One of the interesting things about the Next Phase Rugby all-freshman group published late last fall was how many Penn State players were on there.
Still-new Head Coach Zac Mizell is very active on the app, but that’s only part of it. The freshmen matriculating to Penn State are playing, as Mizell changes the team’s fortunes.
This recent Rugby East regular season the standings show Penn State at 0-5, but that oversimplifies what’s been happing in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions lost to Mary Washington by two points. They scored tries against everyone. They beat Davenport, Ohio State, and St. Bonaventure. Only Army and Life held Navy to fewer points.
These were incremental improvements, but they were indeed improvements.
When he started with Penn State Mizell didn’t try to revolutionize things. His plan was to change a few small things, recruit smart age-grade players, and leverage what worked. The program has added some scholarships and with the addition of players like Neslon College Scholarship recipient JW Sarkees, former Xavier HS co-captain Nic Son, and North Pitt star Kyran Rautenbach, they are building something.
Will Ansley, a 6-6 lock, is a nice weapon to unleash, too.
