To kick off their season, students on the university Rugby Club team faced off against alumni as a way of practice.

The scrimmage took place on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 1 p.m. on the North Oak Park Soccer Field. The university team played against a team comprised mostly of alumni. A couple of students alternated teams throughout the match to equalize the amount of players on each team. Since the game was a scrimmage match, an official score was not kept.

Cole Stevens, a senior eighthman, explained how this first match was a great learning experience for the team.

“All of these old guys, they’ve played for years,” said Stevens. “They’ve got tons of experience to share with us. They can see all the mistakes we’re making and help us out.”

Cody Downs, a junior forward, was on the team last year, but this was his first rugby match to be a part of.

“I’ve played football my whole life, but this is a whole new experience,” shared Downs. “For the most part, I loved it – contact sports are pretty much the same thing. Rules are a little different, but overall, I loved it.”

According to Downs, one of the team’s advantages going into the season is having fast guys as well as larger guys to balance the team’s performance.

Stevens shared his thoughts about looking forward to the remainder of the season.

“We’ve definitely got to communicate a little better,” said Stevens. “We’ve got a lot of new guys on the team this year. A lot of them have never played rugby before, so they just need to learn the game.”

The Rugby Club’s next game will be held on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. on the North Oak Park Soccer Field.