Rugby Super League Playoffs

Following nine weeks of intense competition, thrilling upsets and plenty of surprises throughout the Rugby Super League, the playoff contenders are at last locked into place as the kickoff of the quarterfinal matches, on Saturday, May 17, is right around the corner.

Check out the listings below for the chance to catch the RSL quarterfinal action LIVE in your area this weekend.

A Look at the May 17 Match-Ups...


San Francisco Golden Gate (7) @ New York Athletic Club (1)
Travers Island – New York - 1:30 p.m. (EST)

The top-seeded New York Athletic Club, which dealt the Chicago Lions a tough 8-5 loss in its last regular season game, returns to its home field at Travers Island to host wild card team, San Francisco Golden Gate.

SFGG, which battled its way back from a shaky start in 2008 to finish with 25 points in the Red Conference, should pose a strong test for the experienced NYAC team this weekend.

The winner of Saturday’s game moves on to face the winner of the meeting between Charlotte and the Denver Barbarians.

Chicago Lions (8) @ Boston Rugby (2)
Franklin Park, - One Franklin Park Rd. Dorchester, Mass. 2:30 p.m. (EST)

The Lions just barely eked out a playoff berth, following a commanding 90-0 shutout over Washington, which brought them up to 21 points on the season. Although tied in the points tally with the Dallas Harlequins and OMBAC, the Lions pulled ahead of the pack to clinch the last wild card position, with a regular season defeat over Dallas and a higher try total than OMBAC.

Last year’s runners-up, the Lions head out east as the underdogs to face No. 2 seed Boston Rugby Club, which made a dramatic turnaround from last season to finish 5-0-2 overall. Boston finished on top of the Blue Conference despite the impending threat from from Charlotte heading into the final week of regular season play. Both teams finished at 27 points, but Boston came away with the higher seed due to a victory in head-to-head competition.

Boston Irish Wolfhounds (6) @ Belmont Shore (3)
Cal State Long Beach -3 p.m. (PST)

With a big win in the make-up round, last weekend, the Boston Irish Wolfhounds joined the Chicago Lions as they snuck into the remaining postseason spots out of the White Conference.

The Boston Irish Wolfhounds knocked off the St. Louis Bombers 43-3 to earn the bonus point victory and secure the sixth playoff seed. This weekend the Wolfhounds meet some stiff competition when they travel to Cali to go head-to-head with Belmont Shore.

The defending champions Belmont Shore once again finished strong in 2008, ranking atop the Red Conference standings with 26 points and nabbing the third overall spot in the playoffs.

The winner of the BIW vs. Belmont showing goes on to face the victor of the quarterfinal match between Boston Rugby Club and the Chicago Lions.

Denver Barbarians (5) @ Charlotte (4)
Skillbeck Athletic Ground - 3 p.m. (EST)
*Follows the State High School Championship game feat. Union County Lions v. Chapel Hill Highlanders – 12 p.m. kickoff, main field

After finishing out of the playoff running last season, Denver has reemerged in 2008, finishing strong to take the fifth seed overall. This weekend, the team travels to North Carolina to play Charlotte, which came thundering back from a 0-7 record in 2007 to claim the fourth seed with 27 points. With a 21-19 victory over the Chicago Griffins last weekend, Charlotte just missed its chance to overtake Boston Rugby for the Blue Conference title.

The RSL match between Denver and Charlotte kicks off at 3 p.m. (EST), following the State High School Championship match between the Union County Lions and the Chapel Hill Highlanders at noon.