In 1959, the Dartmouth Rugby Football Club traveled to California for the club's first domestic tour. Fifty years of tradition later, the men's team made the trip once again this year, competing against five different teams over spring break.
The women's rugby team also made the trip to California this year, playing against four teams. The women traveled to the Golden State for their first tour 22 years ago.
Men's coach Alexander Magleby '00 said that touring is an important part of the rugby tradition.
"It gives us a chance to share the Dartmouth name, play competitive rugby, and build team culture away from other distractions," he said.
The men's team began its tour with a 66-5 victory over San Diego State University, and also picked up wins over the Los Angeles Cougars and Stanford University. The game against the Cougars, an under-19 club team, was a 94-0 shutout in favor of Dartmouth.
The team's first and second lines also scrimmaged California Polytechnic State University. The second line lost its contest, but the team's starters were able to win 14-7.
The distinction between the first and second line is crucial, men's team captain Conlan O'Leary '09 said, because there are limited substitutions in rugby, and the first line normally plays the full match.
Highly ranked Saint Mary's College defeated the Big Green 33-19.
Although these California teams are in the heart of their seasons, Magleby said that Dartmouth's opponents were happy to find time to compete.
"Everyone likes the opportunity to play Dartmouth," he said.
The team's last match before the trip was in mid-November, but the team had been strength conditioning and training indoors throughout the winter.
Jeff Kolovson '09 said that, during the off-season months, it was sometimes frustrating to be inside instead of actually getting to play on a field.
"We were indoors training and working hard, but it was a little bit unsatisfying in Leverone," he said. "The teams we played in California were in the middle of their seasons, and we were still building up, but we had trained in the proper direction and after the first game there was no noticeable lack."
Touring holds deep historical and traditional meaning for the men's side, which went on tour for the first time in 1951 and then became the first American team to tour in England in 1958, Magleby said. In recent years, the team has also toured South Africa, Ireland, Argentina, Spain and Italy. The Dartmouth team makes a domestic trip about once every four years.
O'Leary said that touring offers the team the opportunity to come together as a whole and achieve unity.
"The journey of tour mirrors the internal journey that many players go through while on tour, discovering themselves and rediscovering themselves as part of the larger spiritual movement that is the Dartmouth rugby club," he said. "We traveled a great distance both in miles and in spiritual growth."
Kolovson, who served as tour director, said that this "spiritual growth" is one of the main reasons for touring.
"The point of tour on a whole is the spiritual and cultural enlightenment of the club," he said. "We're now ready to press on for the Spring term."
As a self-funded program, players must pay some of the cost for such a trip out-of-pocket. The team's endowment, as well as a sponsorship program, however, provide most of the financial support, Magleby said.
The women's team played the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford, as well as two club sides, and was able to pull off a win against Berkeley.
Although the rest of the four games were losses, co-captain Michelle Dunn '09 said that the women's team is working its way back up to full strength after the off-season.
"It was hard since we haven't played since November, but there's nothing like actually playing a game to know where you stand," she said. "We played some pretty talented teams. Stanford is one of the top teams in the nation, and we played two club sides that have players who have already graduated and have more experience."
Like men's team, the women spent the winter training, holding lifts, running and practice two times a week.
Dunn said that the experience of touring promotes team bonding both on and off the pitch.
"It's great, an amazing bonding experience for the people who go on tour," she said. "It helps to be on the same page on and off the field, being friends and being close."
While on tour in California, the men's team was often treated to alumni-hosted events after their games. One particularly memorable event was a huge barbecue after the Stanford game, which Kolovson said felt almost like a home game due to the large turnout of Dartmouth alumni.
"It's good to see alumni who live on the West Coast and have difficulty getting to the games," he said. "They're ardent supporters of the club, and it's nice to get them involved."
O'Leary added that the team members felt like they were well taken care of by all of the alumni in California, including some who had no past connection to rugby.
"The tour was basically just one ridiculous house and awesome barbecue after another, and the alumni support was unbelievable," he said. "We really felt like we were part of the Dartmouth family out there."
Dunn said that the women's team also enjoyed alumni support while on tour, including from some alumni who competed when the women's club was first formed in 1978.
Now that they are back on the East Coast, the men will turn their focus towards their game in Atlanta against Brigham Young University on April 17, in the first round of the USA Rugby Collegiate Championships. BYU was the runner-up for the championship last year, but O'Leary said that the men's team believes it can win and even advance to the Final Four.
"We've identified fitness as something we want to be peaking when we see BYU," he said. "We're having really intense practices and plugging in for the next two weeks."
Magleby said that BYU is a quality team that is often seen in the championship.
"They just built a new stadium, and they're well-run with a lot of talent," he said. "It's an exciting opportunity to show where we've grown."
After nationals, Dartmouth will play Cornell in the first round of the Ivy League tournament, held at Columbia. The Big Green dominated the tournament last year, outscoring their opponents 143-0, and is listed as the top seed.
Dunn said that the women's team will play Penn State University on April 17 in the first round of the national championships, and will play Brown in preparation for that game. There is no women's Ivy tournament this year.
"We think we're going to do well in the [national] tournament," she said. "Wins and losses and score-wise, California was tough, but it gave us a gauge of where we stand and now we're training specifically for Penn State."
The spring break tour will pay dividends to the men's team on the field in its upcoming tournaments because the California competition was so strong, Magleby said. There is more high school rugby in California, he said, making for a faster game and traditionally stronger teams.
Ultimately, Magleby said, the tradition of touring is essential for team bonding.
"A trip away from campus and the other priorities in our lives is always good," he said. "Team culture is the key in any sport. When a team works well together, respects each other, earns those opportunities together, they're certainly on the right track towards wins."
