2023 Division 1-A Rugby Championship

The 2023 Division 1-A Rugby Championship is the eleventh season of the Division 1-A Rugby championship, the annual university rugby union competition run by USA Rugby involving the top twelve college teams in the United States. Navy won their first Championship with a 28–22 win over California, capping a perfect 18–0 season.^[1]

Division 1-A Rugby Championship
Tournament details
Countries	United States
Tournament format(s)	knockout
Date	6 April 2023 – 6 May 2023
Tournament statistics
Teams	12
Matches played	11
Tries scored	109 (9.91 per match)
Final
Venue	SaberCats Stadium, Houston
Champions	Navy (1st title)
Runners-up	California
(Next) 2024 →

Teams

Twelve clubs from the six major conferences compete in the 2023 National Championship playoffs.

The distribution of teams is:

• PAC Rugby Conference: two teams
• California: two teams
• Rocky Mountain: one team
• Independent: one team
• Rugby East: two teams
• Mid-South Conference: three teams
• Red River Conference: one team

The following teams qualified for the tournament.

PAC Rugby Conference	California	Rocky Mountain	Independent	Rugby East	Mid-South Conference	Red River Conference
Arizona California	Cal Poly Saint Mary's	BYU	Central Washington	Army Navy	Davenport Life Lindenwood	Texas A&M

Team locations

Life

Lindenwood

Davenport

Navy

Army

Texas A&M

Central Washington

BYU

Arizona

Cal Poly

San Francisco
Bay Area
California
St. Mary's

Locations
– East, – West

Standings

Independent[2] Team Record PD Central Washington 8–1 +174

Mid-South[3] Pos. Team Record PD BP Pts 1 Lindenwood 5–1 +181 3 23 2 Life 4–2 +61 3 19 3 Davenport 3–3 –41 0 12 4 Arkansas State 0–6 –101 1 1

Pac Rugby Conference[4] Pos. Team Record PD BP Pts 1 California 3–0 +169 3 15 2 Arizona 2–1 +76 2 10 3 UCLA 1–2 –5 3 7 4 Utah 0–3 –240 0 0

Rugby East (North)[5] Pos. Team Record BP Pts 1 Navy 5–0 3 23 2 Army 4–1 5 20 3 St. Bonaventure 3–2 2 14 4 Notre Dame College 2–3 2 10 5 Kutztown 1–4 3 7 6 Penn State 0–5 1 1

Big Ten Pos. Team Record 1 Indiana (W) 5 — 0 2 Ohio State (E) 4 — 1 3 Notre Dame 4 — 1 4 Illinois 3 — 2 5 Wisconsin 3 — 2 6 Michigan State 2 — 3 7 Michigan 1 — 4 8 Purdue 0 — 5

Red River Pos. Team Record Pts Pts Diff 1 Texas A&M 6–0 30 +493 2 Texas 4–2 20 +30 3 Baylor 3–2 15 -22 4 North Texas 2–3 10 -172 5 Oklahoma 1–4 7 -79 6 Texas Tech 0–5 1 -250

Bracket

	Round 1 (April 8)					Elite Eight (April 15)					Final Four (April 22)					National Championship Game (May 6)
						1	Central Washington	31
	4	BYU	71			4	BYU	62
	5	Arizona	33			WEST					4	BYU	31
											3	California	55
						2	Saint Mary's	28
	3	California	82			3	California	29
	6	Cal Poly	15													3	California	22
																1	Navy	28
						1	Navy	30
	4	Army	36			4	Army	6
	5	Davenport	34			EAST					1	Navy	12
											2	Lindenwood	10
						2	Lindenwood	29
	3	Life	82			3	Life	8
	6	Texas A&M	0

Sources:^[6][7][8]

Round 1

8 April 2023

BYU	71–33	Arizona
Try: Manhuinga, Austin, Olivera (3), Matthews (2), Klintworth, Sagala, Barker, Fountaine Con: Matthews (8)	Report[9]	Try: 19' m, 42' c, 60' c, 66' c, 80' c Con: Hickey (4/5)

South Field, Provo, Utah

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8 April 2023

California	82–15	Cal Poly
Try: Clark (2) 2' m, 38 m Aguero 17' Dixon (2) 21' c, 68' m Santos (2) 24' c, 52' m Kirsten (2) 27' c, 79' m Threlkeld 46' c Walsh 49' m Williams 65' c, Weigold 72' m L. Freeman 76' c Con: Schumacher (4) 21', 24', 27', 46' Salter (1) 65' L Brundage (1) 76' Pen: 10'	Report[10]	Try: 55' c 77' m Con: Crowley (1/2) 55' Pen: 10'

Witter Rugby Field, Berkeley, California

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8 April 2023

Army	36–34	Davenport
Try: Delai 4' c Bardak 16' m Oglesbee 23' c Pattinson 33' c Liskey 77' c Con: Haley (4/5) 4', 23', 33', 77' Pen: Haley (1) 83'	Report[11][12]	Try: Howard 11' m Van der Westhuizen (2) 28' m Casey 40' m Kurti 44' m Pen: Nolan (3) 55', 65', 81'

