Rugby

THE Dartmouth Rugby Club has completed another successful year, with over sixty players participating on four different teams. With one game remaining in the spring season, the ruggers' record stands at a commendable 22-8-2, for fall and spring seasons combined.

The ruggers ended their fall season with an overall 11-4-1 record, with the "A" team suffering two defeats at the hands of the Boston Rugby Club and the "Old Blues" of New York. After this fine fall season, expectations were high for the spring, and training for the annual Nassau jaunt began soon after Carnival.

The Bahamas Festival, over spring break, proved its usual success. In the first game of the tournament, the firstplace, seeded Indians blanked Princeton, 11-0, in a fine display of rugby. In the second match, for the tournament championship, the Green ruggers were upset in the last fifteen seconds by a surprising Holy Cross Club. Dartmouth then came back with a commendable tie against the local Nassau club, one of the best in the Caribbean. The trip, despite the loss of the tournament, was a complete success for everyone.

The spring season commenced on a dismal April 15 at Williams with a narrow upset of the Green by a score of 13-11, consoled only by the "B" team's decisive win. Dartmouth responded the next week by decisively downing Amherst in three matches.

On Sunday, April 30, the Indians confronted Yale for the annual Hartford Cup, sponsored by alumni and friends. This year the match was televised live, and also taped for rebroadcast. Dartmouth played aggressively, but the superior Yale backfield proved decisive and the Indians lost 9-0.

With Harvard and Green Key coinciding on the next weekend, the ruggers were out to avenge their previous loss. Harvard (who had previously beaten Yale) was outplayed 6-3 in an exciting match, followed by the "B" team's massacre of the Crimson, 17-0. With Cornell cancelling its scheduled match for May 12, the ruggers have only one more match this year. On May 20 two teams will journey to Montreal to see Expo and play the Montreal Wanderers. The official season ends with the annual banquet, on May 26. President Teny Deane and Captain Steve Jones, citing the fine turnout (including over thirty freshmen) and the winning season, are optimistic about the club's future. Most of the first side players will return next year.

The Dartmouth Rugby Club is completely self-run, yet it compiles one of the best records of any team bearing the College name. Its members play for the love and fun of the game, which combines fraternal spirit with an unusual degree of sportsmanship. The winners always clap the losers off the field, and all hands then proceed to drink beer together.

Without College subsidy, the Rugby Club must operate on a modest annual budget. Fortunately, to our membership dues are added the contributions of The Friends of Dartmouth Rugby (Box 966, Hanover, N. H.). The alumni, parents, and other friends who provide this support are literally a life-saving group, and what they make possible is one of the finest parts of the whole Dartmouth sports program.

The "A" ruggers in a relaxed mood before the match with Amherst.