The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute rugby programs - both men and women - got their season kick-started this week with a special get-to-know-the-game event for incoming freshmen.

An incoming freshman packs down on the RPI scrum machine during the team's Freshman Week event. Alex Goff photo.Click on image to enlarge.

At RPI (located in Troy, NY), freshmen have a day during orientation where they pick an activity to engage in and learn about. Several dozen new students opted to learn about rugby, and players ran several stations dealing with ball-handling, two-on-ones, kicking, scrummaging (using their Rhino scrum machine bought with rugby alumni funds), and other aspects of play.

"We didn't do rucking because that would have been full contact, and we didn't want to do full-contact," said men's club offiver Evan St. Angelo. "But it's been great to have this and show everyone what the game's about. We've got a good program, and we feel good about this upcoming season, but we still want to grow. We want to show everyone what a great game this is and how you can work together as a team."

 The coaches did an effective job teaching the skills to the new players, with their technique in the scrum - on day one - especially impressive. The day ended with touch games for the men and the women, separately. All players showed a grounding in the basic skills after only a short time.