The final week of the regular season is upon us and with all four playoff teams decided, there may not seem to be much at stake in this weekend’s games.  On closer inspection however, there is still a lot of important rugby to be played.  First out of the gate is the clash in New York between Old Blue and NYAC at 1.30.  NYAC won the earlier meeting 41-25 in week 4, and will need the win to get back to .500 for the season.  Old Blue is winless so far but will relish the thought of their first win especially if it comes at NYAC’s expense.

In Chicago, the Griffins travel to the Lions in the rematch of their week 3 tussle which saw the Lions win 21-3.  The Griffins were starved of set piece possession in that game, and will have to reduce the penalty count if they are to even the series.  The Lions will look to keep the ball away from the Griffins again and finish the season with a much improved record from last year.

The final game in the East is also the pick of the day, as Life University goes to Boston for a 7PM kickoff.  The winner of this game has home-field advantage for the semifinal game in two weeks time.  Life won their earlier meeting 30-17 in week 2.  That was certainly no walk-over, and the cold weather team might be expected to improve as the season continues.  Of course Life is used to playing in big games and they increasingly look battle hardened, so an intriguing clash may be in store.

In the West conference, San Francisco Golden Gate has first place sewn up, which may be just as well for their final week opponents, Dallas Harlequins.  Dallas fell to SFGG in the first week of the season in a one-sided affair, but  Dallas is playing for pride at the moment and will look to give it a go in their last game of the season.  The other game in the West has Utah at Old Puget Sound.  Their earlier meeting was in week 5, a game OPSB edged by a single point and which essentially had Utah on the outside looking in for the rest of the season.  So there is definitely motivation for Utah, the least of which would be securing third place in the conference, an impressive finish for the first year team.  Both games in the West are listed as 3PM local time starts.