Rugby PickEm

Premier Rugby 7's had their first event in the fall of 2021 in Memphis Tennessee. Since then, it has grown steadily and expanded to 5 total events for the summer of 2023. With new butt kickin' franchise names (look no further than the Pittsburgh Steeltoes) and an infusion of talent, the new league has delivered a fun product without the morning to nightfall commitment that usually comes with a tra...

Mike Matarazzo isn't just a big body ... he's a student of the game and one of the young dynamic players in the MLR. Clocking in at 6'5", 250lbs, he's a tower in the lineout and has the hands to move the ball under pressure. We caught up with Mike back in fall of 2021 when he attending the U-23 Eagle Pathway Camp. At the time, Mike had just signed with Dallas and was selected to travel down to Uru...

Los Dogos XV Name / Brand: The Dogo Argentina breed was bred by the 1920s Antonio Nores Martinez, a young student of Córdoba in central Argentina. The logo is fierce... just like this type of dog. They are big game hunting dogs, but also are trained for search and rescue, police assistance, service dogs, and guidance for the blind. Stadium: Tala Rugby Club - This 6k capacity stadium will likely be...

Striking Gold King Creole is ready for that postseason smoke NOLA Gold have been a founding member and have always been on the cusp of the playoffs. They have talent in the back row, and have signed some key collegiate players to bolster the squad. King Creole and his marching band have high expectations for a team that has been oh so close for o so long. Bold Prediction: NOLA Gold finish top 2 in...

Western Expansion The Hounds have been released, but how will they fare in 2023? The 2022 expansion team went 0-16 but seems to be building a strong fanbase. The 2021 expansion team smashed the league, nabbed the shield, but now are a relic of the past. Given the fact that Chicago inherited two top sides in the west via the "Expansion Draft", they'll be expected to compete for a playoff spot. Bold...

We hope you've been enjoying the recent episodes with Uncle Johnny, Tommy NoPiks and HARPO in person, live & in the flesh. 2022 has proven to be a crazy rugby year, but we simply wanted to thank all the fans that continue to listen to Rugby PickEm and occasionally go and click around the website (www.rugbypickem.com). It's been a long strange journey since April 2018, but it's been 5 years of good...

It was June in 1983, and the soon to be burgeoning game of rugby 7's was waiting for it's inevitable explosion. Luckily for the soon to be 7's sensations, he arrived in the form of Dr. Don HARPO and the Attitude Adjusters Association. Back when Life U was just a small chiropractic college (and not the deeply talented rugby program they are in 2023) HARPO recruited a team to compete in local 7's to...

The Women's 2021 RWC (held in 2022) was an unforgettable kiwi experience. Not only is New Zealand a beautiful country (flora, fauna & great people), but rugby runs through their veins. The hosts were spectacular, and the Black Ferns put on a show throughout. They defeated a great French side in an exciting semi final, followed by a world class performance against England in the final. The Women's...

Have we ever seen a bigger lighting rod of a character in the USA Rugby landscape than Adam Gilchrist? Love him or hate him ... there's no denying that he shook up the league (to put it lightly) in the two years of his rise and fall. We recapped the last year of the two Gil franchises, and discussed what Gilly's legacy will be years from now. From entering the league with a huge bang in 2020 (laun...

The full compliment of RP personalities were back in studio for a heated discussion that somehow remained cautiously optimistic! Although the men's Eagles did not qualify for France 2023, we are reminded that not all is lost, and sometimes it truly is darkest before the dawn (scientifically accurate). The questions that were tossed around (Tommy's arm is still sore) were ... How can the the men's...

On Saturday, 4/23/22, the Denver Barbarians will play against the American Raptors. The teams have played on and off since 2007, and each time they square up against each other, the rugby fans of Denver Colorado benefit. Since 2007, the competitions have morphed and shaped year to year (see below). The product always seemed to be elite level clubs on the cusp of professionalism. With the PRO Rugby...

Over the past 6 weeks, we've been watching the games and keeping a temperature on the early part of the 2021 MLR season. On Saturday night, Bt and Tommy NoPiks sat down to take in 3 games at once (4 games if you count the 2nd half of the Cali Cup). Much to the chagrin of our dear friend (the 2020 "Blogger of the Year" RPA winner) and seasoned rugby reporter Bryan Ray, the MLR decided to load up Sa...

