Three times a week, behind the tennis courts near the stadium, a Harvard team has been practicing with two thoughts in mind, winning its games and letting the University know that it exists. It is the Harvard Rugby Union Football Club and it wants support.

Rugby is American football without the rules. Fifteen players without the benefit of padding attempt to bring a sort of bloated football across their opponents' goal line. They can run with it, kick it, or pass it laterally or backward. If a man with the ball is tackled by an opponent he must drop it immediately, and both teams form a "scrum," that is, a circular pile of men attempting to kick the ball into their possession and kick their opposition away from the ball.

Scoring in rugby can be accomplished in three ways: the try, which is the equivalent of a touchdown and is worth three points; the penalty kick through a set of uprights, also worth three points; and a conversion kick after a try, worth two points. Rugby is a relatively low scoring game.

The Harvard club is a member of an organization of college and private club teams called the Eastern Rugby Union. The union awards no championship; its sole purpose is to facilitate the scheduling of games.

This spring the team plays a six game schedule. Its first match is at home on April 10 against the New York Rugby Club. Later in the season Harvard will meet teams representing Dartmouth, Brown, Yale, Amherst, and the Boston Rugby Club. But the team's lack of support here hurts its chances.

Coaches

At Brown, the college has supplied a coach for the team. Dartmouth has also provided a coach and in addition the team is well supported by an interested alumni association.

In contrast, the Harvard team is coached by the players. The funds for its playing tour in Bermuda over the vacation will come entirely from the pockets of the 16 players going.

This year's team is coached and captained by Gage McAfee. The president of the club is Pit Marshall. One of its more distinguished alumni is Senator Edward M. Kennedy '54 (D-Mass.). He participated in the spring seasons, foregoing the fall schedule for football.

The home games will be played on the field behind the tennis courts off Soldiers' Field Road. No admission is charged. The Boston Club match, which will be played in Boston, is a special one for charity.