The Big Green men's club rugby team defeated Harvard University 31-0 to secure the Ivy League Championship for the fourth consecutive year last weekend in Cambridge, Mass. The game marked the 11th time in the past 14 years that the Big Green has won the championship and attained a perfect 7-0 record for the season.
Overall, the Dartmouth team was very pleased with its win, according to coach Alex Magleby.
"It's a great achievement," he said. "The guys work really hard and it is important to point out that this senior class will graduate having won [the Ivy League Championship] all four years that's pretty rare."
The Big Green's success started in the first half, despite the difficulty of the oncoming wind. The wind affected the team's kicking game, which was a good challenge for them, according to Magleby.
"We couldn't just dominate with our kicking game," he said. "We had to try some things out and it was good to be challenged."
Upon receiving the opening kick, Dartmouth drove the ball down the pitch in a sequence of offensive plays. Carl Zehner '11 had the first try of the game and the conversion kick by Derek Fish '12 gave the Green a 7-0 lead.
Shortly afterwards, Will Lehmann '12 ran the ball into the Harvard in-goal area, widening the spread to 12-0. Due to the conditions on the play, Fish missed the follow-up conversion kick.
The half came to a close when the teamwork of captain Tommy Brothers '11 and Clark Judge '12 led to another try for the Big Green. Fish successfully converted the kick and the Big Green ended the half at 19-0.
The team showed no signs of letting up in the second half, scoring two more tries off another Brothers-Judge combination and a try from assistant captain Paul Jarvis '12. Jarvis completed the final try of the game. Fish was successful on his last conversion, rounding out the team's total points to 31.
Assistant captain Chris Downer '11 said he was happy with the way the team played against Harvard and with the season as a whole.
"Winning the fourth straight Ivy title is very special for us," Downer said. "The team has some real standout guys and it was awesome to see everyone's hard work pay off."
The game against Harvard is usually one of the most difficult of the season because of Harvard's physical play, he added.
"Shutting out Harvard is a really special feeling," Downer said. "They are our big rival in the fall so scoring 31 points against them is awesome."
Downer added that the team's defense came together and played up to their peak potential, which was a great way to end the season.
Overall this fall, the men outscored their opponents 435-30, which Downer said left him with few complaints.
Magleby said he was proud of the way his team finished the fall season.
"I'm really happy for the guys," he said. "I think they deserved [the Championship] and they worked really hard."
Until the end of the Fall term, the men will weight train three times a week to stay in shape. Over the winter, the team continues with lift and practices systems to develop the younger guys on the team.
"The off-season is a good chance to bring the newer players up to speed with video sessions and technical drills inside," Downer said.
Many of the sophomores and juniors on the team will be off in the winter, giving the team a good opportunity to prepare the freshmen for a tougher spring season. The Big Green will compete in the newly developed USA Rugby Premier League with 31 other schools.
Magleby said that now that the season has ended, in addition to staying in the weight room the team will also have weekly meetings to evaluate their goals for the rest of the year.
The team will not be able to physically dominate other players in their next league, he said. To compensate for this limitation, they will continue to develop a broad skill set before the spring season.
Dartmouth will open the season against the University of Delaware on March 5.
