Wake Forest vs. North Carolina

Three weeks after the epic showdown between their highly-ranked basketball teams, the Wake Forest and University of North Carolina men's rugby teams face off on Saturday at 1pm on Poteat Field. Carolina and Wake both showed well at the ACI tournament two weeks ago in Tallahassee and Saturday's match should be a good one. Both teams will use the match as a warmup for their league seasons, which kick off next weekend. UNC is lead by a very young and very talented backline, with Scottish freshmen flyhalf Gregor MacLennan running the show. Their forwards are anchored by sophomore flanker Alex Lee and senior prop and captain Jackson Paterno. Wake also boasts a young backline, with three freshman expected to start on Saturday against the Tar Heels.

Prior to the main event on Saturday, the Chapel Hill Highlanders and Triad Youth Rugby Club will play a U-19 match.

Wake goes 4-0 at Atlantic Coast Invitational

Wake finished their weekend in Tallahassee, FL at the 2009 ACI with a 4-0 record, but due to a unique tournament format only finished in 5th place. Wake opened the weekend with a 13-10 win over Boston College and followed that up with a 27-0 victory over Georgia Tech and a 29-3 win over North Carolina State. But because the 6-team tournament used a cross-pool system where the teams in one pool didn't play each other but rather played each of the three teams in the opposite pool, Wake was left out of the semifinals because they finished with a worse point differential than UNC and Florida State, the other teams in their pool.

That meant that Wake played for 5th place on Sunday morning in a rematch against Georgia Tech. The Demon Deacons once again ran out winners 24-10 to finish the tournament unbeaten. The 5th place match was highlighted by two tries from senior outside center Matt Gottbrecht, who returned to the field for the first time after a two year hiatus due to injury.

Wake next faces University of North Carolina at home on January 31. UNC lost in the ACI championship game 20-0 to Boston College after defeating Florida State 18-0 in the semifinals.

Full details of the 2009 ACI can be found at http://www.acirugby.com/.

Above Image Courtesy of Marshall Sports Media.

Wake Hosts Youth Clinic With Triad Youth Rugby

The Wake Forest Men's Rugby team took time out of its preseason mini-camp on Sunday afternoon to run a clinic with members of the Triad Youth Rugby Club. Approximately 25 U-15 and U-19 players took part in the clinic, which focused on basic passing, rucking, backline and set piece skills. The TYRA teams will get a chance to show their stuff on the field on January 31, as they play curtain-raiser matches at Wake Forest prior to the featured match between Wake Forest and the University of North Carolina.

Spring Match with Davidson Cancelled; UNC-G Steps in as Replacement

Davidson has backed out of its February 28, 2009 match with Wake Forest, scheduled as the headline match of the Wake Forest High School Rugby Showcase. Davidson's spring break begins on the 28th and the team notified Wake forest that it would be unable to field a team due to player availability. Davidson and Wake are in discussions to reschedule the match for later in the spring.

Meanwhile, UNC-Greensboro has accepted an invitation to replace Davidson and will travel to Wake to take on the Demon Deacons on the 28th. UNC-G is experiencing a resurgence of its program under the new leadership of former University of Tennessee and Chicago Lions player Jeremy Linne who has taken over as head coach of the team.

2009 ACI Tournament Field Announced

The field for the 2009 Atlantic Coast Invitational has been finalized, with eight of the twelve invited teams committing to the tournament in Tallahassee, FL the weekend of January 17-18, 2009. The teams attending are Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, University of North Carolina, University of Virginia, and Wake Forest.

In addition, WorldRugbyShop.com has again signed on as a tournament sponsor and will be supplying equipment as well as sponsoring the WorldRugbyShop.com All-Tournament Team.

The 2008 tournament, won by University of Virginia, saw nine teams travel to Raleigh, NC to participate in the inaugural event and tournament organizers had hoped for an equal or greater number at the 2009 tournament. However, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Duke and Miami are unable to attend this year's tournament due to scheduling conflicts.

Despite the missing teams, the tournament organizers are still very excited about the 2009 ACI and expect it to be a great success.

Tournament co-Director Andy Richards said, “Ideally we would love to have gotten all twelve ACC schools represented, but with eight high quality rugby programs in attendance it is still going to be a great collegiate rugby event. The fact that Boston College is flying down for the tournament is a huge step forward. But we’ll go back to the drawing board again for the 2010 event and see if we can come up with a solution that works for everyone.”

Additionally, the tournament has recently launched a new blog feature on its website, http://www.acirugby.com/, where coaches, players, and other high-profile individuals from the collegiate rugby community will be posting articles leading up to the 2009 event.

The Atlantic Coast Invitational is a rugby tournament of the men’s rugby teams from the schools that make up the Atlantic Coast Conference. The tournament is not sponsored by, endorsed by, or affiliated in any way with the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Wake Rugby Announces First Member of Class of 2013

Wake Forest is pleased to announce that Johnny McMurry has been accepted early decision to Wake Forest University and will join the Wake men's rugby team in the fall of 2009. McMurry plays scrumhalf and wing for national high school rugby power Gonzaga College High School in Washington, DC, the alma mater of current Wake standout Michael Wills. McMurry has four years of rugby experience and is also a starter on the school's nationally-ranked soccer team. The Wake coaching staff is hopeful that McMurray will immediately challenge for a spot in the first XV as the team will lose wing Critter Commins and All-Star scrumhalf Drew Legge to graduation this May.

Atlantic Coast Invitational Launches Blog

The Atlantic Coast Invitational today introduced a blog feature on its website, http://www.acirugby.com/. The blog will feature posts from various coaches, players, and other big names in the American collegiate rugby arena and will be updated frequently in the next 6 weeks leading up to the 2009 Atlantic Coast Invitational on January 17-18 in Tallahassee, FL.

The Atlantic Coast Invitational is a tournament of the men's rugby teams from the schools that make up the Atlantic Coast Conference. It was founded in 2008 as a joint effort of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill men's rugby team and the Wake Forest men's rugby team, along with 2008 host Raleigh Rugby Club. The University of Virgina won the inaugural championship, besting the University of Maryland 12-5 in a muddy, rain-soaked final.