Beau Bock our founding member passed away.

It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share the devastating news that one of our four founding members, and a true legend of our rugby club, Beau Bock, has passed away.

Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with his family, friends, and all who had the privilege of knowing him during this incredibly difficult time.

Beau wasn’t just a founder—he was the driving force that created our club. He build something special from the very beginning in 1974. His passion, commitment, and spirit shaped who we are today, and his absence will be felt more deeply than words can express.

We are forever grateful for everything he gave to this rugby club. His legacy will live on in every match we play, but today, we mourn the loss of a man who meant so much to us all.

Beau Bock Remembered By Another OWRFC Founder

This week, the Old White Family lost one of its greatest Warriors. 

Beau Bock (born Wally Maher) was one of the Club’s original Founders, and its first Coach and Captain.  

One day in the fall of 1973, Wally, along with his then- Renegades teammate, Bobby Langley, approached my Business Partner and Atlanta Rugby Club teammate, Dan Fry and myself with his vision of creating a new Rugby Club in Atlanta which would be committed to becoming one of the premier Club Sides in the United States. This was a particularly bold vision, because in the early Seventies, the existing Clubs in Atlanta were populated by some really fun guys in their thirties, forties and fifties who played Rugby so that they could run around one night a week, play a match on the weekend and drink a few pints at the Beer Mug on Peachtree. 

Beau, Bobby, Dan and I met one night at our Nautilus Athletic Club in Sandy Springs to begin planning a new Rugby Club dedicated to winning…and winning big. Beau came from New York, where many of the great teams were named for their playing colors (Old Blue, Old Maroon, etc.) and it was Beau who decided that we would play in white shorts and white jerseys and be known as “Old White”. He proclaimed that we would aggressively recruit the best athletes in Atlanta, and if they didn’t know how to play Rugby, we would teach them. He coined the slogan, “American Power Rugby” with the idea of effectively blending the power and violence of American football with the precision and elegance of  International Rugby. 

Our first match was in February of 1974, when we traveled to Clemson and lost 9-0 on a cold Saturday afternoon.  Those early teams featured Mike McShane, who joined from the renegades, Don Kennicott, Bruce Vanderbundt (who had recently retired from building Silos), Doug David (a wide receiver and punt returner from UNC) Grant Galeema, Ivo Barbic, Billy Thompson, John Drake, Tyler Dixon, and Georgia Tech’s all-time leading punt returner, Michael Wysong, along with some of the best athletes that I ever had the privilege of playing beside.  

After that disappointing first loss at Clemson, Atlanta Old White, led by our Coach and Captain, the Beau Bockster, was soon steam rolling over anyone that we played. In 1974-75, the team won 33 straight matches, including seven major Regional and National Tournaments, and received the Carling Cup, given annually by the Eastern Rugby Union to the best Rugby Club on the East Coast.  

Beau Bock was truly an “American Original,” a visionary with the powerful personality needed to make his vision a reality. Off the Pitch, he was a founder of the Sports Radio Station 790 the Zone, where he became one of the most entertaining radio hosts in Atlanta. He was absolutely certain that he personally could have done a better job of coaching the Braves than Bobby Cox, and a better job of coaching the Falcons than any of their head coaches, except Jerry Glanville…and who knows, he may have been right. He certainly established a tradition of excellence and a commitment to winning that has lasted for over 50 years, culminating in Atlanta Old White’s 2025 Division II National Championship. 

The most important thing in anyone’s life is to have made an impact- and Beau made an impact on everything he undertook. 

With you, Beau- with you. 

David Branch OWRFC Founder