NOLA Gold William Waguespack 2021 Profile

NOLA Gold Rugby Club re-signed New Orleans native William Waguespack for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The 22-year-old lock (23 in March) is 6’6″, and 275 pounds.

Will did not play during the 2020 MLR regular-season for NOLA Gold. He played for New Orleans RFC and for NOLA Gold Academy.

During the 2019 MLR season, he played 101 minutes in 2 matches as a starter, had 6 carries of 256 meters, made 13 tackles, and had 2 lineout takes. He spent most of the season playing for New Orleans Rugby Club and following the MLR season, played for Bond University in the Gold Coast of Australia. He also was signed in 2018 but did not play in regular-season matches.

William attended Jesuit High School in New Orleans from 2012-2016. He played rugby his Junior and Senior year at Jesuit, captaining the team his senior year. During the Spring 2016 season, he played in South Regional Cup Tournament for Louisiana in Matthews, North Carolina.

After graduating high school, he attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette from 2016 through 2017. He is a lock but played a few games at flyhalf at the College to maximize handling the ball during a match. The Rajin Cajuns are part of the Deep South Rugby Conference.

His strong rugby performances were noticed at the national level. He was selected to the AIG Junior All-Americans Development team, which played a two-match Series against Canada on Dec 30, 2016, and Jan 2, 2017. He also was on the USA Under-20s team in 2018 for the World Rugby Trophy Qualifiers against Canada in Texas.

Playing professional rugby with the New Orleans Gold was a balancing act. William attended the University of New Orleans while playing for the Gold in 2018. He also played for the New Orleans Rugby Club.

New Orleans Gold 2019 -2021 Comments

2019 Comments “Local product William Waguespack will be back in Gold in 2019. Waguespack picked up the game of rugby whilst at local powerhouse Jesuit High School. Waguespack was part of the USA U20s team that played Canada in 2018. With a huge frame and a work ethic to match, Waguespack is a player to keep an eye on in 2019. Waguespack spent the summer training hard at the @westbankathleticclub and the coaching staff is excited to see what the 20-year-old can bring to the table in 2019.” #GoldReign

2020 Comments Ryan Fitzgerald, General Manager, said that “Wags has been a great story as he enters into his 3rd year with Gold. A local Jesuit kid that has come through the ‘Draft and develop’ pathway.

Every year he has steadily progressed, including being capped twice for us last year and playing well in both games. With a great offseason this year, competing in Australia, we are very excited to see him take the next step.

A very coachable player and first-class teammate through and through.”

GM, Ryan Fitzgerald 2021 Comments: “Wags has really started to come into his own this offseason and the start of training camp. William turns 23 years old this week and at such a young age he has already gained so much experience and high-level coaching! He has worked very hard this off-season and we are excited to watch him take the leap at becoming a full-time professional for the Gold!”