Dartmouth Rugby Club Honors Dick Liesching
200 people gathered at the New York Athletic Club on March 1st, 2013 to celebrate the Dartmouth Rugby Football Club's (DRFC) 2nd-in-a row national 7s rugby championship.
At the celebration the DRFC recognized and honored Dick Liesching (on the left with his wife Diane) as a legend of the club. He was presented with a large, free-standing glass plaque inscribed with the words "In honor and recognition of your leadership, spirit, passion and undying commitment to the Dartmouth Rugby Football Club."
Craig Thomas '96 introduced Dick saying
"There'll always be an England, of course, but it may never be quite the same again after the historic invasion of the 19 husky stalwarts of the Dartmouth Rugby team." So wrote the DRFC's original legend, Corey Ford, in Sports Illustrated, after the club's epic British tour of 1958.
The leader of those husky stalwarts was club president Dick Liesching, class of 1959.
Dick grew up in England playing rugby at Blundell's School. When he came to Dartmouth he was informed by AD Red Rolfe (former NY Yankee 3rd baseman) that "At Dartmouth we ONLY play to win." Said Dick in reply, "We play to have fun, and by having fun WE WILL WIN!"
In the heyday of the DRFC's "student run" era, Dick not only coached and trained the club, but also handled team logistics and communications. Perhaps his most impressive feat was coercing the College's "Head of Woods Keeping" into cutting down four towering spruces for use as the club's first goal posts.
With the tour in doubt until the last minute, calls and cables to Dick's father, Raymond, in England finally ensured that the trip would indeed take place. Once in England, the DRFC posted a 5-2 record, a feat of such renown that it prompted the British press to graciously describe DRFC's invasion as the "nastiest upset since Bunker Hill".
It inspired an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Ed was so excited by Dick and his "Beatles of the pitch" that he bungled the intro - proudly introducing the triumphant Dartmouth SOCCER team to the theater's audience and the millions of countrymen watching on national TV.
Dick recently said of his DRFC days, "I still dream about rugby at least once a month. It is always in my heart."
Tonight we salute Dick Liesching, Class of '59, a DRFC "Legend".
Will Gray Reminisces About His Rugby Days
Will Gray attended the celebration and graciously sent along a booklet he wrote titled "Recollections - One Dartmouth Rugger's Story of How I Ended Up in England and California in 1958/1959".
In it Will reminisces about his rugby experiences during our days at the College. During that period the club was casual but serious and run by students. Its most memorable player was a scrawny Englishman named Dick Liesching who knew the finer points of the game and had boundless enthusiasm about it.
Dick had the strong desire and idea to take the rugby club on a tour of England. John Hessler prepared the team; Corey Ford got the team there; and Dick's father found the games. The team won 5 of 7 of its matches outscoring their English opponents 72 to 37 and making a significant impression on English rugby enthusiasts.
The English trip was followed by a four game California tour in the spring with the club winning three of the four games. During the 1958/1959 season the club played 24 games winning 20, losing 3 and tying 1. It finished the season as the 1959 Eastern Rugby Union Champion and ranked third nationally in the country.
Classmates on the England and California touring teams were: Al Brown, Kurt Christiansen (CA only), Earl Glazier, Joe Graham, Will Gray, John Hessler, Al Krutsch, Dick Liesching, and Mike Miller.