It took the entire first half for the rugby A team to realize that it was playing a match rather than having its first outdoor practice of the season. But the squad woke up from a 6-4 halftime deficit to outhit Columbia on the way to an 11-6 victory at New York Saturday.

"It just took a half to get it together, get used to hitting," co-captain Mike DeMatteo said yesterday. This season the rugby club has been limited to poorly attended indoor workouts in Carey Cage because of the late snow and lack of playing fields.

The aggressive play of the forward line seemed to turn the game around. Forward captain Bob Wilsterman said yesterday that in the first half the forwards "were dogging it." But, after halftime, they were getting to the loose ball when the backs were tackled, he said.

Hard Hits

"We gave them some hard hits, which was pretty important psychologically," Wilsterman added.

Wing forward Carl Esterhay set up the winning tri (worth 4 points) scored by Walter Herbert. Moving from a scrum, Esterhay intercepted a pass in the Columbia back line leading to the scoring drive. Jim Durham rounded out the Harvard scoring with a 3 point field goal.

Sal D'Agostino, also a wing forward, and back Hank Lauricella played strong games for the Crimson. D'Agostino, who is in shape from wrestling, scored Harvard's first goal and seemed to be all over the field.

Backline Standout

Lauricella was the backline standout. In the last few minutes of the match, Columbia constantly pushed for a tri and winning 2-point conversion, but Lauricella broke up several scoring opportunities.

Later in the afternoon the Harvard B team was unable to get things together in either the first or second half, and lost 14-8. The Crimson attack was usually disorganized, due to lack of practice. The team was thrown together at the last minute.

Jim Skinner and Tony Green chalked up tris accounting for Harvard's 8 points.

The rugby squad now heads south to Bermuda for a week of warm weather outdoor practice and game experience. It opens at home on Saturday, April 10, in a match against City College of London.