A-State Rugby Announces 2017 Fall Schedule

JONESBORO – Arkansas State University’s rugby program will begin its 2017 fall schedule at the first Texas Red River 7s National Invitational Tournament in Fort Worth, Texas.

“We have a sevens tournament that will run alongside the SMU-Arkansas State football game in Dallas Sept. 23 with our tournament being played the night before,” said Blake White, A-State’s first-year head coach. “This is a great opportunity for fans to come out and see Red Wolves play all weekend. We have several players from Texas and this is a great chance for their families to come see them play.”

The tournament headlines the eight weekends of play for the Red Wolves, including the home opener with Memphis, Saturday, Sept. 30. A-State hosts the Alumni Weekend match Oct. 7, then travels to the University of Missouri to play the Tigers, Oct. 14. Home play continues Oct. 28 with Lindenwood Belleville before facing the University of Arkansas, Nov. 4 in Little Rock.

The Red Wolves, fifth in the FloRugby.com 2017-18 preseason rankings, go back on the road Nov. 11 to play Davenport University in a D1A conference match and then closes out the season with a game against the University of Texas on Nov. 18 at Curt Huckaby Field. All home matches begin at 1 p.m.

The five-team Texas Red River 7s tournament starts Friday, Sept. 22. In addition to A-State, other participating teams include the University of Southern California, the University of Texas, the University of North Texas and Texas Christian University. Play gets underway at 7 p.m. in Harmon Park in Fort Worth.

Rugby Union Growth Benefits Youth (RUGBY), a charitable organization based in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, is hosting the event.

“This fall will have an emphasis on getting our younger players up to speed on our playing style and letting them show us what they’ve got,” added White. “We finish the semester out with a D1A conference match at Davenport University in Michigan, which our guys will be really excited about after losing to them this time last year.

“We are also excited about hosting the University of Texas because it is a big name school. But, more importantly, it will be a match against one of our former all-Americans, Zac Mizell, who is now the head coach for the Longhorns.” 

Here is the 2017 fall Arkansas State rugby schedule:

Sept. 22 — Texas Red River 7s National Invitational Tournament (Fort Worth, Texas), 7 p.m.

Sept. 30 — Memphis (Curt Huckaby Field), 1 p.m.

Oct. 7 — Alumni Weekend (Curt Huckaby Field), 1 p.m.

Oct. 14 — Missouri (Columbia, Mo.), TBA

Oct. 28 — Lindenwood Belleville (Curt Huckaby Field), 1 p.m.

Nov. 4 — Arkansas (Little Rock), TBA

Nov. 11 — Davenport (Grand Rapids, Mich.), TBA

Nov. 18 — Texas (Curt Huckaby Field), 1 p.m.