New London County Rugby Football Club

New London Start the Season in Full Stride with a Victory Over The Harvard Business School

            Boston, MA- With not a cloud in the sky, and the temperature hovering around perfect, The New London County Rugby Football Club defeated The Harvard Business School, with an unprecedented 31-0 margin

            New London took the field only to find themselves slightly surprised when they found out they were playing on an artificial turf field with no goal posts, and more painted lines than a brand new parking lot. Needless to say, New London County, a team with a winning and professional history took the field and got right into their playmaking ability. 

            Within the first few minutes, New London quickly made their presences known.  With huge hits, and powerful runs, New London seemed to attack from all angles, but couldn’t find the try zone.

            Halfway through the first half, New London found themselves protecting their side of the field, but with a missed opportunity for Harvard, New London’s Fly Half, Tim Johnson, delivered a punishing kick out of bounds, but deep into Harvard’s half of the field.  When both teams went up for the lineout, New London’s Chris Key was able to steal the ball from Harvard’s line, giving New London control of the ball, and in a prime area for a real legitimate scoring threat.   With New London’s back line completely in sync, New London’s Inside Center, Eric Booth, punched through three Harvard defenders, and touched the ball down for their first score of the game.  With the converted kick by Johnson, New London was on top with a 7-0 margin.

            After the first try, New London captured the momentum and never lost it.  When they received the kick after their first score, New London got right back into Harvard’s try area.  New London was unfortunately called on a forward pass which gave a Harvard a scrum in their favor.   With New London’s strong and fast scrum fully charged, New London managed to steal the scrum. New London’s Flanker, Ken Laverty, received the ball on the turnover and charged towards the try zone. Slamming through a pair of unfortunate Harvard players, Laverty put the ball down for the score giving New London another five points.

            New London’s two scores midway through the first half seemed to become the popular theme of the game.  New London’s smash mouth style of play started to become too much for Harvard, and with the ball continuously in their possession, Harvard had very little time, and patience, to setup any legitimate scoring threats. 

            New London scored near the end of the half, when their Eight-Man, Nate Stewart, wrapped around the end of the scrum on a pickup and sprinted his way into the try zone.  New London ended the half with a seventeen point advantage. 

            At the start of the second half, it was apparent that New London’s fitness and overall athleticism was going to keep them in the front running for the victory in this game.  New London’s ability to play the ball throughout their whole back line, and their ability to stay focused on their scrums and rucks, gave them a relatively easy path marching up the field to get into a scoring rhythm.  With an off -sides call going against Harvard, New London’s Scrum-Half, Liam Scott, saw an easy opportunity to Superman dive his way into the try zone.  With the score, and the converted kick by Johnson, New London was now leading by a score of 24-0.

            New London’s final score came from their Outside Center, Louis Zubek, who broke a tackle at the half line, and then did his best Usain Bolt impression, beating a handful of Harvard defenders to the try zone.  With the converted kick by Johnson, New London was ahead 31-0. 

            The game was called 10 minutes early due to an injury to one of the Harvard players.  The player had to taken off the field by an ambulance, but according to confirmed reports from other Harvard players, the injured player appeared to be a little dazed, but overall fine.

            Postgame festivities were enjoyed at Tommy Doyle’s in Harvard Square, where New London’s Inside Center, Eric Booth, was named “Man of the Match.”  New London continues their season this weekend, when they face Seacoast in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 6:51 pm and is filed under Matches. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.