Dartmouth's Rugby Champs

In less than a decade an English game called Rugby has caught the fancy of Dartmouth men to the point where today it stands as one of the College's most popular sports. During the 1961 spring season the Dartmouth Rugby Club fielded three teams and each completed an undefeated season. The combined record of the three teams was seventeen wins, no losses and two ties. The Indians outscored their opponents 235 to 41.

From its beginning in the mid-fifties the Rugby Club has been able to boast of teams which played the game well and, though student-coached, were usually in the thick of contention for league laurels. The Club finally gained national recognition several years ago when it made a trip to England and beat the English at their own game.

This year's undefeated "A" team, however, is considered by many to be one of the strongest rugby teams ever to wear the Green. Among the honors garnered by the "A" team were the Eastern Rugby Union Seven-Asides Tournament Championship, the Hartford Cup, the Ivy League Championship, the title of the first division of the Eastern Rugby Union, and the Carling Cup, emblematic of the Eastern North American Rugby Championship.

The men who play the game of rugby at Dartmouth take it just as seriously as any major varsity sport. Some 70 candidates reported for the opening day of practice this spring and despite the snow went through several weeks of intensive conditioning. The "A" team was bolstered by returning football players Mike Mooney, Jim McElhinney, Jack Kinderdine, Gary Speiss, and Don McKinnon, as well as captain-coach Chuck Dayton.

By late March Coach Dayton had whipped not one but three teams into shape for the spring season. In the weeks that followed the "A" team defeated the Boston Rugby Club, West Chester (via forfeit), Williams, Princeton, Yale, the Montreal Wanderers, the New York Rugby Club, Amherst and the Quebec All-Stars.

The 6-5 victory over Amherst gave Dartmouth the division title, but a 0-0 tie with Brown prevented the Indians from capturing complete rights to the Eastern Championship. In the season's finale, however, against the Quebec All-Stars, the Green combined the play of a powerful scrum led by John Edwards and Dayton with the running of Bill Glenn to win the Carling Cup, 15-6.

The Dartmouth Rugby Club looks to the future with justified optimism as a solid core of veterans from this year's team is expected back for another season. This year for the first time the Club gave the seniors plaques donated by Corey Ford, a strong supporter of rugby at Dartmouth.

The Leisching Award, given annually at Wet Down to the player who has done the most for the Rugby Club, was presented this year to Mike Murphy, a senior from West Orange, N. J.

Not a new dance step, but a bit of action at Farmington, Conn., as the Big Green rugby team defeated Yale for the Hartford Cup.