Team

Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, de Waal played rugby while at the Pretoria Boys High School During this time he also played rugby with the Blue Bulls Noord Vaaal U18s.

In 2017, while enrolled at Lindenwood University, the rugby team was undefeated in rugby sevens.

Michael signed with Austin in 2019 after a distinguished collegiate career as a two-time collegiate All-American compiling three Collegiate 7s National Championships and two CRC titles along the way. He helped the Collegiate All-Americans to a 23-22 victory over the Canadian Collegiate Selects. While attending Lindenwood, he had a 4.0 GPA and graduated in three and a half years with a degree in Mathematics and a focus in Actuarial studies.