Chris Downer '11 led the offensive charge in the championship game against Harvard, running in three tries, while Jeff Kolovson '09 improved the score by converting six kicks.
"It's about growth on every play," coach Alex Magleby '00 saidof the team's winning ethos. "Even for the seniors, it's still about growth."
Anthony Arch '09 asserted the Big Green's dominance early on against Harvard, touching down with a try in only the second minute. Although the Crimson quickly responded with a penalty kick to make the score 5-3, Dartmouth maintained its momentum. Five Big Green players contributed to the 26-point Big Green scoring frenzy that rounded out the half.
Dartmouth again dominated possession in the second half with another 26-point run, as well as a try by Erik Estabrook '09 that sealed the victory.
Referees kept tight control throughout the match, calling seven penalties against the Big Green in a span of 10 minutes. Captain Conlan O'Leary '09 said that the referees' calls were "dubious" attempts to keep the championship match more competitive than the preliminaries had been.
"Harvard was very weak," he said. "We were essentially as dominant as we were Saturday, but just couldn't put it together."
In the second half, Harvard players threw a few punches and a Dartmouth player retaliated, receiving a yellow card. In subsequent events, the Big Green was disciplined with another yellow card and a red card.
A red card forces the offending player permanently out of the match.
As a consequence of these penalties, the Big Green played most of the second half a man down, which Magleby said put Dartmouth at a significant disadvantage.
"It certainly had an effect on the game," he said. "We couldn't put on a spectacle for the fans, and it became more of a referee's game."
While Sunday's match was closer than it could have been, Dartmouth dominated the first two rounds of the tournament from the moment the team stepped onto the pitch.
Dartmouth faced Cornell in the first round, and crushed the Big Red with 112 unanswered points. Although the Big Green only had a few hours to recuperate before the team's match against Princeton, Dartmouth tamed the Tigers in a 101-0 victory.
O'Leary said that the unprecedented carnage made Saturday a historic day for the club, explaining that the Big Green's opponents never even had the chance to score.
"It was complete annihilation and destruction as we transcended and achieved things we didn't even know were possible," he said. "Our defense was violent and vicious for the entirety of both games, but [Cornell and Princeton] never really had the ball at all."
With the spring season at its end, the ruggers are looking to the future, with new leadership and a fresh crop of players. The transition will be challenging, but rewarding, Magleby said.
"To be competitive long-term, you need about 35 guys competing for those 15 [starting] spots, and right now we have about 10 in that category," he said. "We've got to develop another 25 guys who don't have a lot of rugby experience. But that's an exciting challenge, and if we work hard, we can get there."
O'Leary also said that he was excited to see what the team will accomplish in the future.
"This is a very important time," he said. "The DRFC can best described as a phoenix, arising out of the ashes each spring under the new leaders."
Even more changes are in store for rugby, as the team's fall season will take on a new format. While the Big Green has played as part of the New England Rugby Federation for years, the Ivy League teams are now combining to create their own conference.
The other Ivy League teams have not recently provided any competition for Dartmouth's powerful squad, Magleby said, adding that the Big Green has dominated the New England league anyway, so there will not be a significant change. In fact, the new format has already encouraged some Ivy programs to increase their rugby budgets, Magleby said, which could lead to increased competition from other Ivy League schools in the future.
O'Leary explained that Dartmouth will still feed into the Northeast playoffs and have a chance to play in the national tournament, but the spring Ivy tournament will never again occur as it is.
"This made [winning the Ivy tournament] all the more sweet," he said. "We were able to put a stamp on it, and assure our manliness, dominance and ruggedness."
Dartmouth's dominance is increasingly recognized in the rugby world. ERugbyNews.com's latest Division I collegiate rankings place the Big Green in the No. 5 spot, an accolade that has not been seen in decades, O'Leary said.
Dartmouth moved to the No. 5 spot from No. 19 last week, and the jump comes on the heels of the Big Green's performance at the national tournament.
Even though Dartmouth lost 26-5 to Brigham Young University in the first round, the Big Green was able to contend throughout the game with the No. 2 powerhouse. The Big Green's victory over No. 12 Navy in the tournament's consolation game also garnered the attention of the voters.
O'Leary said that part of the Big Green's recent success, surprisingly, could be attributed to the team's love for reggae music.
"I think that the reason why we're such a dominant force in the Ivy League comes down to culture," he said. "We listen to a lot more reggae than the other teams."
