Men's Rugby: Crimson run in fear from Nationals-bound 'Dogs

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Scrum half Sunil Patel, PC '01, and the rest of the Bulldogs will have to wait until April to crush Harvard.

Several members of Yale's team suggested that the Cantabs had intentionally found a way out of this weekend's contest to avoid facing a resurgent Yale squad seeking vengeance for last year's home loss to the Crimson. Flanker Pete Groves, ES '99, called the suspension "convenient. It would be an understatement to say that Harvard got lucky," Groves said.

The true story behind Harvard's absence puts the team in an equally shameful light. Several weeks ago, a group of Harvard rugby players got trashed and decided to urinate on the Harvard gymnasium while, intelligently enough, wearing their rugby jackets. The JV women's softball coach caught the players and reported their spontaneous burst of team pride, which resulted in the Harvard administration suspending the entire team.

Yale would be heading into the game coming off a stellar victory at the Northeast Regionals. The team captured the title with a 22-20 victory over New York State Champion St. Bonaventure on Sun., Nov. 15. The win secured the club a spot in the eight-team Division II national tournament in May. The players are confident heading into Nationals. "I expect to win," captain Corey Lee, TD '00, said. Groves agreed with that opinion, and he also has high expectations for the rest of the spring season, which includes a March tour of Spain and the Ivy League tournament in May. Groves added, "We're on a roll, and we're going to roll through the Ivy tournament this spring, we're going to roll through our tour of Spain, and we're going to win at Nationals."

--Sara Sani

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