Yankee Blue

As an American Rugby player at Oxford, Rhodes Scholar Vincent W. Jones, 24, a blond California giant (6 ft. 3 in., 227 Ibs.), had several surprises. Jones knew the rules, but not the British customs. After his first Oxford game--against Richmond, on Oct. 16--he assumed that he had made the team, showed up the following Monday for practice. But the other players were shocked, and the team secretary took him aside and explained patiently that one must not show up for practice unless one receives an engraved invitation (5 in. by 3 in.) from the team captain.

In the game against the London Harlequins on Nov. 20, Vince got a pass from a teammate and carried the ball over the goal line for his first "try," or score. Jones was so elated by his try that he shook hands with the teammate who had passed him the ball. After the match, the team secretary again called the U.S. player aside. "Vince," he said, "some of the officials were a little disappointed to see you and John shaking hands out on the field. Vince, you must understand we don't want to turn this into an emotional game like soccer."

A former Dartmouth varsity tackle, Jones has played Rugby on the U.S. West Coast (where it is mildly popular), and prefers it to U.S. football. "In American football," he says, "the backs do all the thinking and have all the fun. In 'Rugger,' I'm in the game. I get a chance to take part in the tactics, and even to make like a fullback and score." Last week came a triumphal moment for Rugger Enthusiast Vincent Jones: the Oxford-Cambridge game, called simply "the varsity match."

More than 50,000 spectators were in the corrugated-iron stands at Twickenham, near London. As the first American to win a Rugby blue (i.e., to play in the varsity match) at Oxford since 1931,*Jones stood at attention with his teammates while the band played God Save the Queen. Oxford lost the game, 3 to 0, but Outlander Jones acquitted himself well (said the Manchester Guardian: "He gave as good as he got"). Relaxing afterward in a steaming tub, which he shared with a teammate--there were only two showers --Jones was pleased that Oxford, though honorably beaten, had won most of the "tight scrums" (scuffling with the feet for possession of the ball).

*The last: Frederick L. Hovde, now president of Purdue University. No American has ever played for Cambridge in the varsity match.

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