Lots of off season gym work paid dividends for HBS rugby as the squad came out bigger and faster than ever before in its season opening scrimmage against MIT. The old saying “if you can’t run with the big dogs, stay on the other side of the Smoot bridge” held true once again as HBS delivered more than a bark. No less than three MIT players were carried off the field on stretchers, courtesy of clean but hard hitting from the HBS front line (all were taken to local medical centers and released). This created over an hour of injury delays, and it resulted in the MIT team playing ‘hot potato’ with the rugby ball as HBS closed in for more bone crushing tackles. As one bystander commented, “they have a pretty badass team here including former Navy Seals, Special Forces, Marines, Army Rangers, Air Force Pilots, and Intelligence Officers. The HBS rugby team has everything you need to demolish a country… I would not want to get in their way.” Leading the charge was open-side flanker Warren Anderson who walked off the field during one game delay to report that he “kept hearing crunching sounds every time he tackled MIT players.” These sounds were confirmed by the large crowd that flocked out to see the team compete under the bright fall sun.

Team captain Chris Cowan was upbeat after the game, pointing out that the team had seen limited practice time together and had “nothing but upside.” Cowan said the team had the best talent on the pitch Saturday, and probably the best in the league.  When asked about his outlook for the season he said “our returning players are all solid and our new guys are a mix of experienced rugby players and great athletes. Once we gel as a team it is going to be a long 80 minutes each week for these other squads.” The B-side team also had a strong showing against Tuffs, jumping out to an early lead thanks to hard running and strong tackling but came up short on a dramatic last second score by the visiting team. The HBS team has its first regular season game this Saturday (9/18) at 2PM against Springfield on the HBS home pitch.