Harvard Outscored But Not Outgunned
30 Oct 2006
Despite going down 15-46, Harvard played one of their best games of the season against a very fit and athletic Army team.
Playing for seeding rankings, Harvard had nothing to lose going into the game and they were very determined to give Army a run for their money. They did just that.
Army plays a very structured and expansive game, and they like to throw the ball around at great speed, but Harvard's tenacious defense and doggedness at the breakdown often frustrated their counterparts into making uncharacteristic mistakes.
Harvard's Man-of-the-Match, Dave Garner-- the smallest player on the paddock but one of the toughest - again proved quite a nuisance for the opposition as he stole and slowed down valuable Army possessions.
Harvard's points came from Frenchmen senior Jean Sebastien Cagnioncle, who scored three tries. His play is reminiscent of former All Blacks #8 Zinzan Brooke. Not only is Cagnioncle a prolific tryscorer, but he is also the team's kicker. Although he had an off day with kicks at goal, he put some telling punts into the opposition's half of the field.
A surprising area of concern for Harvard was their set piece which has dominated most teams this season. Army often wheeled the scrum and disrupted Harvard's lineout jumpers causing Harvard to lack any real cohesion on attack.
Army is a very dangerous team from broken play, and it was in this facet f the game where they dominated Harvard. Once they broke through the initial defensive line they were very hard to pull back. Army eventually outscored Harvard by 7 tries to 3.
Harvard will play Norwich this weekend and the winner of this game will earn 3rd ranking of New England teams heading into the Northeast playoffs the following weekend.
