In its first season in Division II, Wake Forest men's rugby has advanced to the USA Rugby South Division II Final Four with a 20-14 victory over Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN.
Like Wake Forest, this was also MTSU's first year in Division II. However, whereas Wake Forest moved up to Division II from Division III, MTSU was in Division II after having requested to be moved down after many years as a Division I powerhouse, including reaching the national Division I Sweet Sixteen as recently as 2002. MTSU had struggled over the last two years in Division I, but ran through their conference unbeaten this spring, and were ranked #16 in the country in Division II heading into the match.
The day began with Wake receiving the kickoff and subsequently dominating possession and territory for the first 20 minutes of the match. Twice within that period Wake passed up kickable penalties inside MTSU's 22, opting instead to run penalty plays in the hope of jumping out to a big lead early. But MTSU's defense was strong and despite having by far the run of play, Wake failed to move the scoredboard until midway through the stanza when senior wing David Hobson touched down in the corner after Wake's backline took advantage of an overload. Senior flyhalf Tyler Eure nailed the touchline conversion and Wake had a 7-0 lead and looked in complete control of the match. However, on the ensuing restart, Wake got a rude lesson on how quickly mistakes are punished at this level. After Wake's forwards failed to cleanly field the restart, MTSU won possession and put together a string of a half dozen clean phases, culminating in a try in the corner. MTSU's kicker matched Eure by slotting the difficult conversion and the match was suddenly tied at 7-7. Wake remained calm, and after junior scrumhalf Drew Legge made a break off the base of a ruck near midfield and was hit late after chipping over the MTSU fullback, Eure converted an easy penalty and Wake lead 10-7. As halftime neared, MTSU was awarded a scrum near midfield. After cleanly winning the scrum, the MTSU #8, an All-South player, picked and scored a fantastic individual try. The try was converted and MTSU lead 14-10 when the whitsle blew signaling the main break.
The second half was mainly a stalemate, as neither team made many forays inside their opponent's 22, and handling errors and penalties plagued both sides. At the 60 minute mark Eure brought the score to within 1, hitting a penalty goal from about 40 meters. MTSU's #8 continued to give fits to the Wake defenders, but was unable to duplicate his first half heroics. As the clock ticked towards 80 minutes and Wake still trailing by 1, Eure attempted a shot at goal from midfield. His aim was true, but the kick fell just short and with fewer than 5 minutes remaining, Wake was looking at the end of its season. MTSU had possession well inside Wake's half of the field and looked to be content to grind down the clock. Wake managed to turn over possession, however, and a break in the centers moved Wake close to midfield. Off the ensuing ruck, the ball was spun wide to sophomore lock Chrsitian Jewett, who fed high school teammate and freshman prop Matt Storck on the outside. Storck drew two defenders and sent wing Hobson into space. Hobson beat his opposite number and as a shocked MTSU crowd looked on, he raced 50 meters into the tryzone to give Wake the lead. Eure converted the try to put the score at 20-14 with only extra time remaining. MTSU frantically pressed off the restart and managed to turn the ball over, but couldn't muster any offense and after Wake regained possession at a breakdown and with the referee signaling full time, Eure booted the ball into touch, ending the match and sending Wake to the South Final Four.
While every Wake Forest player contributed to this historic win, the player of the game for Wake was undoubtedly sophomore outside center David Sage. Thought to be unavailable for the match due to a serious foot injury, Sage declared himself fit to play just hours before kickoff and gutted it out for the full 80 minutes, making a number of key tackles and solidifying the Wake backline.
Wake now moves on the the Final Four next weekend in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Matchups are to be announced, but Wake will be facing either Georgia Tech, who defeated Eckerd College 17-5 in their quarterfinal match, or South Florida, who defeated Auburn University 49-0. The final four is rounded out by Wake's league foe East Carolina, who absolutely obliterated Western Kentucky 80-3 in the other quarterfinal. East Carolina, ranked #20 before the quarterfinals, sould skyrocket in the national rankings after their massive win and are now clearly the favorite heading into the weekend.
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