Dartmouth Storms to Early Lead, Defeats Yale 62-8

Week 2 of the Ivy League Rugby Championship Series 2009. In their home opener, the Big Green of Dartmouth holds on for victory, despite sloppy second half.

On a perfect day for rugby in Hanover, New Hampshire, Dartmouth Rugby came out determined to defend Brophy Field in its home opener of the inaugural Ivy League season.

In front of hundreds of fans and alums sitting on the hillside sloping down to the field, the Men in Green burst out to an early lead. However, a galvanized Yale defense in the latter half of the match bogged down the Big Green attack. “If we played the first 25 minutes of the game like we played the last 25 minutes, we would have been in it,” said Yale coach Jan Pikul. “We shut [Dartmouth] out in the last 25 minutes… [but] we were slow to adjust to pressure. We gave up too many points off of turnovers.”

Yale dashed Dartmouth’s hopes of a shut out with a penalty kick late in the first half and added a try in the second half, capitalizing on a number of Dartmouth miscues. It was the first try Dartmouth had given up this season. “Dartmouth came out strong, “ said Yale captain Pat Madden ’10, “we weren’t ready to play.

But at halftime we regrouped, fought hard in the second half, and put in a try.” Madden added that he was disappointed in his team’s performance, but that Yale was, “ready to work in practice to be ready for Brown.” Madden highlighted Yale’s need to come together as a unit and build a team understanding as focus points in the weeks to come. Honorable Mention All American and Dartmouth sophomore Paul Jarvis led the Big Green attack, touching down three tries. “We were able to do what we wanted to do in the first half and click offensively… I give credit to the unselfish play of our decision‐makers and forwards for setting up some great scoring opportunities. This was a solid team effort, both offensively and defensively.”

Dartmouth’s defensive standout was Derek Fish ’12, who added, “We kept them on their back foot all day and put pressure on them so they could not get comfortable. Tacklers did a great job in isolation, opening up turnover opportunities.” “We are doing a good job of developing personnel, and we hope to continue doing that into the fall,” added Fish. Looking forward to the rest of the Ivy League season, Pikul remarked, “[This league] is unique in rugby. [American rugby] started in the Ivies, and if someone is going to create positive change in the sport, the Ivies should be the ones to do it.”

Similarly, Jarvis noted, “It is great to be playing in the Ivy League, testing ourselves against teams with quite a bit of tradition.” Dartmouth looks forward to a big match against Harvard at home next weekend. Said Dartmouth Head Coach Alex Magleby ’00, “We continue to improve and we were able to get our bench on at halftime and further develop our depth. We appreciated Yale’s fight for all 80 minutes.” Dartmouth Rugby is 3‐0 going into next weekend’s match against the Crimson. The Big Green have outscored their opponents a combined 233‐11.

Dartmouth Scoring First Half: Brothers T N Downer T Fish T, 5C Grant T Jarvis 2T Lehmann T Second Half: N Downer T Edandison T Fish C Jarvis T

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BROWN • COLUMBIA • CORNELL • DARTMOUTH • HARVARD • PENN • PRINCETON • YALE