Ruggers Fall to N.U.

Remember the Big Bad Wolf? He tried and he tried, but he couldn't blow the brick house down.

The Harvard Rugby Football Club ran into a similar obstacle Saturday in the opening round of the New England Championships at UMass/Amherst. The Crimson huffed and puffed--tried and tried--but fell one try short. And it was Northeastern, a bigger, badder team, that blew down the Crimson, 12-6.

Since winning the national championship during the 1983-'84 season, the Crimson has failed to advance past New Englands--the first-step toward national competition.

Harvard did bounce back to defeat Southern Connecticut, 16-11, in the consolation round.

Dartmouth defeated Northeastern, 26-14, in the finals to capture the tourney. Both squads qualifed for the Northeast regionals by making it to the final round.

Playing under New England Rugby Football Union Tournament rules, the Crimson and Huskies played 25-minute halves instead of the usual 40-minute halves, and the time reduction hurt a penalty-prone Harvard squad.

Harvard committed a season-high 20 penalties in the 50-minute contest, surrendering possession as well as field postion.

"You just can't win a game if you give up a penalty every two-and-a-half minutes," said Harvard Coach Martyn Kingston.

Harvard took a 3-0 lead on a penalty kick by fullback Nathan Koenig seven minutes into the contest. The Huskies retaliated seven minutes later with a try to take a 6-3 advantage into the half.

But the first 10 minutes of the second half proved fatal for the Crimson, as Northeastern converted two Harvard penalties to take a 12-3 lead.

Koenig kicked a second penalty kick to cut the lead to 12-6, but the ruggers were unable to dent the Huskie try zone in the final nine minutes. Penalties continually aborted Harvard scoring threats throughout the contest.

"We penalized ourselves to death," Crimson Co-Captain Lanny Thorndike said.

Harvard defeated Southern Connecticut despite playing seven of its "B"-side players. Scott Tierney scored twice to lead the Crimson.