WINGER Zac Hay made his US rugby union debut on Saturday as his Wheeling University Cardinals side were narrowly beaten by Davenport University.

Zac, from Abergele has been signed up by the West Virginia college to play in Division 1-AA and the 18-year-old former Coleg Llandrillo student started in their opener on Saturday afternoon.

On the road in Grand Rapids, Michigan, hosts Davenport edged a close game 43-42.

Zac is on a rugby scholarship at Wheeling, where he is studying for a degree in Exercise Science.

He spent the previous two years at Coleg Llandrillo’s Rhos-on-Sea campus, studying Level 3 Sport (Performance & Excellence). Zac also played for Llandrillo's rugby academy team, which helped prepare him for the student athlete lifestyle he is living across the pond.

"College gave me a taste of being in an academy," said Zac, who also played for Colwyn Bay Rugby Club and for his school Rydal Penrhos. 

“When I was playing for Colwyn Bay we were a good team, we trained hard and gave it our all. You trained once a week and you played your Sunday game. 

“But the purpose of an academy is to improve your rugby. In college we’d train three or four times a week, have strength and conditioning sessions - it introduced me to that sort of environment and gave me a taste of what that lifestyle is like. 

"I’ve never enjoyed playing so much. My attitude to rugby has completely changed since I came here. I wanted to study abroad and my rugby was going to get me there, but training every day, my attitude has changed.

"I would love to play professionally, but it’s difficult. The level of rugby in the US is underestimated. It’s all international players here - there are only three US players in the team. The others are from South Africa, Zimbabwe, England, Morocco, Canada and myself from Wales.

"The Zimbabwean guys are insane, they’re huge, fast, fit and physical. The South African guys obviously live and breathe rugby. So it’s a different game, it’s a step up in terms of physicality.

"I’ve never come across a team with as much drive and energy. Within the first couple of weeks I felt I’d known these guys for years - it’s like a family.

"The rugby sevens team here is also exceptional, one of the strongest sevens teams in the whole country. They competed at Tampa Tropical Sevens and won every single game - these guys are the real deal."

Zac will have to stay on top of his studies if he wants to make the team, and studying at Llandrillo prepared him for that expectation.

"College has definitely set me up to be more independent," he said. "I've learned a lot of time management skills, preparation skills, being more organised.

"Being a student athlete you have to turn up to your lessons and do your assignments - if you don’t, you’re not playing rugby. You're here to study and the academics come first.

"I have to get up on time, have my homework complete, my kit ready for rugby. I have to be prepared for every day and college has done a great job preparing me for that.

"Also, all the knowledge from the course I did at college feeds into what I’m doing here. It's given me a head start. For example, I did anatomy and psychology. I do anatomy now and I’ll be doing psychology in my second year, so I’m finding that the course has set me up very well.

Zac thanked lecturer Rhodri Davies, his personal tutor at Llandrillo, for helping maximise his opportunities.

He said: "Rhodri's an amazing guy. He bends over backwards to make sure you get to university and he’ll do anything to help you achieve your dreams.

"I’ve never had a teacher like him before - he’ll be forever my favourite teacher."