Due to the situation with Hurricane Isaias, UGA Rugby’s officers have made the difficult decision to cancel tonight’s trip to Tuscaloosa. We were very much hoping to play this match, but has Isaias gained strength on Thursday night, the club felt the need to prioritize our players’ safety and seek to reschedule this match.
Updates will be posted as they are available. Please stay safe everyone!
UGA Rugby has officially kicked off our Fall 15s season, starting with our traditional preseason camp this past weekend. The boys arrived Friday night, did some team bonding and got to know some of the new players. Saturday was a full day, involving setting expectations for the season, testing, shaking off the rust from the summer, and preparing the boys to execute on Coach Jesse’s strategy. Afterwards, the boys got to cut loose and have fun over a BBQ dinner.
Some key highlights from the weekend:
The first training was also very encouraging – the numbers and energy were phenomenal. We’d like to welcome and call out some key additions to the team this year!
We’re off to a strong start and are extremely excited for what this season will bring. Thank you again for your support, and we hope to see you at an upcoming event.
Don’t forget, our alumni match is this weekend – details HERE. As the boys say – LET’S ROCK! 🪨
ps. please continue to visit this website for updates throughout the season, and if you’re a social media user, don’t forget to follow the club on Instagram!
Dear UGA Rugby Community,
I’m happy to report a fantastic weekend for Alumni + Students at the Asheville Beer City 7s tournament. We left town full of craft beer and camaraderie with a championship under our belts!
In recent years, we’ve competed in Asheville’s 7s tourney with a motley team called the “Hot Dawgs”. In 2025 the championship game was cancelled due to rain, so we took home 2nd place on a technicality despite going undefeated. We returned this year with intentions to win it all, and brought the team to do it. Our core involved a combination of starting Collegiate players and Alumni ranging in age from 23-43, combining experience, fitness and speed with a shared intensity that carried us through some tough moments.
Group play was immediately rained out, and after an hour delay we played our first two games in a constant downpour. Tough defense and focused offensive play led to victories against Lanier 7s (7-0) and Columbia Rhinos (10-7). The sun came out for our third group match against the ATLiens, and we steamrolled to a 26-12 victory with help from many of our bench players to give our starters a much-needed rest.
We dominated our semi-final match against the Greenville Griffins 24-0, and prepared for a hard-fought final against the ATL Renegades. Scoring was back and forth to a 14-12 close game, until a kick-and-chase from Harrison “Mongo” Lavery swung the momentum in our direction. Despite being down a man for most of the second half, we scored two unanswered tries to walk away with a 26-12 victory and the championship!
We had strong physical play throughout the day from young Alums Connor Bradley, Bryson Braswell, and Jack Madden, and great on-field leadership and skill from Sam Trammel. Several current players had a great showing including Elliott Meyer, Mike Sample, Donnie Yon, and Ike Edlein. Mongo earned Man of the Tournament honors – he was our leading try scorer and created even more opportunities, often drawing 2, 3, or even 4 tacklers before a quick offload to a speedy try opportunity from our wingers.
We’re especially proud of beating organized, practicing men’s clubs with a motley team! Many of us haven’t played together formally in years, and we learned from each other and improved throughout the tournament to bring home the cup.
UGA RFC (and Hot Dawgs) Coach Jesse Posnansky had a positive post-tournament message: “Between winning Savannah 2025 and recent top finishes in Asheville 7s, we’ve built a culture of winning rugby among our Alumni base. I’m glad to see this, and excited for the young boys who’ve contributed and witnessed this so we can bring this winning culture to our Collegiate side starting this fall”.
Beyond the great on-field results, this tournament was another much-enjoyed opportunity for intergenerational connection…between the social at the house and the laughs in downtown Asheville, this weekend was another great showing of the UGA RFC spirit, and has cemented this tournament as a summer tradition for our Club.
Stay tuned for news from the Club and Alumni Board about Alumni opportunities this fall. Thank you, and Go Dawgs!
Cheers,
Cameron “Zorro” Zahedi
Alumni Events Chair
The fall schedule is confirmed as detailed below. Check our EVENTS page for the latest updates, and please make sure to follow the team on Instagram for the latest team communications!
| Date(s) | Event |
| August 14-16, 2026 | players preseason camp |
| August 22, 2026 | Alumni Match |
| August 29, 2026 | UGA vs South Carolina (HOME) |
| September 5, 2026 | UGA @ Lander (Greenwood, SC) |
| September 12, 2026 | open |
| September 19, 2026 | UGA vs Tennessee Tech (HOME) PARENTS WEEKEND – Athens, GA |
| September 26, 2026 | Alumni Tailgate (for UGA vs Oklahoma) – Athens, GA |
| October 3, 2026 | open |
| October 10, 2026 | UGA @ Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL) |
| October 17, 2026 | open |
| October 24, 2026 | UGA vs KSU (HOME) |
| October 30, 2026 | UGA @ Auburn (Auburn, AL) |
| November 7, 2026 | UGA @ Clemson (Clemson, SC) |
| November 14, 2026 | open |
| November 21, 2026 | BOWL GAME vs. Southern Conference |
UGARFC is excited to announce that former Bulldog (player and coach) Jesse Posnansky has come back to Athens to step into a head coaching role for the dawgs this season!
