Alex Goff looks at the USA 7s team Pan-Am camp and how the selections might pan out.

Recently capped Eagle Laura Miller continues her rugby education overseas with Saracens (London).

We check in with PAC and the rest of the Mid-Atlantic DI clubs.

Former USA 7s captain James Gillenwater scouted talent at the Atlantic Coast collegiate 7s this weekend, making notes for USA Head Coach al Caravelli.

Alex Goff talks about the Rugby World Cup Schedule, and why one player was right to sound off about it.

Can the USA beat Italy, and if it's a legitimate goal, how do they pick for Australia. Some clues.

At the start of the tournament’s second weekend, Ireland provided what fans and organizers have been fervently seeking; a genuine upset.

We’ve thrown a wrench in the rules once again. (In case you were considering legal action for our rules changes, refer to our application. Hold it under a black light and you’ll find in very small lettering that we reserve the right to change the rules as we see fit.)

We have tallied the top 10 as if pool play were over. Keep in mind, with most teams still having three more pool games bonus points could easily disappear from game to game. But the points your teams accrue can only increase as they play. 

Top 10 contestants as of 9/19

Well I had a mad all set to unleash, and now I don’t get to.

Happily, Rugby World Cup judicial officer Jeff Blackett did not hand down a suspension for Todd Clever for a dangerous tackle.

Owen Jones started the 2010/2011 season player/coaching Media. Then Media hired Englishman Andy Brown. Brown was set to return to the Philadelphia-area club this fall, but he experienced visa issues and was denied entrance to the country. So, Jones and his All American brother Gareth are co-player/coaching Media to open the new season.

Both of the Jones’ are in grad school, but have night class on opposite nights.

“The club’s told us that there is another coach coming in,” said Owen. “Who it is I don’t know, so we have three weeks now where my younger brother Gareth’s coaching on Tuesday nights and I’m coaching on Thursday nights.”

The situation is not ideal, but as Media goes into their season opener against the Maryland Exiles Saturday, they’re not entering uncharted waters.

“Last season we started off against the Exiles as well, and we were in a very similar situation where we didn’t have a coach, we did have a coach, we didn’t, and we ended up winning that game,” said Owen. “We put up a lot of points in that game, but we also gave up a lot of points, so our focus has been defense, defense, defense.”

A perk to having the Jones brothers in the fold is their Temple connection. Owen played for the Owls, Gareth starred for them and Owen currently coaches the Lady Owls. That connection has drawn in some young talent.

“Media made a big push the past summer and an even bigger push this summer to have a very intense 7s summer program, and we opened it up to all the university players to come join, so all that hard work this is kind of the first year where we’re seeing the results of it,” said Owen.

“People know the Media name locally, they’re staying here after college for jobs, and they’re coming out and sticking with us.”

The biggest college recruit Media reeled in this summer? That’s a no-brainer, it’s Gareth. He’s an Eagle prospect who spent the spring playing for semi-professional Young Munster in Limerick, Ireland. He won’t play against the Exiles Saturday, nor will he play in the next game, as he’s recovering from an assortment of injuries he’s picked up during several months of constant rugby.

There have been some nail biters through the early stages of what's already a great Rugby World Cup. Here are some of the moments that have made it a sporting spectacle.

What? You didn't make it up in time to watch the Eagles beat Russia? Here are a few photos of the USA's third all-time Rugby World Cup win. All images by Dave Brinton. 

The weather at the USA’s current home of New Plymouth in Taranaki continues to be typical of late winter in a maritime climate – just wait a few minutes.

A.W. Scott looks at the Cold War issue, but also where Russia is bypassing the USA in developing the game.

Monmouth, in their first year after being promoted to DI, finished in the middle of the Met NY pack in 2010/2011 with a 4-4 record. While not a wildly successful campaign, Monmouth did muster a win over league champ Long Island.

Long Island won the Met New York last season with a 6-2 record, but that doesn’t mean expectations were met. LIRFC finished fourth in the Northeast and were bounced from the national tournament emphatically by Norfolk, 79-10 winners in the round of 16. Long Island has its sight set on improvement this season, which starts Saturday against New York Rugby Club.

Click on the image below to access our notebook on the Ireland vs. USA World Cup opener featuring exclusive photos from Dave Brinton and quotes from the Eagles.

