Crimson Ruggers Drop Pair; Fall to Williams, Dartmouth

The Harvard rugby squad lost twice over the weekend, 12-9 to Williams Friday at Smith, and 14-0 to Dartmouth Sunday in the Fifth Annual Charles River Cup match in Braintree.

Smith? Smith, of all places? Well, it seems that every spring Smith invites four rugby teams to Northampton, offering free room and board, entertainment, and lots of beer--reportedly 27 kegs-- as an incentive to make the long trip west for the Smith Rugby Weekend.

The Crimson stepped out of their cars and on to the field against Williams, but they forgot to decelerate, and the first half found our big-city ruggers running roughshod over the backwoods Ephmen

Early in the match Richle Sherman went over for a try on a continous play, and Dave Albala made good on a difficult conversion from far to the side, making it 6-0.

Harvard kept its momentum, controlling the scrum, line-outs, and field position, and notched another score as Albala's penalty kick put it at 9-0.

But steam ran out for our men; late in the half, Williams rammed across a try, made good the conversion, and cut the Crimson lead to 9-6.

For the Crimson, the second half is best left forgotten. Williams put the clamps on the Harvard offense, and chipped across two penalty kicks, putting the score at 12-9 and making the Crimson losers--at least on the field.

Sunday afternoon found our weekend-worn ruggers in Braintree to battle Dartmouth for the Charles River Cup, in a game sponsored by the Charles River Dartmouth Club. The Crimson was seeing green, for the crowd, almost without exception, was clad in that distinctive Hanoverian shade. Those Greenies were so confident of victory that they had already engraved the cup, "Dartmouth 1977." Alas, they were correct.

Disorganized from the weekend's traveling, Harvard was lacking many of its best players--they just managed to complete a side--but refused to concede Dartmouth their already engraved victory.

But Dartmouth bloodlust was too much for the Crimson--the Greenies punched across a try late in the half, and in the second half added ten more points.