M. Ruggers Crush Holy Cross, 22-4

The Harvard Rugby Football Club was the recepient of an involuntary athletic holiday last weekend, when stormy weather postponed the New England Tournament final in Providence.

But underneath clear skies Wednesday night in Providence, the Crimson went back to work in fine fashion. Harvard drowned Holy Cross, 22-4, to earn its second tourney title of the spring.

The Crusaders, a Metro-Boston foe, has never posed a threat to Harvard. In league play last fall, the Crimson crushed Holy Cross, 26-9.

The final played true to form, with Harvard grabbing an early lead and never letting the Crusaders back in the match. Two penalty kicks by Andrew Pinkerton started the barrage, vaulting Harvard to a 6-0 lead.

Utilizing a plethora of passes, the Crimson doubled that lead before the end of the half. All-East Harvard senior Brendan Walsh tallied a try at the end of a long sequence of Crimson pitches. Pinkerton's conversion capped off the first-stanza scoring.

The only negative note at the intermission was Pinkerton's injury. The sophomore aggravated the wrist that he originally hurt last Saturday, and is questionable for this Saturday's Beanpot Tournament.

When the rout continued, Harvard rattled off another 10 points before the Crusaders avoided the whitewash with a final-play weak-side try.

The Cambridge squad's opening second-half points came on a rare pushover try. Bulling the Holy Cross forwards back over their own goal line, the Crimson forwards destroyed the Crusaders' scrum. Scrum half Andy Howard actually notched the points, although the credit must go to the oft-outsized Harvard forwards.

"Our forwards did really well," sophomore Lauren Rose said. "Usually its our backs who carry us."

Senior Don Green replaced Pinkerton, and filled in admirably. But the team's other kickers, Rob Santos and Rich Winekur, were not playing Wednesday, and Green missed the conversion.

That slight mishap did not slow the express at all, as the Crimson almost tallied another pushover try minutes later. The Crusaders' scrum half jumped offside intentionally, though, hoping for a penalty.

Instead, the referee granted the Crimson a penalty try, for another four points and an imposing 20-0 lead.

"Eight [forwards] working as one are always better than eight guys on their own," Back Captain Jim Barker explained.

Rose, trying to replace Pinkerton's foot, converted his first-ever conversion kick to close out the Harvard scoring.

Home Cooking

With the Ivy and New England titles wrapped up, Harvard looks for the hat trick in the Rugby Beanpot at Soldiers Field Park this Saturday. Because of field repairs, this tourney will be the Crimson's only home games of the entire year.

Harvard, losers to Northeastern in last year's finals, clashes with Boston University in the 11:30 a.m. semifinal. The Crimson fell twice to the Terriers last fall--14-10 in the league match, and 25-19, in triple overtime, in the New England Tournament.

The spring looks more promising, however. B.U.'s fall squad was mostly seniors, and injuries have opened gaps in the shallow Terriers' lineup. B.U. fell to Holy Cross Saturday in the New England Tourney.

The Crimson has also beaten the other crosstown squads, although each victory was last fall. Harvard overcame Boston College, 25-9, and defeated the Huskies, 26-12.