Penn State Rugby began in the fall of 1962 when New Zealand grad student Ivan Jackson and a young research associate, Pat Denny from England, met and bemoaned the lack of any sort of team field game at Penn State. Through personal contact and a notice in the hub 20-30 "players" showed up to the first practice on a field by the White Golf Course.

    The first game was played on October 13, 1962, a home match against eastern powerhouse Villanova. Penn State lost 35-3 but improved rapidly to win the next game against St. Joseph's and completed their first season with 2 wins and three losses. The schedule for that first season follows:

October 13	Villanova	Home	3-35 (L)
October 21	St. Joseph's	Home	6-0 (W)
October 23	Baltimore	Home	Cancelled
November 3	Temple	Away	0-14 (L)
November 11	Cornell	Away	0-16 (W)
November 17	Penn	Away	9-0 (L)

Members of the original Penn State team, in addition to Ivan and Pat, included Al Jones, Ed Kabala, Gerry Norman (also coach and faculty advisor), Bill Shoproski, and Mike Creswell.

Other important dates of the inaugural season were:

10.7.62	Penn State becomes an affiliated member of the ERU
11.27.62	Officials elected and constitution drawn up
2.21.63	Penn State Rugby becomes an official student organization

The Pennsylvania State University Rugby Football Club has achieved great heights in the sport since its founding in 1962. As one of the country's premier rugby powerhouses, Penn State has appeared in the National Collegiate Rugby Final Four, 9 times since 1989. Advancing to the championship game four times since 1996. The Nittany Lions boast many former All-American's, U.S. National Team members (The Eagles), and U-19 National Team members.