Women’s Rugby Continues Streak With A Confident Win Against Brown

The Crimson (3-0) dominated Brown (0-3) in the team’s third game of the season — defeating its first Ivy opponent 47-8.

Coming off an impressive 26–7 victory over Lindenwood — a newcomer to the conference but historically one of the top rugby programs in the country — Harvard came into the weekend hoping to carry that momentum into its next matchup.

The Bears, who lost their first two opening games, gave the Crimson ample opportunity to impress before a large, fired-up crowd gathered for Alumni Weekend.

Harvard started with some rotations in its lineup, with senior forward Amber Van Meines logging her first start for the Crimson. This lineup showcased some of the talent recruited to Harvard this fall, but also featured new players who have often never played the sport — a sign of the team’s continued commitment to training up new talent.

As the game kicked off, an early foul by the Crimson in its defensive third led to Brown taking a quick lead only a few minutes into the game. This was short-lived, though, with Harvard responding quickly with junior forward Courtney Taylor getting the try and junior scrum-half Ava Ference converting to put the team ahead 7–3.

Freshman Madelyn Hubbell built on this quick response and drove the ball across the line for her first career try. As the Crimson lead began to open up, Van Meines got the ball between the posts in a scramble. Ference went three for three on her conversions, continuing to pull Harvard ahead.

Despite having notched her first career try in 15s, Van Meines emphasized that the offensive contributions were coming from across the field.

“A lot of the tries this game were scored by the forwards which are always group efforts,” Van Meines said, specifically citing help from Taylor and Ference.

The attacking momentum continued through the first half, with the seniors able to lead the team into the half 33–3 off of tries from captain Charlotte Gilmour and wing Lennox London.

The play in the start of the second half was more evenly matched, with possession going in both directions and many turnovers from each team. Fifteen minutes went by without a try until the Bears found a way to break the deadlock against a resilient Harvard defense.

The game continued to go both ways with the Crimson putting in big tackles across the field to maintain its comfortable lead.

Harvard finally found a breakthrough with an explosive play beginning with London, connecting through junior flyhalf Maya Hilger, and leading to a drive from junior Ava Giguere taking yards into the heart of the Bears’ defensive third.

This territory again energised Harvard as the team pushed towards the try line with sophomore Neasa Mclauglin getting the team’s first try of the half with 10 minutes to go, nullifying any hope for Brown, with the score sitting at 40–8.

The Crimson wasn’t done yet — a late burst from freshman wing Sana’a Lunon, who has had a standout start to the season, saw her again charging down the wing to pull Harvard even further ahead. Senior fullback Skylar Jordan scored her second conversion of the game to seal the victory for the Crimson with a resounding win of 47–8.

The team will look to continue this winning streak as it heads on the road for the first time this season next weekend to face Army in West Point, New York.

– Staff Writer Rhiannon Stewart can be reached at rhiannon.stewart@thecrimson.com.