Wake Ranked 20th in eRugbyNews Preseason Poll

Rank Men DII College
1 Coast Guard
2 Salisbury
3 Utah Valley
4 Middlebury
5 N. Colorado
6 East Carolina
7 Regis
8 Santa Clara
9 Missouri
10 Col. Sch. Mines
11 Texas State
12 St. John's
13 Loyola Mmnt
14 Cal Maritime
15 E. Stroudsburg
16 Rutgers
17 St. Bonaventure
18 South Florida
19 Vermont
20 Wake Forest

Fall Practice Begins

The Wake Forest men's rugby team begins practice for the fall season on Thursday, August 28. Returning 12 of 15 starters from last year's South DII Finalist team and adding a strong recruiting class led by outside center Tyler Vanston from Charlotte and flanker Brendan Shea from Connecticut, this year's Wake squad has high expectations. They will play a challenging fall schedule, highlighted by matches with Division I teams North Carolina and Clemson. Senior inside center Mike Wills will captain the team, and senior scrumhalf Drew Legge and senior wing Critter Commins also return to lead a loaded backline. Senior #8 Timo Kawira leads the forwards along with senior prop Dave Poplaski.

Wake Finishes Third at Triad 7s

A Wake Forest team comprised of current and former Wake players finished third in the social division at the Triad 7s on Saturday. After dropping their first match in pool play 12-5 to NC State in a match which they should have won, Wake rebounded to defeat the Triad Old Boys and Cherry Point to advance to the semifinals. In the semi they faced a very strong Roanoke team who ran all over Wake, defeating them 36-14. Roanoke went on to win the tournament over Camp Lejuene in the final, while Wake took third place by besting NC State 12-0 in the consolation match.

Wake to play at Coastal Carolina, Fall Schedule Finalized

Wake Forest's first and second sides will play at Coastal Carolina University on October 4. Wake was originally scheduled to play at Georgia Tech on October 4th, but Tech was forced to cancel after a rescheduling of the Georgia Rugby Union Tournament.

Coastal Carolina is a very big, physical, and talented Division III side out of the Palmetto Rugby Union. Last fall they won the Palmetto Rugby Union tournament, defeating Division I University of South Carolina along the way. This past spring they finished second in league play to eventual national runners-up Furman University and were ousted from the South DIII playoffs with a one-point loss at Elon. This will be a good test for Wake Forest.

Wake's schedule for Fall 2008 is now finalized and looks like this:

Sept. 13: Intrasquad scrimmage
Sept. 20: @ Davidson (second side only)
Sept. 27: University of North Carolina (Family Weekend; first and second sides)
Oct. 4: @ Coastal Carolina (first and second sides)
Oct. 11: Clemson (first and second sides)
Oct. 18: Fall Break- no match
Oct. 25-26: NCRU Tournament (first and second sides; location TBA)
Nov. 1: OFF
Nov. 8: First side vs. Wake Rugby Alumni; Second side vs. UNC-Pembroke (Homecoming Weekend)

Match Confirmed with Davidson for September 20

Wake Forest's second side will open the season at Davidson on September 20. Davidson's team is in a rebuilding process after being forced to take a year and a half hiatus due to lack of numbers.

Wake Forest to compete at Triad 7s

A Wake Forest side made up of current players and recent alumni will compete at the Triad 7s in Greensboro, NC on June 21. Confirmed players include:

Andrew Gentles '05
Achilleas Patounas '06
David Buckingham '07
Greg Wagner '07
Tyler Eure '08
David Hobson '08
Mike Wills '09
Drew Legge '09
Kenton Forte '10
David Sage '10
Steve McMillen '10
Patrick Kane Director of Men's Rugby

Second Side Match Confirmed for Nov. 8

The Wake Forest second side will face off against UNC-Pembroke on Nov. 8. The match will follow the Wake Forest first side taking on the Wake Rugby Alumni. UNC-Pembroke's rugby team is in only its second year of existence, but is a solid squad with a number of former high school rugby players and a very experienced and qualified coach.