Burly Ruggermen Face M.I.T., Mud; Scrum Will Control Season Opener

The Rugby Club opens its spring season on a muddy home field against M.I.T. at 4 p.m. today. Bolstered by a big and hard-pushing scrum, the Club faces a mediocre Tech squad in a mud match that should be decided by the forwards.

In Saturday's scrimmage and yesterday's practice the forwards were extraordinarily strong within the pack. They seemed to have mastered the wheel method for taking the ball, and they were packing very well in loose scrums. However, they were sluggish in following the backs. Veteran second-row man Mike Foley attributed this to pre-season inexperience and poor conditioning.

Because the ball will become heavy and slippery in the mud, there should be very few back movements and the ball will probably stay with the forwards. This will make for a close, rough, and slow moving game. The slime was deep enough yesterday for two ducks to take a few practice laps across the field.

The M.I.T. ruggermen have a fair scrum and somewhat stronger backs. They have played one game this spring, beating the Business School. After the 4 p.m. contest, there will be a game for the second teams.