Ruggers Hold Off Yale, 19-15; Great Defense Saves Harvard

Great goal-line defense five times prevented the Elis from scoring from the one-meter line in the final minutes of Saturday morning's Harvard-Yale rugby match, preserving a 19-15 Crimson victory.

With approximately 10 minutes to go, the Crimson scored a breakaway try. A high kick by fly half John Beilenson was fumbled by a Yale back, and Gus Spanos cleverly set up the touch by Jim Rubin.

The Elis marched back down the field but the Crimson line held at its own goal. According to Harvard Coach Martyn Kingston, this was even more remarkable, because the Crimson was down a player. (One of Harvard's biggest scrum players, Keith Cooper, had been ejected for fighting earlier in the context.)

The Yale coach said after the game that Harvard was, "The most gutsy college team anyone's seen." If the Crimson did not play a technically strong game, it came through in the clutch to stop the Elis.

Harvard ends its fall season with an 8-2 record. The two losses were to Boston University in a showdown for the New England title, and to McGill in the snow in Montreal.

The Crimson has earned a wild card berth in the Eastern championships. A March victory over UMass, a pernnial Harvard rival, would send the Cantabs to the Eastern final four. Also on tap for 1983 is a spring break trip to Brazil for a series of matches.