PITTSBURGH -- Rugby club members attempting to rattle opponents before a game apparently rolled and kicked human heads on the field during a warmup, a published report said Friday.

The Pittsburgh Press reported it had obtained pictures of the heads. It has been previously reported that skulls were used.


The incident occurred March 20 near Juniata before a game between two rugby clubs comprised of students from the University of Pittsburgh and Juniata College.

Since then, details about what actually was kicked around the filed have been cloudy. The University of Pittsburgh has referred to the items only as 'anatomical material.'

Both schools have refused to release the names of the students involved, and Pitt said it considered the incident closed.

Attempts to verify officially the report that the objects actually were heads were unsucessful Friday. But according to some who saw pictures of the 'anatomical materials,' the items 'look like human heads with teeth and other parts.'

On June 1, Pitt announced that two students had withdrawn from the school, rather than face disciplinary charges stemming from the theft of what were then described as skulls. The students were members of the Oakland Rugby Club, a non-university affiliated team.

Juniata rubgy team captain Mark Murdoch said he understood only one of the Oakland players was actually involved in playing with the objects on the field. And although Murdoch said he was '15 to 20 feet away at the time,' he said, 'Everybody knows what they were.'

A Pitt spokeswoman said Friday, 'Obviously anatomical material is a euphemism,' adding when parts of the body used in research are described the exact names are sometimes changed.

Pitt, which investigated the theft of the items before announcing the withdrawal of the students, said the 'anatomical material' came from one of the medical schools served by a central anatomy lab at the Pitt School of Medicine.