Big D Preps for National Showcase in College Rugby Championship 7s

CRC-bound Dartmouth

With less than a week remaining, select members of Dartmouth Rugby have been hard at work preparing for the upcoming USA Sevens College Rugby Championship (CRC) 7s, which will be held at PPL Park in Philadelphia from 4-5th. The tournament, which will be broadcast nationally on NBC and Versus, will feature 15 other quality teams from around the country, including College Premier Division “Rugby East” foes like Army and Navy along with national powers Cal and Utah.

Dartmouth’s third match in pool play against Boston College, will be televised live on national TV network Versus with an approximate kickoff of 6:30pm EST.

CRC 7s Broadcast Schedule

  • • NBC Sports live coverage from 4:00-6:00 p.m. ET on June 4 and 5
  • • Versus live coverage from 2:00-4:00 p.m. ET on June 4 and 5
  • • Versus bonus coverage from 6:00-8:00 p.m. ET on June 4
  • • NBC Mobile live simulcast from 4:00-6:00 p.m. ET on June 4 and 5
  • • Hulu.com full event coverage available on-demand in HD quality video

The competition will only be one of the hurdles facing the Big Green however, as they will also have to contend with the grueling nature of the sevens game. Unlike in 15s, there are only sevens players a side and the game is divided into seven-minute halves (expanded to ten minutes in the championship game). Other significant differences include there only being three men a side in the scrum, every conversion having to be a drop kick, and the team who scores kicking off to restart play.

Free-flowing and high-scoring

While these rule differences make for free-flowing and high-scoring games, they also take a toll on the players. Games are particularly draining and teams will play three of them in any given day. “It’s absolutely exhausting,” said captain Paul Jarvis ’12 when asked to describe the experience. “There is no where to hide when there are only seven players on each team.” Despite the difficulties though, Jarvis and the rest of his teammates traveling to Philadelphia remain undaunted, having gone through several weeks of grueling training sessions so as to be ready to take on the competition. “It’s a massive challenge but one the team has really risen to and we expect great things out of this year’s team.”

Dartmouth will be looking to improve upon their performance in last year’s inaugural edition of the tournament in Columbus, Ohio. There, they finished second in group play after victories over Notre Dame and Harvard and a loss to Cal and then proceeded to bow out in the quarterfinals to a San Diego State team full of current national team players.  They will have an equally formidable path to the championship this year, as they will have to face a much improved Notre Dame again in pool play in addition to Boston College and, of course, defending champion Utah. If they can finish in the top two, they would advance to the quarterfinals where they likely would have a rematch with the Golden Bears.

A deep run in the tournament would not only be a great accomplishment for the team, but also could serve as a launching pad to a post-collegiate rugby career for many of the players. The  tournament will serve as a great forum to showcase and discover talented players who may make up the American side, should it qualify, when sevens makes its Olympic debut in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro games. US Eagle 7s Head Coach, Al Caravelli, will be on hand with his selectors, as well as our very own coach Alex Magleby ’00, who was recently named as head coach of the Collegiate All-American 7s team – the feeder program to the senior national team.

The Dartmouth Squad

For the moment though, the team is focused on integrating several players who have joined the team from other sports. Among them are former football players T.J. Cameron ’11 and Steve Morris ’11 and former track runner Muhammed Adbul- Shakoor ’10. Along with Jarvis, spring 15s players Nate Brakeley ’12, Kevin Clark ’14, Chris Downer ’11, Nick Downer ’11, Clark Judge ’12, Will Lehmann ’12, Will Mueller ’12, and Tanner Scott ‘11 will join them on the squad.   With this combination of athleticism and rugby acumen, Jarvis is confident the team can makes an impression in Philly. “With Coach Mags’ experience as a former USA 7s Captain, and buoyed by some very athletic crossover athletes, we expect to surprise a lot of people."

Tickets for the CRC are still available

Tickets for the CRC are still available for purchase through the Dartmouth Athletic Department at the following website: https://dartix.dartmouth.edu/Online/?brand=DCAD.

Dartmouth’s Saturday schedule

11:04 pm v Utah
1:16 pm v Notre Dame
6:34 pm v Boston College (televised live on Versus)