Proving that their second-place national ranking last year was no fluke, the Harvard rugby team traveled to Princeton and captured its second victory of the season this weekend with a convincing 15-6 win over the Tigers. The triumph solidified the ruggers' number-one ranking in the East.
The last time the teams met, Harvard eked out a last-minute, come-from-behind 12-11 triumph in the quarter-finals of last year's Eastern Championships. That win launched the Crimson ruggers to victories over perennial national powers Army and Navy, and then into the semifinals of the National Championships.
With a large crowd cheering them on, the Tigers came out Saturday hungry for revenge. They scored the first points of the contest when Harvard captain A1 "Doc" Halliday tapped the ball over the head of the Crimson scrum, and an opportunistic Princeton player dove on the ball to score a try.
That score woke up the Crimson, who had thus far looked tired and uninspired. They began making crisp passes and evened the score when winger Alec Montgomery passed to Charles W.A. Bott for the try. Bott added the conversion and the score was tied at six at the half.
In the second half, the Crimson regained the form which won them 23 straight games last year. After Bott scored a penalty kick, Greg "Animal" Carey gathered up a side-out, burst through the line, and handed off to Bott just before being tackled. The ubiquitous Bott carried the ball in for the try and then scored the conversion--thus accounting for all of Harvard's points.
The Crimson ruggers also swept through Princeton's B and C squads. The B side won 3-0, and the C side added a 12-0 thrashing.
All three squads triumphed against McGill last Saturday. The A team, led by Bott's 17 points, won 21-3. Bott seems to be picking up right where he left off last season, when he led the team in scoring.
Ten of the 15 starters on that team are back this year, and so is senior Gary Marx.
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