2033 Rugby Coalition Conference A Final Standings
CONFERENCE A Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts TB LB Ttl Qualification
1 Roosters 28 23 0 5 1116 745 +371 92 17 2 111 Qualified for playoffs
2 Oilers 28 18 0 10 998 762 +236 72 17 6 95 Qualified for playoffs
3 Victory 28 19 0 9 1020 746 +274 76 16 1 93 Qualified for playoffs
4 Red Bulls 28 17 1 10 781 658 +123 70 11 5 86 Qualified for playoffs
5 Carabiners 28 14 0 14 827 851 −24 56 12 3 71
6 Whales 28 14 2 12 728 779 −51 60 8 1 69
7 Madness 28 8 1 19 653 913 −260 34 9 2 45
8 Sentinels 28 3 1 24 646 1039 −393 14 5 3 22
9 Strike Force 28 1 0 27 448 1115 −667 4 0 1 5
2033 Rugby Coalition Conference B Final Standings
CONFERENCE B Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts TB LB Ttl Qualification
1 Oshkosh 28 22 0 6 1052 725 +327 88 18 2 108 Qualified for playoffs
2 Pandas 28 18 0 10 935 750 +185 72 17 3 92 Qualified for playoffs
3 Wolfpack 28 18 1 9 845 650 +195 74 14 3 91 Qualified for playoffs
4 Iron Men 28 18 0 10 995 698 +297 72 14 3 89 Qualified for playoffs
5 Packers 28 16 2 10 921 772 +149 68 16 0 84
6 Rooks 28 16 1 11 913 819 +94 66 12 1 79
7 Atomsplitters 28 9 1 18 714 887 −173 38 9 4 51
8 Supermen 28 9 1 18 604 935 −331 38 6 1 45
9 Albatross 28 3 1 24 703 1055 −352 14 5 7 26
Maybe the past two seasons were indeed just a blip in the radar as far as Oshkosh Dnistrosh are concerned. Two straight seasons that they didn't make the playoffs of the Rugby Coalition and everyone was already losing their heads, calling it the end of the Dnistrosh dynasty. Clearly the team were just biding their time and developing their players in order for everyone else to let their guard down and allow Oshkosh to spring their trap once again. To say that everyone was shocked by this turn of events would be an understatement. Heck, the defending champions Ken Deg Rooks were so shocked that they actually failed to defend their title by way of not qualifying for the playoffs at all. But there are probably many Rooks fans out there who will say that "sacrificing" the defense of their Coalition premiership for their defense of the RUCT title was not really that worth it, given that they are now out of the running for a slot in RUCT 39 because of their failure to qualify for the Rugby Coalition playoffs. As for fans of the Pridnestrovskaya Gavan Strike Force though, the sooner that they could forget about this season and move on to the next one, the better. They must surely feel lucky that relegation is no longer a thing in the Rugby Coalition after the Fleftic clubs split and joined their national rugby union's league pyramid.
Conference A Semifinals
(1) Ab Deg Roosters 61-16 Red Deg Red Bulls (4)
(2) Tikrit Oilers 45-27 Rivymiyitevko Victory (3)
Last season's premiership runners-up Ab Deg Roosters have started their campaign to snag their first ever Rugby Coalition premiership with a very strong message of intent with a 61-16 drubbing of Red Deg Red Bulls. Talk about making the most explosive of starts to a game; the Roosters dumped 28 points on the Red Bulls within the first 20 minutes and they never looked back after that. The two-time Rugby Coalition premiers tried to find a way back into the game, but the Roosters were simply too relentless and unforgiving in their pursuit for their first ever premiership, and whatever wings the Red Bulls' energy drink sponsor may have given them during the regular season disappeared in the very first game in the postseason, and thus the team from Red Deg will have to wait for another season to add another premiership to their trophy cabinet.
In the other Conference A semifinal, the Tikrit Oilers took on the Rivymiyitevko Victory, the latter participating in their first ever Rugby Coalition playoffs. The occasion unfortunately overwhelmed them and they were unable to make much of their first appearance as they were sent packing by the Oilers. But that didn't mean that the Victory didn't give it the good old try, and while they were only able to answer the Oilers' four first half tries with one of their own, Rivymiyitevko did get some good luck of their own as Tikrit missed all four of their conversions in the first half. And though the Victory were finally able to stem the tide somewhat in the second half, it was a textbook case of "too little too late." At least the team have now managed a taste of the playoffs, and they will surely be armed with this knowledge the next time that they're in the playoffs, and they hopefully won't be overwhelmed the next time they're here.