America has a second home in New Plymouth as the bunting is out and USA fans have been welcomed with open arms.

It might seem like New Plymouth is favoring the USA over Ireland for Sunday’s match, but local stores and establishments assure RUGBYMag.com that both sides’ money is equally good. In fact, the reason for so much red white and blue is that Taranaki hosts a wildly successful Americana festival, which centers around vintage cars, every year. So they already had all the decorations.

One bit of pomp and circumstance they did not have was the US Marine Corps Band. Flown in special for the World Cup, the Marines paraded down the streets on Saturday to much applause and also practiced at Stadium Taranaki. They sounded superb.

Rumors are flying that it’s not just the presence of the Eagles that caused the Marines to make their landing. Some VIPs are expected for either the Ireland or, more likely, the Russia game.

No names yet, although some might do to practice saying “Madame Secretary.”

Audio of USA Forwards Coach Dave Hodges talking about the USA pack and what they hope to achieve against Ireland.

This audio is only available to Premier Subscribers.

Who will be the USA goalkicker?

Dewon Reed wiggling free in the DI final in June. Pat Clifton photo

All eyes are on Glendale as the 2011-2012 Division I season opens this weekend. National champion Raptors are preparing to defend their title though they’re idle on the weekend. But for the sides in their Western Territorial Northern Tier division, each match will be a chance to prove their mettle in competition with the premier US clubside.

Mark Bullock, Glendale’s director of rugby, indicates the Raptors will be up to the task: “We’ve lost a few from last year’s championship side, but we’ve gained some as well. We’d like the opportunity to return to the championship semifinals. We have a new group of guys, so it’s not the same team that won last year.”

Glendale will have lost two of their front three with prop Mike Tafel taking a break in the fall and hooker Shae Tamati returning to New Zealand, while lock Keith Dauper’s and center Justin Howley’s playing time will be limited due to work commitments. In addition (or subtraction), ageless halfback Andre Bachelet has retired and will concentrate his talents on coaching the side back to the playoffs.

However, fullback/wing and former USA Eagle Dan Powers, hooker Stan Moali and massive 8-man Ryan Chapman join the squad, as do former Aspen RFC players Matt Doubek (lock/#6) and Spencer Scott (flanker). New additions Eric DeFilice (center – Penn State) and Douglas Garrison (former All-American second row at Arkansas State) will don Glendale red-white-and-blue for the first time this fall as well.

“All our league matches are critical,” reports Bullock, “and in addition, we’ve scheduled Chicago Griffins, Old Puget Sound Beach, Palmer, and the Brazilian National Team in 2011-12. We hope to continue to compete at a high standard and represent the City of Glendale with quality rugby contests.”

Denver Rugby, whose Highlanders took second in the table last season, look to return to USARugby’s Round of 16. Head coach Pete Shafroth foresees a positive turn in his club’s near future: “We lost our Kiwis, prop and fullback, but I don’t feel we’ve lost that much. We’re strong in the front row and are quicker in our three-quarter line.”

Joe Moli (San Francisco Golden Gate) and Steve Blair (former Scotland international, Aspen RFC and Vail RFC head coach) have joined DR’s coaching staff. Shafroth indicates that overall, Denver Rugby’s depth has increased and solidified, “We’ve added half dozen newcomers, and two players who were out with major injuries last year have returned - Ryan Purdy (hooker) and Jeremy Wineland (breakaway), both impact players.”  Shafroth looks for his boys to return to playoffs with vigor and make a run at the finals.

Kansas City Blues vice president, Peter Kowalski, looks for improvement on last hunt’s 3rd place result: “In the forwards we’ve lost two frontrowmen, but we’ve replacements and have strength in our engine room and back row with the addition of lock Matt Potchad who returns from time in the Super League at Chicago Lions, and overall I expect good things from the scrum.”

The Blues backline will feature Joe D’Agostino (Kansas State, West 7s - 2008), who can play either flyhalf or fullback, and St. Louis University product Kelly Mercer at scrumhalf. “We’re looking for good rugby from those two, and we’ve inside center Jay Allen back from injury and from our (Jr. Blues) Academy, 21-year old James Poli in the centers,” he adds.