MLR 2022 - Year of the Player (ft. Colton Strickler DNVR Rugby) 4 Themes and 'Motifs' for the upcoming season ... 1. Shift in Player Power - Monetizing Individual Brands It's no secret that MLR Salary caps are low relative to its European counterparts. This will push players to try and maximize their potential income, on and off the pitch. We've already seen star caliber players bring their talent...

What if I told you the future of Rugby ATL was a lacrosse convert, who's ripped up & shredded (like cheese), loves a good bump off, ... oh yeah and he's not just a great dude, but also perhaps a fashion and trend setting icon ..... ? It's Jalen Tatum and he's heading towards a try zone near you! Don't you DARE Run it Straight at this Man. Jalen and I linked up this past fall in the U-23 pathways c...

A touch late on the "end of year" publication, but ... oh well. The deliberations were fiery, no stone was left unturned, and the final pieces to this year's awards have come into place. What a year 2021 was .., and where to begin? In the face of a pandemic, the MLR went 99-0 (Commish's favorite stat), Gilly hoisted some hardware, the Pioneers got to compete in Tokyo after a year delay, PR 7's was...

As professional rugby intersects with the information age, statistical trends and historical data are crucial to the success or failure of a professional team. At the test level, coaches and selectors are handed a treasure trove of information about their player pool. All of this comes to life on the back of a talented rugby analyst. Matt Johnston (Aussie by birth, but currently morphed into a glo...

When you start something (without the full plan of what it's going to look like), you get results that are often unquantifiable. After all, you didn't establish the ground work. You don't know what a "success or failure" looks like. You haven't done the hard work that goes into laying out a coherent, justified, deliberate end goal. Begin with the end in mind. And it's not just the long term vision...

As is Rugby PickEm tradition, we give our listeners (and readers?) an end of year blizzard of content before the year ends. The following is an recap/update on the 2021 fall season. Over the next few days, we'll keep the feed fresh with some old interviews we did throughout the year. What a year it was. Rugby PickEm stayed busy in the fall of 2021, but here are some behind the scenes stuff that ha...

The Autumn Nations Series is well under way. There have been some blow outs, mixed with some exciting score lines as well. The series is broadcasted and sold via streaming services differently in each country. Amazon Prime has it's hand in the live rights pot, and is taking on more and more rugby. Here in the US, the streaming service that seems to have all the rugby rights wrapped into their curr...

With the release of the 2022 Major League Rugby season, fans can now decide where to spend their hard earned money come early February. Last year, with the pandemic, and other unknowns throwing wrenches into just about every teams planning, the season started later, and some teams were not able to host fans for the first few months. But 2022 offers a fresh beginning to what will be another banger...

The USA Women's Eagles head to Europe to play Ireland and England on the back of two defeats to Canada. Monday's crowd was lively considering it was cold enough to freeze your fingertips. Multiple hot chocolates sold out on a brisk night in Denver. The Eagles struggled in the lineout , but excellent goal kicking allowed the Eagles to keep the game close. However, they could not produce the go ahea...

It took a whole month for the Rugby PickEm triumvirate to return to the same studio, but the stars aligned this week and Uncle Johnny and Tommy NoPiks returned to the show. We had left our last episode on the eve of the second leg of USA vs. Uruguay. Obviously, the results went the way of the Southern Hemisphere challenger as Uruguay cleaned up at home, winning the second leg by a score of 34-15....

The Eagles are a home/away series vs. Uruguay away from qualifying for the Americas 1 spot in the Rugby World Cup 2023 in France. After a scintillating win at Glendale two weeks ago against Canada, the Eagles showed they can win with their backs against the wall overcoming a -15 point deficit against the men in red. Saturday night, they'll be without AJ MacGinty their first form five-eight. Oddly...

Carly Waters recently signed with Saracen's Women's in North London, and brings an exciting, tempo based skill set across the pond from her time playing in the states. She spent the last decade honing her skills here in the states, and has excelled through the ranks of Women's Rugby in the USA. Waters doesn't just do her job, she does it right and she raises the level of play around her. Both on a...

Introducing Rugby Rent Scholarships. This was a long-time in the making, an idea that's resonating for years before finally being turned into a reality. Our Mission: Provide affordable housing to rugby players who want to grow on and off the pitch. We also believe in 4 Core Pillars: 1) Play Rugby 2) Develop Career Skills 3) Volunteer in the Community 4) Mentorship If you'd like to learn more about...