The Dartmouth men's rugby team will compete in the Ivy Rugby Championship at home on Saturday. The Big Green will face off against tough opponent Brown University, coming off a win against Princeton University.
The Big Green faced the Bears twice in the fall, tying with them in a regular match and beating them in Ivy League North divisional play.
"Beating Brown in the Ivy League North was our biggest highlight so far this year," Madison Hughes '15 said. "We were able to eliminate some of the mistakes, which had been plaguing us earlier in the season. It was satisfying to do this against a team that is always one of our tougher tests, and we hope to replicate that performance this Saturday."
While Dartmouth won last weekend, the game against the Tigers certainly tested the Big Green and put them in tough positions throughout the match.
The Big Green played strong at the start of the contest, with Hughes putting away a try, placing the Big Green at a strong 7-0 lead.
Dylan Jones '14 scored under the post, Hughes converted a try and created another and, with the help of Justin Ciambella '13, brought the score up to 21-0.
After a strong first half against the Tigers, Dartmouth struggled with penalties, committing a total of 24 during the game. Princeton was able to find more space because the Big Green was down a man due to penalties, but co-captain Quinn Connell '13 dove in for another try for the Big Green.
Princeton scored one last time to bring the total score to 29-12, with the Big Green finishing comfortably ahead.
Dartmouth started their spring season strong, coming off of a spring training session in Ireland over spring break.
Highlights of the trip included playing rival Trinity College and marching in Dublin's St. Patrick's Day Parade, a way of remembering the 1962 Dartmouth Rugby Field Club and their first team to tour in Ireland, according to Connell.
"Our tour to Ireland was a great experience," he said.
Dartmouth hopes to keep improving on defense and reduce the number of penalties committed per game to take the victory this weekend.
"Our defense has improved immensely in the last few weeks," Connell said. "In our closer games, committing penalties has been the only factor that allows other teams to run with us. We have some lethal players on attack, so if we play good, disciplined Dartmouth rugby and keep the penalty count down, the score line will take care of itself."
Hughes agreed, pointing to penalties and missed one-on-one tackles as one of the weaknesses of the match against Princeton.
"We felt that we didn't impose ourselves on the game as we would have liked," he said. "However, we feel that if we play to our ability on Saturday, limiting our penalty count and missed tackles, then we have the capability to beat any team in the Ivy League."
At the Ivy League Rugby North division match against Brown in the fall, the Big Green had a lot to prove.
They had tied the Bears 23-23 in the first match they played, but came back strong to take the title.
"We played the most complete game of rugby that we've played all season," Michael Burbank '13 said.
In the Ivy North game, the Big Green had an incredibly strong second half, finishing the match with a 28-5 victory. Connell credited the victory to strong defensive play out of the forward pack, and a thorough and mistake-free backline.
"We're hoping we can put on a good performance on Saturday in front of our always-inspiring home support," Hughes said.
With a tenacious and clean defense, and a continuously aggressive offense, the Big Green will certainly give the Bears a tough and exciting match this weekend.
Dartmouth has the most wins and championships among the Ivy League, and has won eight of the last 11 Ivy Championships.
The team hopes to continue the tradition this weekend in their match against Brown at 1 p.m. on Brophy Field. The game will be streamed live.