M. Rugby Trounces Terriers, 38-0, 14-3

The Harvard men's rugby team has conquered Beantown and instilled fear in the hearts of its adversaries.

The Crimson's A and B rugby teams delivered 38-0 and 14-3 drubbings, respectively, to cross-town rival Boston University last Sunday at Franklin Field.

The Terriers met the same fate as other Boston opponents have earlier this season--Boston College lost 38-0 and 17-4, Northeastern 76-0 and 32-0 and Holy Cross 36-15 and 10-0.

With the win against the Terriers last weekend, the Crimson officially became the Metro-Bowl champions and reserved a first-place ranking for itself this weekend in the upcoming New England Championship.

The A team amassed 32 points against B.U. with help from Lauren Rose, Chris Bell and Andy Parmet, who each scored a try, and Julio Depietro who contributed two tries to the romp. Three penalties, a drop-goal and two conversions constituted the other 16 points in the game.

Britt Stephens made his presence known early as a loose forward and dominated the line out throughout the game. Prop Chris Geary faced off against Terriers' veteran Rob Getneu, but handled him decisively. Crimson wing-forward Dave Houston led the defensive surge against B.U. with his overpowering tackles and speed.

"It was a big game for us," Co-Captain Soren Oberg said. "We came out really quick. The forwards and backs played a good game in the first half. Andrew Pinkerton, a flyhalf, had a great game. He made crucial penalty kicks. Andrew Howard, a scrum one-half, also had a strong game."

"B.U. didn't threaten to score in the game," Pinkerton added. "Their closest threat was a scrum 22 meters out from our try-zone."

The B team did not let the A team monopolize the spoils of victory. It followed the A team's thrashing of B.U. with a decisive 14-3 victory of its own.

Nick Seaver and Max Koh combined for a try each and Rich Winakur notched a try and a conversion.

"Our front row dominated the scrums," Harvard Coach Al Parker said. "Our second row dominated the lineouts. Our back row dominated the lineouts. Through these three systems, plenty of balls were passed to our backs, who are the best in the league."

"B.U.'s team is a brand new team for me," said B.U. Coach Martyn Kingston, who coached Harvard for the past nine seasons. "The big difference between the two teams is the experience level. At Harvard, the first fifteen have played in half a dozen important games. B.U. has only about two players with the same amount of experience. Harvard should go very far as a team."

Bring 'Em On

The next challenge ahead for the Crimson will be the New England Championships, held in Worchester this weekend. Harvard opens the tourney against eight-seed Amherst College. Harvard, seeded first in the tournament, is followed by Brown, Dartmouth, UConn, UMass, B.U. and B.C.

"One of our strengths is definitely the experience of our players," Co-Captain Jim Barker said. "One of our weaknesses is the fact that we have not played any close games. In that situation when you do not have to work closely as a team, you get into the bad habit of every individual doing a little too much. We have to learn to work as fifteen players of one team instead of as fifteen individuals."