Princeton Offs Crimson Ruggers, 28-3 Powerful Tiger Backs Control Game

Princeton's hard hitting rugby club relied on a dominating performance of its backs, as the Tigers destroyed Harvard, 28-3, last Saturday at Princeton.

The Crimson stayed in contention until midway through the second half when Princeton, leading 16-3, scored its third try as a Tiger forward grabbed a Joose ball on Harvard's seven-yard line and bulldozed through a pack of Crimson defenders.

This play seemed to deflate Harvard, as the Crimson's attack was half-hearted the rest of the contest.

"That really broke our back," scrumlock and team treasurer Tom McKinley said. "We were hoping to capitalize on our opportunities in the second half, but that try really did it to us--it was probably the key play of the game."

Harvard did have many chances to core, but blew eight of them in the game. The Crimson's performance was also marred by an inability to handle the multiple strengths of Princeton's versatile backs.

"Their backs were good," McKinley said. "They were big, fast, strong, and they kicked the ball really well. They got a lot of two on ones against our backs and broke through our back line several times. We had a hard time tackling them, too, which was a combination of poor tackling by our backs and poor support from the forwards. Their backs are just real sound players, and they're been Princeton's key to success, not only this year, but in the past, also."

The Tigers were also physically superior to Harvard, both in stamina and aggressiveness.

"After the middle of the second half when they scored that demoralizing try, they (Princeton) just started to wear us down -- the whole game was very fast paced, and they were in better shape than we were," McKinley explained. "And their hitting was solid, too. They were sticking -- there's no doubt about that."

The Crimson escaped with only one injury, a slight brain concussion to prop Tom Lapinski in the second half. Lapinski returned to play in the final minutes of the game, however, and won't miss any future action.

Princeton's tries came with 30 minutes, 25 minutes, and 0 seconds respectively left in the first half, and 15 and 5 minutes respectively left in the final half.

The Crimson's lone score was a perfect 35-yard penalty kick by Adrian Tew, Harvard's outstanding performer against the Tigers, which came after Princeton's second first period try.

McKinley summed up the story of the game: "We just got beat by a good team," he said.