By Do-Hyoung Park on April 24, 2014

Several of the nation’s top collegiate rugby teams will gather this weekend on the Farm as Stanford will host the Western Regional of the USA Rugby National Championship Series this weekend, with the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matchups of Men’s Division 1AA, Women’s Division 1 and Women’s Division 2 postseason play taking place at Steuber Rugby Stadium.

Both the men’s and women’s team will kick off their postseasons on their home turf, with the men looking to make the most of a bounce-back season in which it won its conference during its first season at the 1AA level. Meanwhile, the women will look to sustain the great success that they have enjoyed over the last several seasons. The women’s team played in seven of the eight national title games between 2005 and 2012 before an untimely early exit in last year’s draw.

The men will kick off their playoffs against Oregon on Saturday after having ripped through the Pacific Western Conference to the tune of a 6-0 conference record and an 8-3-1 overall record after facing tough out-of-conference competition. It was a tremendous turnaround season for the men, which experienced doubts in dropping from the Division 1A level after a winless 2013 campaign but found its move validated by the success that has rejuvenated the program this year.

Meanwhile, the women’s team will face Texas A&M in their first match on Friday and will likely be the favorites to win after a fantastic 5-0 run through its conference schedule, with a tough matchup against the winner between BYU and Cal awaiting them in the Elite Eight game on Sunday.

The events for the national playoffs will kick off with the Stanford-Texas A&M women’s match on Friday at 5 p.m. The men will start their postseason on Saturday at 1 p.m.