Conference B Semifinals
(1) Oshkosh Dnistrosh 23-34 Gibeon Iron Men (4)
(2) Cauayan Pandas 41-34 Dan Deg Wolfpack (3)
Maybe Oshkhosh Dnistrosh haven't actually come back with a vengeance after all. Or maybe the other teams are making sure that Dnistrosh won't be able to restart their dynasty so quickly after it seemed that a new era in the Rugby Coalition had come. It was certainly the case for the Gibeon Iron Men, who had come so far from being a meager Division 2 side in the Rugby Coalition to one of the frontrunners for the premiership this season. They were the first seed in their conference last year and were subsequently eliminated in the conference semifinals by the fourth seed; now it's their turn to be the fourth seed that upsets the conference winners and make Dnistrosh know what it feels like to be eliminated from the Rugby Coalition playoffs as the top seed.
Tempers weren't as frayed in the other Conference B semifinal though, but the game was no less frenetic and frantic than the game between Oshkosh and the Iron Men. Like the Iron Men, both the Pandas and the Wolfpack originated from the old Rugby Coalition Division 2before they all received promotions to the top tier thanks to the Fleftic clubs splitting off and joining their country's rugby union pyramid. Neither of these teams expected to be fighting for the premiership anytime soon after their founding, yet now here they are. And that's probably the main reason why both of these teams just went all in and scored as many points as they could in order to secure that spot in the conference finals. In the end though, it was the team that had the home crowd on their side that won out, and the Cauayan Pandas are now one step closer to playing for the premiership itself.
Conference Finals
(A1) Ab Deg Roosters 39-7 Tikrit Oilers (A2)
(B2) Cauayan Pandas 16-30 Gibeon Iron Men (B4)
The story of the 2033 Rugby Coalition conference finals seems to be redemption, and the winners of both games are right in the middle of their respective redemption arcs. The Ab Deg Roosters are on the quest to claim their first ever premiership after losing to the Ken Deg Rooks, while the Gibeon Iron Men are on the warpath after they lost out on the playoffs despite being the first seed of their conference last season. The Roosters don't care that they originally came from Division and were facing one of the original Rugby Coalition clubs in their conference final; in the eyes of the Roosters, the Oilers were just another team for them to beat. And beat the Oilers the Roosters did, and handily at that. As for the game between Cauayan and Gibeon, both of these are also determined to get into the action. Talk about the volatility of sports, huh? A few seasons ago, neither of these teams were anywhere close to getting promoted to the Rugby Coalition itself, but now they're fighting for the chance to play for the premiership itself. The Iron Men knew that they missed out on last season big time, and this season they were determined to make the most of it before the rugby gods decided that Gibeon's time in the limelight was up.
And now both finalists for the 2033 Rugby Coalition Premiership Final have been decided. Both of these teams came from very humble beginnings, but now here they are, just one step away from the absolute summit of rugby union. Will the Ab Deg Roosters finally get the crown that they couldn't claim in the previous season, or will it be the Gibeon Iron Men's turn to beat all the odds and pull off yet another upset after having been on the receiving end of one just one season before?
2033 Rugby Coalition Final
October 23, 2033 @ Ken Deg Park, Ken Deg, Copper Cuprum
(A1) Ab Deg Roosters 38-20 Gibeon Iron Men (B4)
The Roosters will not be denied this time! Ab Deg have finally laid their hands on the Rugby Coalition premiership one season after it was taken from them by their fellow countrymen from Ken Deg. And how strangely fitting it is for the Roosters to have won their first ever premiership in the home stadium of the team that beat them to it last season. Also, the Roosters made Rugby Coalition history this season as being the first team from the old Division 2 to win the premiership. A team was guaranteed to make that particular bit of history though; it was just a matter of which of those two teams would be the one to win the game itself and everything else by extension. The Roosters thus make a welcome return to the Rugby Union Champions' Trophy, where they will be joined by the other two teams that they beat on their way to winning the premiership, along with the losing semifinalist from Conference B. And with three of those teams having come from Division 2, does this mark the changing of the old guard for the Rugby Coalition? Who knows? We'll still have to wait for next season to find out.
Congratulations to the Ab Deg Roosters, your 2033 Rugby Coalition premiers!
APOC Coalition (COA) qualifiers for RUCT 39:
Ab Deg Roosters (premiers)
Gibeon Iron Men (runners-up)
Tikrit Oilers (losing semifinalist from Conference A)
Cauayan Pandas (losing semifinalist from Conference B)
