It was a typical Dartmouth spring day, cold and windy with a slight chance of sun. And yet, the fans still flocked to Sachem to see the Dartmouth men's rugby team fine tune its collective skill in the last intra-squad scrimmage before next week's Ivy League tournament.
The Big Green ruggers, fresh off their spring tour in Spain, looked to return to the same form that has allowed them to win the last four Ivy titles.
"We didn't make the NCAAs this year," captain Matthew Sullivan '02 said.
"So the Ivies is our big Spring tournament, the last time for seniors to shine. This scrimmage was to work out the kinks in our strategy and to secure a starting line up."
From the opening kick-off, the scrimmage took on the intensity of a real game as Kyle Smith '04 made a hard run straight up the middle of the field.
"When you see your coach, who is also on the U.S. National Rugby Team, line up ready to play, you better bring you're A-game," winger Kansas Henderson '02 said.
The A-side continued to maintain possession throughout the first half, but it could not work the ball out of its own defensive zone. Robert Huntington '02 and Jeffery Kinkaid '01 displayed their athletic prowess with breakaway tries to put the first team up 12-0.
But the B-side, led by hard-hitting senior scrum half Gunther Hamm, stormed right back down the field. Spinning the ball out wide, winger Andy Lusk '03 touched it down for the group's first try.
"The more we played, the more confidence we gained," fly half Kyle Chambers '03 said.
"We looked around after that first try and thought, 'Guys, we can do this.'"
The A-side scored one more try off of a wheeled scrum before the end of the first half, but it could not convert points and the halftime score stood at 17-5.
The second half was less eventful as both teams focused on defense and tackling.
"Coach told us that our defense was weak, and that has always been our forte," said Ryan Mannix '02. "With a few exceptions, we really stepped it up in the second half."
As more time ticked off the clock, the B-side players became impatient in their comeback attempt and started to commit penalties. The A-side took advantage as winger Gabe Doleac '03 tacked a final try onto the score to end the game at 24-5.
"Both sides played well today," Doug Heitner '02 said. "But we were all very impressed with the play of the B-side. They were really kicking our butts out there for a while. It's going to be a sore night."
Dartmouth rugby heads over to Cornell next weekend in quest of an unprecedented fifth Ivy League title. If you have a car and no classes, you should support your hometown favorites.
Jacob Osterhout is a scrum half on the men's Dartmouth Rugby Football Club.