“We’ll pretty much have last year’s side, though we’ve quite a few new recruits,” says Denver Barbarians head coach, Jason Kelly. “Not name players as such, but a talented group nonetheless.” Barbarians are largely in flux in the fall with a bit of transience taking place from fall through the off season as they ramp up for the spring Rugby Super League campaign.

Boulder Rugby Athletic Club has a mind to improve upon last year’s performance. A healthy-sized recruiting class in addition to their steadfast core should see them raising their standard in 2011-12.

Western RFU’s D I Northern Tier action kicks off this weekend with Denver Rugby Highlanders hosting Boulder Rugby Athletic Club Saturday at Glendale’s Infinity Park rugby complex while KC Blues face off against Heart of America powerhouse, St Louis Bombers in the Gateway City.

Andrew Dututalo is a new name in the USA 7s team setup; where’d he come from?

Who makes up the preseason Top 25? We have a combination of returners and College Premier Division teams who have come back to DI, which should open up the competition and deepen the pool of realistic contenders.

Davenport returns all but two players for their title defense. The varsity program is just entering its third season, as are many of the Panthers. JP Eloff is the best player in DI, and he's joined by possibly the country's hardest working flanker in Ryan Hargraves and an intriguing and emerging talent in Demecus Beach.

However, they do play in the murderer's row of conferences. Miami (OH), Bowling Green and Indiana would be the odds on favorite to win several other DI leagues, but they're all bunched together in the Midwest East. With just 14 DI conferences, it appears there will be two at-large bids to the playoffs. Since the MWEC took two teams to the final four last year, don't be surprised if they get a second bid again.

Dartmouth could appear under-ranked at No. 2, but they lost 20 players to graduation, including the Downer brothers, RUGBYMag All American Charlie Grant, captain Tommy Brothers, Tanner Scott and 7s All American Muhammed Abdool-Shakoor. The entire Big Green front row is graduated, as are many of the backups. That's why Dartmouth isn't No. 1. They could be by season's end because All American Nate Brakeley and AA honorable mentions Paul Jarvis and Derek Fish return.

San Diego State, Tennessee and LSU all could have won DI last season, but all have lost some of the best players their programs have seen. LSU's Bobby Johns and Adam Ducoing headlined an outgoing senior class that will be nearly impossible for the Tigers to replace this year. Benji Goff has left Knoxville for grad school at Life and the Duncan Kelm era has come to an end in San Diego. Tennessee and San Diego State have are also replacing head coaches, though Matt Hawkins is a heck of a grab for the Aztecs.

Matt Sherman's entering his second year at Stanford. He will get started on Cardinal business late because of the World Cup, but he did the same last year due to being hired relatively late, and his team was a miraculous UCSB second-half comeback from a final four appearance. Marcus Henderson is a budding star in Palo Alto, and he could be primed for a breakout.

Why is Miami ranked ahead of Bowling Green? Seniors. The RedHawks have five of them starting, and they're all very good. Miami fell to Bowling Green and Davenport by a combined eight points in league play last year, and they return all the key playmakers.

Other ranked teams who've lost significant playmakers are Florida (DI RUGBYMag All American Darryl Meckley and Corey Penca, plus Matias Groetaers graduates in December), Florida State (Dylan Hamilton), Kansas State (Joe D'Agostino), Loyola Marymount (All American Zachary Fenoglio), Maryland (Sage Winn) and Buffalo (Pat Hughes).

Conversely, Indiana and Middlebury return virtually everyone. DII runners up Middlebury beat a few DI opponents last season with a young squad, including final four participant Harvard.

One of the biggest personnel transactions of the offseason was one that didn't happen. Matias Cima, the Gonzaga star that catapulted Maryland to the first-ever ACRL title, did not transfer to Penn State as rumor suggested. Cima is still a Terp, and his fellow Maryland diaper dandies are a year older.

1 Davenport
2 Dartmouth
3 UC Santa Barbara
4 San Diego State
5 Tennessee
6 LSU
7 Stanford
8 Miami (OH)
9 Claremont Colleges
10 Bowling Green
11 Florida
12 Sacramento State
13 South Carolina
14 Indiana
15 Wisconsin
16 Oregon State
17  Florida State
18 Minnesota
19 Loyola Marymount
20 Kansas State
21 Maryland
22 Middlebury
23 Buffalo
24 Texas State
25 Chico State