1. PennState Nittany Lions
HeadCoach: Blake Burdette
2015 Fall Record
In Conference Overall
6 – 1 8 – 2
2nd
Place,RugbyEast
CurrentD1A Top-TwentyRanking
#8
Players to Watch
MalcolmMay, Jr. Flanker/8 RugbyEast All-Conference Playerof the Year,2015
JimmyRonan,Jr. Scrum-half 1st
TeamAll-Conference,2015
Mike Eife,Sr. Wing 1st
TeamAll-Conference,2015 – Team Captain
Zach Barnes, Sr. Prop Honorable Mention All-Conference,2015
TylerMay, So. Wing Honorable Mention All-Conference,2015
KevinTrotter,So. Fullback Honorable MentionAll-Conference,2015
SelbyNiu,Sr. Center Team Captain
ThomasDel Pino,Jr. Fly-half TransferfromArmy-WestPoint,2x All-Conference selection
It isa toughpill toswallowwhenateamdefeatsitsconference leader inthe final weekof the season
and still endsupin2nd
place.That iswhat happenedtoPennState lastyearthough,andit isone of a
numberof reasonsthey are carrying a chip ontheirshoulderthrough2016.
Enteringhissecondfull yearatthe helmof the historicallysuccessful PSUprogram, headcoach,Blake
Burdette makesnomistake aboutthe team’s goals.Flatly,he states, “The standardhere istowinthe
conference.Ourfocus thisfall istobeat everyone whostandsinourway.”
Takinga quicklookat the club’srosterand itis easyto believe in them.WithsevenreturningAll-
Conference performersfrom2015, PennState isgoingto be veryformidable. MalcolmMay,inparticular
isa playerfansshould countonto leadwithfire thisfall.Afterhis 2015 Rugby East Playerof the Year
performance,the juniorhadlegitimateexpectationstobe named amongthe 2015-16 US College All-
Americans.Thataccolade wasnot to be, though.
Chipon Shoulder- earned.

2. AddingtoState’salreadystellarline-upisaveryintriguingtransferplayer,ThomasDel Pino. Army’s
twice All-Conference Fly-halfwillbe lookingtomake an impacton a squadalreadyawashintalent.With
the excellentleadershipin Mike Eife andSelbyNiu inplace, Burdette’sjobmayseemsimple toan
outsider. RugbyEastisneverthat,however. “We are playingverytoughcompetition.We know itwon’t
everbe easy,butwe want to playthe best,” saidthe coach.
That attitude of wantingtoplaythe bestisa theme throughout RugbyEastand it is a majorreasonfor
the conference’songoingsuccessinAmericanrugby. All of thataside,Burdetteisdoing worktokeep
the menfocusedonwhat’sin frontof them, insteadof onfuture datesthroughoutthe year. After
showingwell versus Queen’sUniversity,Ontario andPittinpre-conferencetests,the keymatch-upfor
the Burdette’ssquad isWestVirginiaonSept9th
.
There isno hidingit,PennState isBusinessFirst thisfall.There shouldbe manyagoodtime comingin
Happy Valley,butthissquadalsoprovidesplentyof reasonforfansto travel withthem.They’vegot
WestPoint(Oct.8th
) andKutztown(Nov.4th
) bothon the itinerarythisyear.Packyour blue andwhite
scarvesfor those matches. If all goesaccordingto plan,youwill wantto wave them.
Article &Artworkby Ryan J.Trost
Thisis AmericanRugby – RugbyEast