Ruggers Slash Huskies, 24-6

In rugby lingo, the play is called a scissors switch. In football talk, it's called a reverse.

As the saying goes, a rose smells sweet no matter what the name.

The scissors switch was the first blow the Harvard Rugby Football Club landed in its 24-6 victory over Northeastern last weekend.

Chris Liles ignited the play with some fancy ballhandling from about 40 meters. Running toward the left sideline, Liles handed the ball off to Co-Captain Scott Tierney, running right and crossing in front of Liles.

Tierney took the handoff and cruised 30 meters through the overcommitted Northeastern defense for the try.

The score, which followed a pair of penalty kicks by Liles, put the Crimson up, 12-0, at the half.

"Everything we wanted to do, we did," Tierney said. "We were still weary of them at the half since they have played us tough in the past."

Liles, who kicked four penalty kicks on the day, nailed two more at the beginning of the second half to give Harvard a commanding 18-0 advantage.

Seniors Mark Sagarin and Jake Hill then combined for a try to douse any hopes of a Huskie comeback. With about 15 minutes remaining in the contest, Hill was about to be knocked out of bounds after a 20-yard run.

But instead of just going out of bounds, he suddenly kicked the ball high in the air. The Crimson ruggers pursued the ball to the Northeastern goalline and forced the Huskies to set up a scrummage.

Sagarin burst through the line, ripped the ball out of the hands of a Huskie and fell across the goalline for the score.

"That was one of the better plays of the game," Tierney said. "Instead of killing the ball, Jake got it out and kept the play alive. And the pack got down the field in the hurry and just pushed them back."