Ruggers Demolish Dartmouth; Balanced Attack Prevails, 32-0

HANOVER, N.H.--It was the Harvard rugby club's biggest game of the season. It was Dartmouth, which takes its rugby very seriously. It was here in Hanover, where the Crimson has trouble winning in any sport. The Crimson ruggers rose to the occasion and, in the words of wing Alec Montgomery, "blew their doors out."

Harvard tallied five tries and dominated throughout the game on the way to a 32-0 rout of the Big Green team of students and alumni in Saturday morning's rain at Sachem Field. In an attempt to insure victory, at least four Dartmouth graduates substituted for regular starters with less experience. Leading scorer Charlie Bott said, "Their plan backfired. They were talented individually, but did not play well as a team. When they fell behind, they fell apart."

There was nothing Dartmouth could have done to stop the psyched-up Harvard squad. Living up to its motto, "We are a machine," the team played its best game of the season against the strong and much publicized Big Green, raising its record to 5-0.

From the start, the game was physical, featuring hard hitting and aggressive loose ball play. The well-kept but sleek, regulation sized field, which Dartmouth resodded over the summer (and left untouched until Saturday), enabled the backs to run outside, opening up the action.

10-0 Lead

After two Bott field goals, Greg "Animal" Carey broke through the Dartmouth line deep in Big Green territory, grabbed the loose ball, and lateralled to Montgomery, who raced over the endline to give Harvard a 10-0 halftime lead.

Then the rain came... and kept coming. In virtual monsoon conditions, Montgomery tallied his second try by kicking the ball through the sliding defenders and over the endline, and pouncing on it.

The showers let up with 20 minutes remaining, but the Crimson was just starting. Roy Roberts powered in from 15 yards, Ed Thompkins intercepted an errant pass on the five, and Bott streaked 30 yards down the sidelines, for Harvard's final three tries.