Women's Rugby

Apologies are usually for losers.

However, after her squad trounced Princeton, 48-0, Saturday in New-Jersey, Radcliffe Rugby Captain Louisa Meacham said she felt "a little embarassed" to be on the winning side.

Then again, may be not.

After dropping a tough 7-4 decision to Dartmouth last weekend, a loss which ended a three-season winning streak, the ruggers bounced back to whip the toothless Tigers into submission.

Meacham drove in five of Radcliffe's 10 tries and with the help of Victoria Hackett and Casandra Coe allowed Harvard to score almost at will. Freshman Heather Flewelling converted four kicks to add another eight points.

"The teams were really unevenly matched, there was nothing we could do but score," Meacham said. "Since it was such a far away game, we didn't bring subs so we couldn't put in a second string."

With the loss of about 10 seniors to graduation last June, the Princeton side suffered from inexperience and disorganization. "Because rugby isn't played in most high schools, it takes a while to build a team and graduation can really hurt you," Meacham said.

Despite the "very messy game", the visiting ruggers "didn't slack off and kept up our own level of play," Forward Captain Janet Bixby said.

A level of play high enough to earn Radcliffe a 5-1 record this season.

Bixby said that she "was impressed that they [the Tigers] never gave up During the second half, they got down past the 50-yard line a few times and had one or two chances to score."

She added that the game gave the Radcliffe team a chance to try some new things.

"The plays that worked at Princeton we'll try to use in our other games," Bixby said.

Next Saturday, the ruggers' A team will take on Boston University and the B team will play Brown.

There is no organized post-season or championship play in women's rugby. "Basically, all we have is our own record to stand on," said Meacham.

And with that in mind, Radcliffe's ruggers owe no apologies.