Before Sunrise: How Wake Forest Men’s Rugby Pulled Off “The Crucible”

That is where The Crucible lived. No music. No crowd. Just our guys, the No Fear Battalion from ROTC, and a simple question. Are you in or not?

We built The Crucible to test what wins when legs are heavy and calls get loud. Grit. Leadership. Fitness. Show up before sunrise. Move weight with good form. Sprint hard. Communicate when your lungs are on fire. Help the person next to you finish their last rep. Do it again the next day.

Cadet Joshua Samonte ran it and put it together. He handled the plan, set the stations, kept the clock, and set the tone. Clear standards. Clean reps. No excuses. His leadership made the thing real. Our players followed because he led from the front and stayed calm when it got messy.

Training with the No Fear Battalion changed us. Their discipline sharpened our habits. Their pace forced ours to rise. We learned when to speak up and when to listen. Cadets and ruggers fell into a rhythm. Set up fast. Hold standards. Fix mistakes on the spot. Leave the place cleaner than we found it.

A special thank you to Lieutenant Colonel John Flach, a fellow rugger who spent time playing at West Point. He brought straight talk, pride in the work, and respect for the jersey. He reminded us that the values that build soldiers also build teammates. Serve the group. Do the hard thing. Leave it better for the next person.

What did we see? Attendance turned into accountability. If you can make yourself get up in the fours and step onto cold turf by 5:30, regular practice feels easy. Fitness climbed, but the bigger change was trust. Guys believed in each other because they suffered together. When someone called a line or a defensive adjustment, the response came quicker. Less doubt. More action.

The Crucible also gave us a simple identity. We are the team that shows up early. We are the team that does the work when no one is watching. We are the team that keeps promises. That is not a slogan. It is a habit.

We are grateful for the partnership with the No Fear Battalion. Thank you for opening your training culture to us and for demanding the best from yourselves. Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel John Flach, for investing in our players and for linking Wake Forest to a proud rugby tradition at West Point. And a big thank you to Cadet Joshua Samonte for building The Crucible and running it with purpose and care.

What comes next is simple. Keep the standard. Keep the early mornings when we need them. Keep the honesty that The Crucible taught us. If you are a prospective player who wants real growth, come find us. If you are a supporter, stand with us. We pulled off The Crucible together, and we carry it into every training and every match.

That is Wake Forest Men’s Rugby.

Until next year.

NO FEAR!