Ruggers Finish with Two Wins

By Victor Obogu | Wednesday, June 5, 1996

"Sometimes Rugby games are personal, sometimes they aren't," said Argentina's legendary halfback Hugo Porta; Dartmouth's game against UNH two weeks ago most certainly was one of those personal affairs. Last spring's match was grisly business, as UNH somehow triumphed 14-7. Consequently, the Ruggers were eager to erase that particularly painful memory, and having thrashed the Turkeys of Boston College the weekend before, 70-5, they were fairly confident that a victory would be forthcoming. The chirpy spirit of the Ruggers was further boosted with the return of Torbjorn "Foof" Dimblad '97 who was able for the first time to take the reins as Captain on his home field. Furthermore, Ty "Superfly" Tengan '97 and Drew "Ziggly" Payne '97 had both recovered sufficiently from various STD's to be able to take part in the afternoon's exertion.

The game started slowly for Dartmouth, as the team was continuously penalized by the referee, who seemed to have no conception of the rules of Rugby. Soon the Ruggers found themselves down 3-0, courtesy of a UNH penalty kick. This seemed to spur them into action and they finally found their offensive rhythm. Quick rucking and ferocious running by the backs allowed the Ruggers to reach the UNH line where they were awarded a five meter scrum.

The sidelines were silenced as Dartmouth's Pack Captain Pete "Ruddy Cheeks" Martin '97 ordered a push- over. Dartmouth's scrum obliged, thanks to a determined drive by the tight five, and Martin made the most of it, diving, somewhat ingloriously, between the legs of Peter Sisitsky '97 for the score. The try put Dartmouth up 7-3, but unfortunately prompted yet another lapse, as UNH was able to take advantage of lazy play by Micke "Swinger" Morn '97 and Paul Killebrew '99 to score a try and take the lead once again. The rest of the half belonged to UNH as they scored12 more points. Dartmouth's lone bright spot came in the shape of a fairly unremarkable effort by Sisitsky, who only had to
run a bit to score the first try of his Dartmouth career.

As a result of their poor play, Dimblad's saucy bunch found themselves down at the half by a score of 22-14. Instead of getting frustrated, the Ruggers concentrated on basics as Dimblad and Martin delivered a sermon on ball control and mistake-free Rugby. It paid off — Dartmouth came out fired up.

In the second half, the determined and downright splendid play of the forwards turned a possibly ugly result into a victory of exquisite hue. Dartmouth switched strategy, playing nine man Rugby as their forwards took control of the ball and followed the direction of their chunky scrum half Douglas Burnaford '98. The Ruggers' powerful rolling mauls were complemented nicely by the enthusiastic trundling of prop Dickon "Handsome Torso" Verey '97 and the ever present skullduggery of Robert "Shoulder Pads" Leathern '97.

The Wildcats of UNH were slowly but inevitably worn down, and it was only a matter of time before the pressure paid off. Morn slotted a couple of coolly taken penalties, and then Sisitsky scored his second try, another unremarkable effort which produced barely a murmur from the thousands on the sidelines.

Leathern then scored on a creative burrowing charge from five yards out. The victory was capped off by a try from Burnaford, after the forwards had done all the work. The rest was a mere formality as Dartmouth took a 39-22 victory and with it the NH State bragging rights for '96.

Though the performance was not pretty, and certainly lacked the searing running of the backs that has so often accompanied previous Dartmouth triumphs, Coach Wayne Young was ecstatic. "We're going to be unbelievable next year!" he blurted out in a high state of excitement.

Martin stated, in his own lucid way, that the credit for the victory should go to the forwards, who had toiled during a hard week of practice. Dimblad explained that the ineffectiveness of the backs could be attributed to their having spent the week practicing their knitting and enjoying home economics classes with his girlfriend.

The Ruggers' final foe was to be their own predecessors, the Indian alums, who they faced Green Key Weekend in the traditional game pitting youthful enthusiasm against wily experience. Youth won hands down, as the A Side handed the old-timers a stinging defeat, 34-12.

Despite a conspicuous rash of hangovers among the ruggers and the dirty play of their grizzled opponents, the Indians were too much for the alums. It was a fitting end to another spectacular spring season, especially satisfying for the seniors, who now go forth to face the real world.

Ruggers Finish with Two Wins

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