Anderson Rugby Complex, West Point

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8 April 2023

Life	82–0	Texas A&M
Try: Carrion, Safodien, Chadwick (2), Crane, Cain, Kramlich, Pantor, Reed, Hoffman, Michnya Con: Crane (11/12)	Report[13]

Lupo Family Field, Marietta, Georgia

Quarter-finals

15 April 2023

Central Washington	31–62	BYU
Try: Treacy (2) 30' m, 34' c O'Shannessey 38' c McQuade 58' m Grande 66' c Con: Cline (3/5) 34', 38'	Report[14]	Try: B. Tenney, Parry, Fountaine, Matthews, Biagi, Beck, Vaitohi, Sagala, Clark, Toso Con: Matthews (6)

Tomlinson Stadium, Ellensburg, Washington

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15 April 2023

Saint Mary's	28–29	California
Try: Waqavesi 15' c Pongi 25' c Marchant 34' c Toia'ivoa 78' c Con: Yacubian (3/3) Sorti (1/1)	Report[15][16][17]	Try: Clark 29' m Schumacher 38' c Santos 48' c O'Connell 59' Con: Schumacher (3/4) 38, 48', 59' Pen: Schumacher (1) 74'

Saint Mary's Stadium, Moraga, California

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15 April 2023

Navy	30–6	Army
Try: MacLaney 7' m Bengston 25' m Opp 44' c Haugh 54' c Con: Krieger (2/4) 44', 54' Pen: Gray 41' Krieger 61'	Report[18][19]	Pen: Haley (2) 25', 32'

Prusmack Rugby Complex, Annapolis, Maryland

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16 April 2023

Lindenwood	29–8	Life
Try: Hardrict II 3' m Bynard (2) 15' c, 30' c Al-Jiboori c Pen: Peignon (1) 69'	Report[20][21]	Try: Bizer 23' m Pen: King (1)

Harlen C. Hunter Stadium, St. Charles, Missouri

Semi-finals

22 April 2023

California	55–31	BYU
Try: Aguero 2' c Santos (2) 5' m, 78' c O'Connell 30' c Clark 46' m Williams 49' c Zylstra 53' c Penalty Try 73' Con: Schumacher (5/7) 3', 31', 50', 54', 79' Pen: Schumacher (1) 64'	Report[22][23][24]	Try: Tenney (2) 14' c, 33' c Vaitohi (2) 24 m, 69' c Toso 79' m Con: Hammer (3/5) 15', 34', 70'

Witter Rugby Field, Berkeley, California

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22 April 2023

Navy	12–10	Lindenwood
Try: Gray 13' c Bullock 40+2' m Con: Kireger (1/2) 14'	Report[25][26][27]	Try: Kige 61' c Con: Peignon (1/1) 62' Pen: Peignon (1/2) 3'

Prusmack Rugby Complex, Annapolis, Maryland

Final

6 May 2023

California	22–28	Navy
Try: O'Connell 9' c Shea 13' m Kirsten 52' c Con: Schumacher (2/3) 10', 53' Pen: Schumacher (1) 23'	Report[28][1][29][8]	Try: Webb 29' c MacLaney 38' c Bullock 62' c Opp 68' c Con: Krieger (4/4) 30', 39', 63', 68'

SaberCats Stadium, Houston[30]

Rudy Scholz Award

Winner

• Lewis Gray, US Naval Academy

Finalists

• Wyatt Parry, BYU
• Max Schumacher, Cal
• Joe Marchant, Saint Mary's
• Lewis Gray, US Naval Academy
• Orrin Bizer, Life University

Sources:^[31][32]

2022–2023 First Team All Americans

• Gabe Mahuinga – Brigham Young University
• Runako Brynard – Lindenwood University
• Joe Marchant – Saint Mary's College
• Ben Haugh – Navy
• Lucas Pattinson – Army
• Kaipono Kaioshi – Saint Mary's College
• Alex Cleary – Central Washington University
• Orrin Bizer – Life University
• Tiaan Mosconi – Army
• Max Schumacher – University of California – Berkeley
• Nick Hardrict II – Lindenwood University
• EJ Freeman – University of Arizona
• Lewis Gray – Navy
• Daelen Denenberg, Santa Clara University
• Roanin Krieger – Navy
• Emilio Shea – University of California – Berkeley
• Adam Chadwick – Life University
• Connor Devos – Lindenwood University
• Jack McMahon – Navy
• Dominic Besag – Saint Mary's College
• Cole Semu – Brigham Young University
• Calvin Liulamaga – Central Washington University
• Donovan Law, Life University

Sources:^[33]

See also

• College rugby in the United States
• Collegiate Rugby Championship
• Intercollegiate sports team champions
• National Collegiate Rugby Championship results
• United States national under-20 rugby union team
• Varsity Cup Championship