For the first-year players at Grand Canyon, their team's launch into D1A in 2018 is only the beginning.

This week, GCU defeated UC Davis 45-14 on the road and started a small number of freshmen, including our Freshman of the Week, Drew Rubado.

The former West Valley Ram out of Oregon was thrust into a starting role at prop and performed brilliantly against the Aggies on Wednesday.

Continuing with intros of our incoming 2017-2018 recruiting class, GCU welcomes Oregon All-Stars prop, Drew Rubado from McMinnville, OR. pic.twitter.com/jnWtAxg6sP

— GCU Rugby (@gcurugby) June 1, 2017

"It's a really hard position to play in college rugby coming in as a freshman," Grand Canyon head coach Cameron Wyper said. "You've got the change from the U19 scrum rules to the rules in college. But Drew's a really good scrummager, and he's helping us get better."

In addition, Rubado has shown excellent mobility and open-field skills.

"He is good around the park," Wyper said. "He makes his tackles and gets to the breakdown. He's just been a really good addition for us."