Wake Forest Men's Rugby Season Preview

Wake Forest Enters ACRL Play With Determination

The Wake Forest men's rugby team will play its inaugural Atlantic Coast Rugby League game tomorrow night against Clemson, who is undefeated and ranked #15 in the country in Division I by Rugby Magazine. This will be the first ever official Division I game for the Demon Deacons, who only 4 years ago were a Division III team.

Wake comes into the season with an excellent mix of veteran leadership and talented newcomers. The forwards will be lead by seniors Ross Hilton (lock), Christian Jewett (lock), and Hunter Lostan (#8), and the pack will be bolstered by the return of junior flanker/lock Brendan Shea, who played all of last year at flyhalf after injuries ravaged the Wake Forest backline.

Ty Pierce will lead from the front at Tighthead Prop

Sophomore Ty Pierce, who gained invaluable experience playing for the South U-20 select side in November will be the first choice at loosehead prop, while junior Nick Conte will anchor the scrum at tighthead. Jeff Millar will try to fill the shoes of graduated four year starter Mike Duffy at hooker. Juniors Chris Ryan and Justen Robinette, sophomore Matt Tucker, and talented freshman Bryce Lambert provide front row depth.

Hilton, Jewett, and Shea will rotate in the second row, with freshmen Matt McCurdy, Matt Gray, Robert Elmore, and Paul Shumaker all improving and pushing for playing time.

The youth movement continues in the loose forwards, where freshman McCurdy and Liam McIntyre, and sophomore Drew Mehmann will all see time with the first side.

Wake Forest boasts two excellent scrumhalves in sophomore Johnny McMurray and junior Will Hank. McMurray was a full time starter at fullback last year and will likely play both 9 and 15 this spring. McMurray and Hank will be feeding the ball to junior flyhalf Ben Cohen. After missing his entire sophomore year due to injury, Cohen has shown signs of brilliance at #10, including a game winning chip and chase try in Wake Forest's preseason victory against University of Mary Washington last weekend. Cohen will be ably backed up by sophomore Rob Kelly, who donned the #10 jersey for Wake during the fall season while Cohen rehabbed.

The stregnth of the Wake Forest team most definitely lies in its centers and outside backs. Freshman James Watson and sophomore Jim Kavalec, both also players on the Wake Forest ice hockey team, are powerful runners who will see time at inside center. Freshmen Ryan Tacon will anchor the backline at outside center, while seniors Drew Chadwick and Steve McMillen and junior Brandon Turner comprise a back three loaded with pace. Turner also joined Ty Pierce on the U-20 South team in November. Meanwhile, freshman Franco Cima, a former age-grade European sprint record holder, is an attacking force who can and will play anywhere from 11 to 15. Freshmen Sean Barrett, Steven Hemric, and Drew Ammons are all solid newcomers who add considerable depth to an already deep and talented Wake Forest backline.

Freshman Center Ryan Tacon on the run against South Carolina

As was seen in Wake Forest's late fall exhibition results (losses to South Carolina and North Carolina State), the Demon Deacons struggled to play to their stregnths against bigger, more physical opponents. A rigourous offseason stregnth and conditioning program will hopefully close the gap in this regard-stregnth and conditioning coach Trent Justice was mostly pleased with the work put in by the players over semester break-but the ACRL schedule does the Demon Deacons no favors as they begin with three straight games against nationally ranked opponents (#15 Clemson, #14 Maryland, and #18 Virginia Tech). Said head coach Patrick Kane, "We will know right away if we have a realistic shot at winning this league. Go at least 2-1 in our first three game and we're in good shape. Anything less than that, and we'll need some serious luck and help from other teams to finish in the top 2 and make the ACRL Championship game in Charlotte."

The "Road to Charlotte" kicks off tomorrow at 8pm. Follow realtime score updates on Twitter at http://twitter.com/WakeForestRugby.