Wake Forest to Compete in Carolinas Rugby League

USA Rugby South has undergone a reorganization of its collegiate competition for the 2010 season. As part of this change, Wake Forest will now compete in the Carolinas Rugby League along with University of North Carolina, University of South Carolina, Clemson University, North Carolina State, East Carolina University, and Appalachian State University. UNC, USC, and Clemson will remain Division I teams for 2010, while East Carolina, NC State, App. State and Wake will remain Division II sides. East Carolina and App. State were offered the opportunity to move up to Division I for 2010 based on their large school size and recent success, but both declined the offer and chose to remain in Division II. All matches in the Carolinas Rugby League will count equally and the top finishing DI side will advance to the South DI college playoffs and the top 2 finishing DII sides will advance to the South DII college playoffs. Perhaps more importantly, however, the newly formed league will crown its own overall champion and will work to promote and capitalize on local collegiate rivalries to grow the sport of rugby in the Carolinas and beyond. The Carolinas Rugby League will also name an MVP and All-League team. The commissioner of the Carolinas Rugby League for 2010 will be Andy Richards, formerly the head coach at UNC and the current head coach of the North Carolina Rugby Union College All-Stars. Richards was the brainchild behind the creation of the Carolinas Rugby League and he has worked tirelessly towards the development of a plan for the league that would fit within the structure of the South collegiate competition. The 2010 Carolinas Rugby League schedule will be released in the coming weeks.

Brendan Shea to Play for North Carolina in U-19 All-Star Tournament

Wake Forest's Brendan Shea, a rising sophomore, will compete for North Carolina at the South U-19 All-Star Championships this weekend in Charlotte, NC. Shea is a loose forward who appeared in every first side match for Wake Forest during his freshman season. This marks the third time in five years that Wake Forest has had a player on the North Carolina U-19 All-Star team. In 2006 prop Matt Gottbrecht played for the team at the U-19 All-Star Challenge in Baltimore, MD. In 2007 prop Kenton Forte was selected for the team but was unavailable to play in the All-Star tournament.

Wake Forest to Host USA Rugby Coaching Clinic

The North Carolina Rugby Union and Wake Forest men's rugby team will be hosting a USA Rugby Coaching Clinic on the weekend of August 1-2 on the campus of Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, NC. Both USA Rugby coaching courses, Introducing Rugby and Developing Rugby Skills, will be offered if enough participants sign up for each. The clinic will run from approximately 9am-5pm both days. Lunch will be provided. Discounts apply for early registration, so go to http://www.usarugby.org/ and register as soon as possible. More information regarding the clinics can also be found on the USA Rugby website.

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Sundance Plaza Hotel, less than a mile from the Wake Forest campus. Rooms are $84.99/night. Reference Wake Forest Rugby when reserving your room. Rooms must be reserved by July 17.

http://www.clarionhotel.com/hotel-winstonsalem-north_carolina-NC486?&promo=gglocal

If you have any questions, please contact Mollie McCarthy at mmccarthy@usarugby.org or Patrick Kane at pat.kane@smithmoorelaw.com.

Wake Forest Players to Participate in Summer Rugby Program

A number of Wake Forest rugby players will be participating this summer in the Middlesex Savages Summer Rugby Program. The program, offered by the Middlesex Barbarians, a Boston-area men's club that will be playing for the Division 3 national championship next weekend in Glendale, CO, is designed to give college rugby players a structured summer training opportunity. The Savages will practice weekly under the watchful eyes of Middlesex coaches Josh Smith and Chip Auscavitch, and will play in various 7s and 10s tournaments throughout New England on the weekends. The Wake players taking part in the Savages program include rising seniors Mike Duffy and Christian Jewett.

For more information on the Middlesex Savages Summer Rugby Program, visit www.middlesexrfc.com.

Former Wake Rugger Leads U-19 Team to Championship

Justin Edwards, who played rugby for Wake Forest from 2004-2006, is now finding success in coaching. Edwards, a native of Massachusetts, is back home and is a forwards coach for the Middlesex Highlanders, the U-19 team where he learned his rugby while in high school. Recently the Highlanders won the New England U-19 Division 2C tournament championship, defeating Needham, Worcester, and Seacoast en route to the title. Middlesex fielded a very young squad this spring and entered the tournament not only winless on the season, but tryless as well. The team finally began to gel heading into the tournament, however, and ended a frustrating season on a spectacular note. Notably, Middlesex was presented their championship trophy by current New England RFU President Fred Roedel. Roedel was formerly the head men's rugby coach at Wake Forest.

Wake Announces Fall Schedule

9/12: Intrasquad Scrimmage
9/19: Davidson (H)
9/26: Furman (H)
10/3: Myrtle Beach Men's Club (Conway, SC)
10/10: Alumni Match; Belmont Men's Club (H)
10/17: Fall Break
10/24: Georgia Tech (Atlanta, GA)
10/31-11/1: North Carolina Rugby Union Tournament (Danville, VA)

Award Recipients Named at Year-End Banquet

The Wake Forest men's rugby team held their annual year-end awards banquet tonight in Benson University Center. The following players were honored for their on and off-field performance:

Drew Legge: MVP
Timo Kawira: Forward of the Year
Mike Wills: Back of the Year
Brendan Shea: Rookie of the Year
David Sage: Best Defender
Matt Gottbrecht: Comeback Player of the Year; Man of the Year
Dave Poplaski: Unsung Hero

The team also honored departing head coach Barry Horewitch. Horewitch is graduating from Wake Forest law school in three weeks and will be moving to Chicago to begin his legal career. Wake Forest took huge steps forward under Horewitch's guidance, especially in terms of forward play. Horewitch, a Midwest College All-Star hooker while at Indiana University, turned Wake's scrum and lineouts into some of the best in the South and his expertise will be sorely missed. Horewitch will continue on as a team consultant and will return to Winston-Salem to run periodic clinics next year.