs of strength in their games at RSS and, if able to protect the ball and clean up some of the basics could be dangerous. Finally we can't forget about Moon HS in Western PA who won all 3 games at NC Ruggerfest. Year in and year out they put a solid product on the field, but having played in the Developmental bracket, it's hard to tell exactly how much fire power they have.

The next wave are: 

Downingtown 3, Cardinals 4, Morris 5, North Bay 6, Raleigh Redhawks 7, Moon Area 8

In the Convo

Other programs that have have wins under their belt are the SC Barbarians - which, as the name implies may not be a club but an amalgamation (we need to learn more) as well as the Brunswick, Ohio based Valkyries. While it's hard to call Ohio the "East Coast" and so we can't rank them here, each program got 3 wins in their respective developmental bracket at NC Ruggerfest so deserve the shout out. Another team to watch here are the Hough Huskies who got 2 wins at Ruggerfest. We'll be keeping an eye on the NCYRU results to see how they fare.

Hough Huskies 9

Teams on the Rise

Two teams took part in both NC Ruggerfest and RSS showing grit and resilience against deeper and more experienced sides. Big hat-tip to Wando Wahines of SC and Chapel Hill Highlanders of NC. Southern Pines was in a similar situation at Ruggerfest. Seeking out hard competition and finding little victories to build on is how great squads are built. Kudos to all three.

Wando, Chapel Hill and So Pi - Tied 10

Too Early To Tell

Several teams have yet to take the field or are still ironing out their rosters for the season. West Carroll, Aspetuck, Play Rugby USA, Greenwich (CT), Orchard Park, Corning,  and City Honors all come to mind here while we are getting rumblings that Mystic River in the Boston area and the Knightmares of the Capitol region in PA are revamping and readying their squads for a run. More to come when we've got it.

___________________

Who'd We Miss?

Send us your picks or tell us about teams on the EC we might have missed.