Dartmouth Hosts Royall Lyme Granite Cup
Hanover, NH – While rain was predicted for yesterday’s friendly preseason tournament, the weather held off for most of the morning, making for perfect fall rugby weather. Dartmouth hosted teams from the University of New Hampshire, the University of Vermont, St. Michaels College, Franklin Pierce, Keene State, and Plymouth State, in another preseason institution of recent years, the Royall Lyme Granite Cup.
As in previous years, the Green had a strong showing at this day-long event. Despite being without the services of many of their veterans due to early season injuries and DOC trip commitments, Dartmouth fielded three mixed teams. The Big Green had a chance to make their first impression of the day when a young Dartmouth White team faced off against Plymouth State at 9 am. Early tries by a physical Plymouth State placed the White team at a disadvantage, but a late try by sophomore Casey O’Keefe ’13 kept the team in the running. Unfortunately, Dartmouth was unable to find the try zone again during the game’s shortened halves, and the score remained 17-5 to a well-deserved Plymouth at the final whistle in the Tier II bracket.
At 10, Dartmouth Green came out with all guns blazing in the Tier I competition between UNH, UVM, and St. Mikes. The Green team scored an unanswered twelve tries against the Burlington, VT-based St Mike’s side. The game was punctuated by great play from Dartmouth’s loose forwards, with a fair number of the tries carried in by flanker and Co-Captain Paul Jarvis ’12. At the final whistle, the Green walked away with 76 unanswered points on the newly unveiled scoreboard. The scoreboard is in honor of the 1959 Dartmouth Rugby Tour of California and will be officially dedicated at the team’s 60th Anniversary celebrations on October 9th.
Following the St. Mike’s 1st XV hit-out, the Dartmouth development team got a chance against St. Mike’s 2nd XV side in the Tier III bracket. Lock Matt Robinson ’13 led the way with three tries of his own, and several of the team’s newer additions, including lock Dylan Jones ’14, were able to put a few points of their own on the board. In the end Dartmouth walked away with a 53-0 win to an inexperienced St. Mikes outfit.
In the afternoon, the Dartmouth White team got their chance to improve from the morning tussle with a shortened match against Franklin Pierce. An improved Franklin Pierce team traded possession and territory with White, but both teams were short of crossing the line, ending in a 0-0 tie.
The Dartmouth Green team closed out the day in style, taking on a quality UNH side. Co-Captain Jarvis put the green ahead early on with three tries of his own, and with assistance from tries scored by scrum half Derek Fish ’12 and Michael Gordon ’12 Dartmouth was up 26-0 at the half. In the second 25 minutes, Dartmouth held their ground against an increasingly physical UNH pack, and managed to retain enough possession to score four more tries before the final whistle, leaving the score at 52-0 in the condensed match.
By and large, the Dartmouth players were cautiously optimistic about the team's performance. “There were definitely positives to take away from all of the games”, remarked Co-Captain Jarvis. “A lot of guys were able to get playing time, often working in new positions or new combinations, and the boys responded well …there is a lot of room to improve, but it was a very promising day for the team and built on the good foundation this team had established the week earlier in Canada."
The team looks forward to training this week and a well-deserved rest next weekend before hitting the road for their first matches of the fall Ivy League season, which will take place September 25th and 26th against the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton, respectively.