NOLA Gold Rugby Club re-signed New Orleans native William Waguespack for the 2022 Major League Rugby season. The 23-year-old lock (24 in March) is 6’6″, and 255 pounds.
William played 204 minutes in 5 matches, starting 2, for NOLA Gold in 2021. He did not play during the 2020 MLR regular season for NOLA Gold but played for New Orleans RFC and for NOLA Gold Academy. Following the season he was voted as the team’s most improved player.
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 Southern Cross 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.
From 2018-2021 he attended the University of New Orleans, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree. He also participated in a study abroad program at South Cross University in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia from June 2019 – November 2019, and played rugby while there.
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.
