RIT's Christian Blank muscles through several Paul Smith's College defenders during Saturday's game.
Joshua Kuckens

It was the first week back in class at RIT, and someone, somewhere must have known it. The weather couldn’t have been more fitting; it was cloudy and raining all through the week to welcome in the new school year, along with thousands of freshmen. Perfect.

But Saturday was different. The clouds had blown away, the sky was blue, and the grass was green. Yes, it was a great day for rugby. For the first time since their ban five years ago, the men’s rugby team had a game to play: RIT versus Paul Smith’s College, in the middle of a perfectly sunny Rochester afternoon.

With more than fifty students on the team, the guys ran, hit, passed, and conditioned during the week prior to the game in preparation for this momentous match. A standard game of rugby, with no interruptions (injuries or other emergencies), lasts for a solid eighty minutes of play, with only a five-minute half time to catch lost breathe and hydrate. Play is continuous, stopping only for penalties, lineouts (when the ball goes out of bounds), and scrums (where the teams compete for possession). Rugby is truly a battle of the fittest — the longer you endure, the more times you can run up and down that pitch faster than the other guy, the higher the chance of victory. The rough nature of the game, along with the lack of padding or protection, adds another dimension of play to the game. Players must tackle or be tackled, donning only a uniform, cleats, some tape, and plenty of audacity.

RIT's Alex Mikolajko reaches to intercept a pass between Paul Smith College players.
Joshua Kuckens

At 1:00 in the afternoon on September 10, a crowd gathered on both sides of the street to watch as the Tigers kicked off to start the game. As soon as the ball came down, both teams clashed. Tackle after tackle, the ball was moved down the field, primarily by the Paul Smith’s College Bobcats, who managed to keep the Tigers near their try zone — analogous to football’s end zone — for most of the first half. Try as they might, the Bobcats couldn’t manage to get past the Tigers’ strong defense. The Bobcats attempted a conversion — in which the ball is placed at a point on the field where a penalty has been awarded and attempt to kick the ball through the uprights. If successful, they’d be given three points, if not the ball is still in play. The flags went up — Tigers 0, Bobcats 3.

By this point play had become very centered. Neither team was letting up, but neither side made any real progress. A scrum and a few lineouts later, second year Mechanical Engineering Technology major Alex Mikolajko scored a try, successfully making it to the try zone with enough control of the ball to set it on the ground. The conversion, however, was unsuccessful. The half ended without further score, leaving the match at Tigers five, Bobcats three.

The Tigers kicked the ball to start the second half, which again saw play primarily in the middle of the field. After about ten minutes, a battle of defense and quick maneuvers honed in weeks of practice, second year Mechanical Engineering Technology major Liam Costelloe scored for RIT. Off to a strong lead, the Tigers stayed relentless. Then, as the end of the game approached, the Bobcats made a final strong push through some quick passing down the back line and into the try zone. After another successful conversion, the Bobcats nearly evened the score: Tigers 12, Bobcats 10. But even with this pressure now against them, the Tigers were not ready to give their inaugural game to the other team.

(from left to right) RIT’s Christian Blank , Tim Hogan, Nick Cazer, and Jason Jenkins get into position for a scrum (faceoff) during Saturday’s game against Paul Smith’s College.
Joshua Kuckens

RIT’s tenacity really showed through during scrumming — arguably one of the most energy-draining aspects of the game. A scrum consists of nine of one team’s players against a line of nine opponents. The first eight bind onto each other to offer the greatest resistance possible to the other team. The ball gets fed through the scrum by the feet of the players as both sides try to gain an edge and push the other team over. After the ball comes out of a scrum, the scrum half (the ninth player who participates in the scrum) takes the ball out and puts it back into play. The Tigers worked together to put every player’s power and focus into winning that ball. With perfect form, the men won many a scrum throughout the game, which was ultimately what scored them their final try against the Bobcats. The ball flew out of the scrum and found its way down the back line, eventually reaching fifth year Medical Studies and Philosophy major student James Brown who reined the ball in for the last try of the game. Final Score: Tigers 17, Bobcats 10.

But the best part of rugby is not just the feeling of victory, or the thrill of making that impossible tackle, but the social the home team hosts after the game is over. At the end of the match, both teams held a B-side game, featuring shorter halves and several newer players. Once this was over, the Tigers put out of pizza for all to enjoy. Both teams shared fun and laughs, almost as if a family had come together for the first time in years. The spirit and camaraderie that surrounds such an event is enough to make a crowd forget that minutes earlier these two sides were trying to pummel one another.

After many years of bad reputation and a struggle to get the team back, this men’s rugby squad sees their season — and their team — started with a great record. With a clean slate, they start from the beginning with a new team full of excited spirits ready and willing to give it their all for the thrill of rugby.