Men's Rugby

While 40,000 others had The Game on their minds Saturday, 22 Harvard and Yale men were pondering an older, and sometimes more intense rivalry.

The Crimson and Bulldog rugby clubs faced off to decide bragging rights to the rugby part of the ancient rivalry.

And in the season finale for both squads, Harvard prevailed, 21-6.

But Yale, heading into the strong Soldier's Field winds in the first half, surprised its hosts by scoring first to forge ahead, 3-0.

Harvard came storming back when Bill Gump scooped up a fumbled ball and thundered in for a score.

The teams played to a standoff for the rest of the half, with the Crimson emerging on top, 7-6.

The second half story was the domination of man over nature.

Now heading into the fierce gusts, Harvard tallied early when Gus Grant scored a try off of a five-meter scrum.

Those points set the tone for the rest of the match.

Grant scored another try and Mark Bamford added two tries of his own to go along with three penalty kicks as the host forwards controlled play during the entire second half.

When the final whistle of this final game blew, Harvard--7-2 for the year--was on top, 21-6.

For the reigning national champions, it was "a good way to end the season," said junior John Kennedy, whose hit on a Yalie knocked the ball loose to set up Gump's score.

A midseason loss to Dartmouth denied the Crimson a chance to advance to tournament play and defend its title. The Big Green will be the northeast division's vole representative in the national playoffs.

Kennedy summed Saturday's season finale as a victory of brains over brawn: "They were big, but we had a lot more skill."

Grant echoed that theme: "We had the wind in the first half and didn't take advantage of it, but then we turned it on in the second half and outclassed them."