Fall 2008 Schedule Close to Finalized

The Wake Forest Men's Rugby Team's match schedule for the fall 2008 season is almost complete. Confirmed matches for the first and second sides are as follows:

Sept. 27: Wake vs. University of North Carolina (Home-Family Weekend)
Oct. 4: Wake vs. Georgia Tech (Away)
Oct. 11: Wake vs. Clemson (Home)
Oct. 25-26: NCRU Tournament (Away-Location TBA)
Nov. 8: Alumni Match (Home-Homecoming)

Matches for the Wake Forest second side on Sept. 20 and Nov. 8 are currently in the planning stages. The second side will likely take on UNC-Pembroke on Nov. 8 at home after the alumni match.

Alumni Match Set for Homecoming Weekend

Wake Rugby Alums should start making plans to attend the 2008 Alumni Match, set for Saturday, November 8 at 12pm on Poteat Field. The Alumni will square off against the current Wake Forest first side, who will be looking to avenge their 38-0 throttling at the hands of the alumni in last year's match. A cookout will take place at the field after the match while the Wake Forest second side takes on UNC-Pembroke. All Wake Rugby alumni are encouraged to attend and either lace up the boots or just catch up with old friends and teammates while enlightening the current generation of Wake ruggers about the team's storied past.

Senior Eure makes South College All-Star Squad

Wake Forest senior flyhalf Tyler Eure has been selected for the USA Rugby South Collegiate All-Star team. The team will travel to Glendale, Colorado in three weeks to compete in the USA Rugby Collegiate National All-Star Championships. This is the second time in three years that a Wake rugger has been named to this squad. In 2006, Wake Forest outside center Javin Hutchinson made the team after a stellar freshmen season. Unfortunately, Hutchinson only played two more rugby games for Wake, as he decided to give up the sport in order to chase the glory of being a varsity athlete on the Wake Forest track and field team. Last year Eure was named as an alternate on the team, but did not travel to the All-Star tournament in Rochester, NY.

Two other Wake players, junior scrumhalf Drew Legge and junior center Mike Wills, were also in consideration for this year's squad and attended the tryout camp in Atlanta. Although both players performed extremely well at the camp, neither made the team as they were passed over in favor of players who returned from last year's team. Wills and Legge will be the linchpins of Wake's backline next year and will certainly challenge for a spot on the 2009 South All-Star team.

Wake Recruit Leads Team to State Title

Wake Forest rugby recruit Tyler Vanston scored three tries yesterday in leading his East Mecklenburg High School Rugby Team to the North Carolina U-19 Division II Championship. East Meck defeated the Raleigh Rattlesnakes 41-12 to claim the title. Vanston, a senior outside center, will be attending Wake Forest in the fall. Wake Forest Director of Men's Rugby Patrick Kane, who was in attendance at the match said of Vanston's performance, "The three tries scored by Tyler were certainly impressive, but was stood out most was his defense. He didn't miss a single tackle and every one was made with textbook form. He will certainly factor into our first side backline when he arrives here in the fall."

East Meck wins its first state championship after having opened its season in the first weekend of March with a second place finish at the inaugural Wake Forest High School Rugby Showcase. Unionville High in Pennsylvania, who defeated East Meck in the Showcase final, has also had a spectacular season, running through league play undefeated. Unionville plays in the Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union Semifinals today against State College High School.

Wake Forest #22 in Final Poll

The Wake Forest men's rugby team finished its inaugural season in Division II ranked 22nd in the country by erugbynews.com. Wake finished the 2008 spring season with a 5-3 record, falling to Division I University of Georgia in an exhibition match and losing twice to league foe East Carolina who finished the year with the #7 ranking.

The final erugbynews.com men's division II collegiate rankings are as follows:


1 Radford (1) 14-4
2 Coast Guard (2) 13-3
3 Salisbury (3) 13-1
4 Utah Valley (4) 6-5
5 Middlebury (5) 11-3
6 N. Colorado (6) 8-6
7 East Carolina (7) 11-4
8 Regis (8) 7-2
9 Santa Clara (9) 11-6
10 Missouri (10) 14-3
11 Col. Sch. Mines (11) 5-5
12 Texas State (12) 9-4
13 Michigan (13) 6-5
14 St. John's (14) 14-4
15 Loyola Mmnt (15) 7-3
16 Cal Maritime (16) 8-3
17 E. Stroudsburg (17) 9-5
18 Rutgers (18) 12-4
19 St. Bonaventure (19) 8-2
20 South Florida (20) 8-1
21 Vermont (21) 5-1
22 Wake Forest (22) 11-7
23 Georgia Tech (23) 6-2
24 Georgetown (24) 16-3
25 UC Irvine (25) 14-2