Following the elections, the new alumni board has unanimously agreed on the following positions:
– President: Larry Doong (replacing Steve Brinson)
– Vice President: Mick Costa (replacing Steve Brown)
– Treasurer: Brett Below (replacing Ken “Buddha” Wright)
– Communications Officer: Taye Olagunju (replacing Steve Yeager)
– Members at Large: Connor Westbrook and Ken “Buddha” Wright
Larry, Mick, and Brett are starting their 3-year terms, while Taye, Connor, and Buddha are in their 3rd and final year of their current term.
The team has elected a new set of officers for 2026! Congratulations to all and thank you for stepping up to serve the club.
The Dawgs hit the road to Columbia, South Carolina last Friday night. The intensity was high as this was a huge conference match for both squads. Not too much was generated offensively for the Dawgs as we kept shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties and mistakes that South Carolina did not make. We ended the first half a man down and down 10-0. But in the second half the match spiraled out of control, and it was all USC the rest of the way. Congratulations to USC as they were the superior side Friday night.
It was one of those we wish we could have back, but it is time to learn and work to be better because we know we are better than that. We have our first home game of the season Friday night vs. Tennessee @ 7:00PM. We hope to see you at the IM fields for such a big match for both squads as we look to get back on track against a huge conference rival.
The Dawgs traveled down to Baton Rouge over the weekend to kick off conference play with a bout against LSU. The Dawgs narrowly beat LSU last season in Athens during alumni weekend. No match is given in the Louisiana heat and the dawgs knew that they would have to get ahead early to avoid playing from behind.
The first 20′ of the match was very much a grind for the dawgs, it was for LSU as well with both teams held scoreless through 20′. A lot of good work from the forwards in the early parts of this game as they had to win an absurd number of scrums in a very small amount of time. The dawgs had a few nervy moments in the beginning but stood tall with a couple of defensive stands within our twenty-two-meter line. Shortly after the first twenty minutes elapsed, Scrappy Spotts cruised into the try zone to open up the scoring, and from here on out it was all dawgs. Right before halftime, Garrett “Dense” Odell doubled our lead with a try down the sideline, which was followed by a great conversion by captain Connor Westbrook. The Dawgs went into halftime with a 14-0 lead.
While the Dawgs felt like they were in control, the score was far too close to be comfortable, so the Dawgs knew they would have to come out flying out of halftime. And that is exactly what they did. Both Garrett Odell and Scrapy Spotts got their second try of the match, and team favorite John Rainwater scored his first of the season in the dying minutes of the match. There is still plenty of room to work and improve as the season progresses, but the dawgs are trending in the right direction. The evolution of the forwards is evident as we were consistently winning lineouts and scrums against a big and physical LSU side.
The Dawgs opened their 2023 15s season this past weekend with a bout against Lander at Silverbacks Park. The friendly format was three thirty-minute periods with rolling subs throughout the entire game. While it was a friendly, both teams looked to use this game as an opportunity to set the tone for themselves and send a message to their perspective conference opponents.
The scoring started early by the captain and fullback Connor Westbrook, whose try was shortly followed by winger, Stokes Moore, and from there it was far from ever stopping. There were many debuts for the UGA back line made this past weekend, but the return of Brian Acklen from a season-long knee injury that was suffered last year proved to be a huge addition. His leadership and veteran experience at the 9 cannot be understated as he proved to be a problem for the Lander defense, consistently breaking lines and keeping the pace of the offense. Mick Costa facilitated the offense from the ten as Lander struggled to keep up with the pace at which the UGA backs attacked.
The Dawgs domination was not limited to just the backs, because the forwards proved to be a problem in pretty much every aspect. Newly elected forwards captain Jack Madden had his guys dominating every scrum and lineout, something that all of the forwards showed major improvement on compared to last season. The growth and leadership of vet forwards like Jack Madden, Jake Gipson, and Garrett Davis were visible, but rookies Zach “Spoon” Dabney and Ike Edlein deserve to be highlighted for their honor of starting with the forwards in their first match.
There are definitely places to grow, but this team is looking to make some noise in the SCRC this year. UGA Rugby would like to give a huge thanks to all the fans who showed up to Silverbacks Park to support and give thanks to Lander for making their way to Atlanta to play. The Dawgs kick off conference play on the road next weekend at LSU. Make sure to follow UGA Rugby on social media to stay up to date on everything UGA Rugby.
