Dartmouth Flies the Coop with Close Win, 25-19

Better weather couldn’t be asked for as the men in Green stepped off the bus at Lums Pond State Park just outside of Newark, Delaware. The clear skies and light breeze were a nice respite from the damp April weather that the Green had been practicing in all week, and the face-off against the Mid-Atlantic powerhouse Delaware came as a welcome change of scenery, and an opportunity for the New Regime to prove itself on the inter-collegiate stage.

Delaware Blue Hens Run Afoul of Strong Dartmouth Side

With the kickoff going to Dartmouth, the pace of play was fast and physical in the opening minutes of the first half. After ten minutes of nearly constant struggle for possession around the midfield line, Dartmouth was able to transition off of one of the many contested rucks in Delaware territory, and a series of quick offloads put the ball into Co-Captain Chris Downer ‘11’s capable hands. A race down the grassy left sideline led to a try for Downer, putting the men in Green up 5-0 early on. However, the first kicking conversion proved a challenge for Derek Fish ’12, and the score remained 5-0 as Dartmouth lined up to receive the kick from Delaware. This would come back to haunt Dartmouth a few minutes later, as Delaware came charging down the same sideline off of a line-out in Dartmouth territory for a multi-phase, 40-meter try by their #10. The Delaware conversion was good, putting the Big Green in a trailing position for the first time in their spring season. However, the sophomore outside center was quick to make up the difference, when a penalty against Delaware afforded Fish a great kicking opportunity near the Delaware 22-meter, and chipped it easily through the posts, barely putting Dartmouth ahead again 8-7. A penalty against Delaware afforded Fish another opportunity, but like his first this kick too was pulled wide, leaving Dartmouth with a close lead over Delaware. With the clock ticking down the minutes remaining in the first half, Darmouth and Delaware slugged it out for possession up and down the pitch, with the majority of play taking place inside of Delaware territory. Finally, a blocked kick inside of the Delaware 22-meter led to a scramble for a possession, developing into a series of rucks and a diving try for Fish, who had by this point scored eight of Dartmouth’s fifteen points. However, another difficult conversion kick from the right left the score at 15-7 by the end of the half.

As Delaware gathered its strength and brought some fresh legs off the bench to start the second half, the lightly-resevered Dartmouth side returned to business with the same familiar faces, this time receiving the Delaware kick. Early on the Delaware forwards did their best to challenge Dartmouth possession all over the field, and the ball was in both teams’ hands in the opening minutes of the half. However, Dartmouth’s backs were able to take advantage of the constant back-and-forth play, and a quick transition led to a line break and a multi-offload march down the field which passed through the hands of Bill Lehmann ’12, captain Tommy Brothers ’11, and co-captain Paul Jarvis ‘12, ending with the ball once again in the hands of Derek Fish. A successful conversion put his personal point tally at fifteen, and the score at 22-7, with Dartmouth in the lead. Not wanting to be left behind, Delaware returned the ball deep in Dartmouth territory, and contested Dartmouth at the breakdown with increasing intensity. This played to Dartmouth’s advantage when one Delaware forward was sent to the sin bin for roughhousing, putting them at a man-up for ten minutes. However, several avoidable penalties against Dartmouth gave Delaware the chance they needed, and a series of pick-and-go carries by the Delaware forwards finally broke through the Dartmouth defensive wall to find the try zone, putting the score at 22-12. With ten minutes left to play in the match, Fish was able to find the posts yet again to put Dartmouth in a slightly more comfortable 25-12 leading position. However, Delaware was not ready to give up yet, and lineout in Dartmouth territory quickly turned into a rolling maul, which they used to drive all the way to Dartmouth’s doorstep. A series of pick-and-go attacks by Delaware’s forwards resulted in another try, and a successful conversion put the score at a much more competitive 25-19 with minutes to play in the match. The Dartmouth kick moved the ball back into Delaware’s side of the field. A penalty against Delaware put Dartmouth at a seeming advantage, but the kick was a miss and the score remained 25-19 with only one minute remaining. With all eyes on the clock, the referee called “last play” as Delaware launched into its last offensive of the game. However, the Dartmouth defensive wall met each attack with equal resistence, and the ball was finally pried away by flanker Pradyumna Gurusamy and kicked out of bounds to end the match and put the final touches on the Dartmouth win, 25-19.

After the match, Delaware was clearly disappointed, a sentiment expressed by Coach Bjorn Haglid in his post-match comments. “I think we made it too easy for Dartmouth’s defense”, he said, making reference to the quick turnover opportunities taken advantage of by Dartmouth during the game. “However, support play is what really defined Dartmouth’s success out there; in many cases, it had our guys looking for the second-phase offload more than the initial tackle, which made them a very difficult side to defend against.” The loss represents a wake-up call for the MARFU #2 seed, who will face off against defending National Champions and Western #1 seed Brigham Young. “We need to get back on track, and play our game”, said Bjorn, citing the proximity of both the MARFU playoffs and spring break to today’s match as possible reasons for his team’s disappointing play.

Meanwhile, the tired but happy Dartmouth players were upbeat about their win. Captain Tommy Brothers remarked that the pace of the match was “fun, fast, and physical”. Brothers also remarked that it was “great to win a close game with this group, something we’ve had trouble with as a team in the past but also something we did on tour a couple of times and something we did again today”. All-American Honorable Mention Paul Jarvis ’12, who also recently assumed the role of co-captain on the Dartmouth team, said it was great to see solid performance by some of the players who are new additions to the First-XV. “It’s a great opportunity to get used to top-15 rugby”, he said, referring to the unofficial collegiate rankings. “That’s the level we’re trying to play at”. Coach Magleby chimed in as well, noting that the two teams “had very different goals going into this match…obviously Delaware has bigger fish to fry, with the National Championship coming up, whereas our goals are a little bit more midterm”. However, Magleby said that the victory “was definitely a great win without our seniors”, with “lots to work on and lots to look forward to”.

The Second-XV match that followed the Firsts’ game was another pitched battle. At the half, there was still no score, but early on a solid wheel by the Second-XV scrum led to a Dartmouth put-in on the 5-meter, followed by a heads-up pick-and-go play by Erik Snider ’11 for the first try of the game. A great kick by Ryan Milligan ’12 put Dartmouth ahead 7-0. The Delaware pack responded with effective counterattack, scoring one try off of a high ball transition play and another off of a line-out deep in Dartmouth territory. The final score was 7-14, Delaware.

Dartmouth presses onwards in its Mid-Atlantic tour tonight to New Jersey, where it will face Rutgers University tomorrow at 11:00 AM.

If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview, please call Charlie Grant at (978) 857-2851 or e‐mail Charlie at charlie [dot] grantdartmouth [dot] edu