Sluggish Ruggers Crossed Out

With only two days of preparation for its spring season opener, the Harvard men's rugby club's offensive attach was expected to be sluggish. And it was.

The ruggers were shut out, 4-0, by Holy Cross yesterday afternoon at Soldiers Field in front of more than fans.

The Crimson forward pack, a position similar to the offensive line in American football, was repeatedly pushed off the line in loose ball situations and was unable to maintain possession of the ball.

"It [the forward pack] hasn't been together very long," Co-Captain Scott Roberts said. "We had some good moments, but not enough."

The forwards' inability to maintain possession of the ball resulted in a lack of opportunities for Harvard's speedy backs to get into the open field.

Except for a few exciting runs by sophomore Mike Gibbs, senior Rob Leavitt and junior Chris North, the Crimson attack was bottled up most of the afternoon.

The only points of the game came midway through the first half on a try (the equivalent of a touchdown in football) by the Crusaders' Ted Graney.

From the Harvard goal line, Graney faked a pitch to a teammate and dove into the endzone for the four points.

In the second half, Harvard continually defended its goal line, coming within scoring range of the Crusader goal line only once.

"It's a first step for us toward the tour," club President Bruce Rossow said, referring to the squad's eight-day spring break trip to the Bahamas. "It mattered, but it's not important. We just needed action before the tour."

"The game is more or less a starting point for us," Roberts said. "It's a little disappointing to lose, but we have only been out for a couple of days."

Forty members of the club will be departing for the tour tomorrow morning. The club will play three games in eight days over the break.