The Program Lives On

25816, Rico Spiller, visited RMC Men’s Rugby in Ottawa in an exhibition match against Carleton University on 30 August 2026. He provides his reflections on brotherhood, preparation and the meaning RMC Men’s Rugby.

Watching RMC Men’s Rugby take the field against Carleton University this past weekend was a reminder that the effort behind the men on the team extends well beyond the eighty minutes played on the field. You train together, study together, practice together, and ultimately fight alongside one another when the whistle blows. There is a particular brotherhood that comes from combining military service with playing a sport where everyone is expected to have the man beside him’s back. Some of those battles are fought during the match; others are fought through injury, recovery, and the determination to get back on the field for your teammates. Perhaps the best example came after the match, when I watched two players carry an injured teammate with a badly damaged ankle through the handshake line so that he could still shake the hands of the opposition. It was a small moment, but it said almost everything about what being part of the team means.

Around the field were families of new first-years, parents of returning players, and alumni now coming back with families of their own. John Reiffenstein, Matt Courtney, and, of course, Sean McDonaugh, now sporting the silver, almost white hair of a distinguished fox rather than the chestnut No. 42 many of us remember, remain part of a leadership group tasked with teaching something larger than rugby. The lessons are about commitment, accountability, resilience, and ultimately what it means to represent the flag worn on your shoulder. Rugby provides the proving ground, but the objective has always been bigger: developing young men who understand that their performance matters because others are depending on them.

As an alumni from 2013, it was tremendous to see that “the program” lives on and that there remains a place at the table for everyone willing to give their all to it. A spot in the First XV is coveted because of what it represents. Behind those fifteen jerseys are countless hours of physical preparation, study, recovery, competition, and sacrifice that are difficult to quantify from the sideline. The individual effort matters, but it is the collective willingness to prepare for one another that makes the brotherhood endure. As the team prepares to begin another season, remember that there are two types of pain: the pain of preparation and the pain of regret. Choose preparation.

Good luck this season.
Rico Spiller #25816 – Class of 2013