Shedding an Image: Emptying the Kegs

The Harvard ruggers are like Rodney Dangerfield--they don't get no respect.

And much like the great unrespected one, the ruggers are trying to change their image.

The clubs current attempt for varsity status is one attempt to change its sing-song, beer-guzzling, no-holds-barred image.

The poor image may have been deserved in past years, team members admit. Drinking was one of the club's time-honored traditions. Beer-kegs often dotted the sidelines, and time-outs became turned from time to talk strategy to Miller Time.

But under Coach Martyn Kingston, the club has been trying to change its tarnished image. First of all, Kingston barred the infamous kegs from the field.

"There is no drinking on the field," Kingston said, "and as a result, it's given the sport a bit of seriousness."

Up and Coming

The stoppage of the drinking tradition isn't the only way the club is trying to improve its image. Before the season, the club held its first-ever pre-season, practice, with more than 40 ruggers participating.

"I couldn't ask for more as a coach," Kingston said. "It says a lot about the team, being a club and willing to cut into their summer time. There must be something in the sport, other than just an excuse for [drinking] beer."

The tarnished view, Kingston said, is due to a fraternity-rugby team conception of the sport. "The image of these few wild kids gets branded against all rugby," Kingston said.

One way the Harvard team wants to fight this is by gaining varsity standing, a move it feels would give it credibility in the Harvard community.

"Varsity status would give rugby the credibility it lacks," Co-Captain Scott Roberts said, "and we would be able to attract better athletes."

Better athletes such as soccer star and former rugger John Catliff, who once spent his spring seasons at Harvard toiling for the rugby team.

Despite Catliff's fame on the soccer field, Kingston is sure he could perform the same brand of magic on the rugby field.

"He could be a better rugby player than he is a soccer player," Kingston said of Catliff. "He added another dimension defensively to the position he played. His skills could have propelled him into international rugby."

As he did in the recent drive to the national semifinals by the Harvard soccer team, Catliff spurred the rugby team's 1984 national championship campaign. Then a sophomore, Catliff was named MVP of the New England rugby union, the National Rugby Tournament, and earned a spot on the Rugby All-American team.

"But he's got no reason to play rugby," Kingston said. "Its not a varsity, and there's no recognition in it."