Harvard athlete plays in Oxford-Cambridge rugby match

Will Johnson ’06 tackles a different sports rivalry.

Will Johnson ’06, a six-foot-three-inch, 270-pound offensive lineman for the Harvard football team, played for Oxford in the annual Varsity Match between Oxford and Cambridge, the culmination of the rugby season for Oxford’s Dark Blues and the Light Blues of Cambridge. Johnson is enrolled in a two-year program in economic and social history at Oxford. The New York Times report quotes Oxford coach Steve Hill to the effect that “[T]he season is a success or failure based on that one day. At the end of that day, you’re either in heaven or in hell. There’s nowhere in between.” Unfortunately for Oxford, they ended up in hell: on the short end of a 31-27 tally at Twickenham on Thursday, December 11.

Most popular

The Harvard graduate’s roundtable talk show touches on hot button issues from religion to sex. 

In 1954, Gregory Corso moved into Eliot House. How he stayed there is a literary legend.

Harvard’s Class of 2029 Reflects Shifts in Racial Makeup After Affirmative Action Ends

International students continue to enroll amid political uncertainty; mandatory SATs lead to a drop in applications.

Explore More From Current Issue

Two laboratory researchers, one seated and one standing, in a scientific lab with equipment.

The stakes are high for this husband and wife: one of them will die if they don’t find a cure.

Colorful cartoon animals, including dogs, cows, rabbits, and a fence, on a pink background.

Inseparable cows, big dogs fostering a tiny kitten, and a show beagle’s second act

Smiling woman stands beside a large skull in a display cabinet.

From competing in youth gymnastics to studying tetrapods, the Harvard curator has always chased her curiosity.