Wayne van der Bank, a decorated professional rugby player in both South Africa and the United States, joined Harvard women’s rugby as an assistant coach in the fall of 2025 and enters his second season with the program in 2026-27.
In 2025-26, the Crimson captured a historic three-peat winning the NIRA National Championship for the third consecutive 15s season behind a 22-19 victory over Lindenwood. The Crimson won the Ivy title during both the 15s and 7s season seasons, while placing third in the nation at the CRAA 7s National Championships in the spring.
Playing for the New England Free Jacks in Major League Rugby, van der Bank has helped the Free Jacks win three straight championships across the 2023, 2024, and 2025 seasons, while earning Major League Rugby Player of the Year honors in 2024.
Originally from Pretoria, South Africa, van der Bank came up through the Golden Lions academy system, making his debut with the first team in 2019 at the Currie Cup.
