Rugby Returns from European Tour

By Douglas Heyman | Wednesday, May 14, 1997

After finishing Winter term finals, 38 members of the DRFC flew overnight to London and bused to Cardiff to begin their Spring Tour... ten days of hard rugby, hard celebrating, and European women.

The DRFC opened its tour against Crawshay's Welsh Under-21's, a well-known Welsh invitational side. It turned into a true Barbarian style game. Captain and flyhalf Torbjorn 'Farfegnugen' Dimblad '97, scrum-half Mark 'My accent is normal in this country' Oldham '99, winger Jeff 'I floss with my chest hair' Woods '97, and prop Dan 'USDA prime' Thibeault '97 all played well in the first half, but Crawshay's maintained a sound lead of 33-12 at the interval.

In the second half, president and center Craig 'There must be a mistake with my odds' Smith '97 and fullback Mikael 'Pepe Le Pew' Morn '97 dominated play and brought the score to 37-31, in favor of Dartmouth. Maybe it was the shock of an American side scoring 25 unanswered points on a proud Welsh side, maybe it was fatigue after final exams and four months without a game, maybe Torbs hadn't been to Syracuse for quite a while, maybe Bernie stopped for one-too-many McLean burgers on the ride to Cardiff, but whatever it was, Crawshay's stormed back with 3 tries in the final period to win 50-37.

After the games, there was a tremendous feed and a few pints in the Harlequins clubhouse. When interviewed about the game, Morn declared, 'I am not disappointed in the DRFC, nor am I impressed with the Crawshay's Welsh...I am neutral, I am from Finland.' The team finished with a night in Cardiff, where the entire DRFC, with the exception of Drew 'Keeper of the Old School if it doesn't go past my bedtime' Payne '97, raised their pints and their spirits with some harmless debauchery.

The DRFC's second game was against London Irish. The Irish came out fast and hard with a quick 21-0 lead. It again looked like a rout, but Captain Torbjorn
'Take on me, take me on' Dimblad scored a try off a penalty play to close to 7-21 at the half. In the second half, winger Jeff 'Chia chest' Woods scored and fullback Mike 'Wanna ride my interceptor?' Morn scored a try and kicked the conversion, but the DRFC could get no closer with a final score of 19-33..

Dartmouth retired to the clubhouse for the traditional meal and some of that dark brew the Irish favor.

The DRFC finished its tour against the Henley RFC at Henley, the home of the annual crew regatta. Henley struck first with a 70 meter try, but Co-captain Pete 'Cuddles' Martin '97, winger Mike 'The drinking age is 18 here' Evans '00, and Craig 'I could be the serial killer in Copycat' Smith fought back with aggressive play and a single try, and fullback Mike 'I could kill you with a twinkie' Morn made the conversion from a difficult angle to give the DRFC a 7-5 lead. After a second Henley try, flanker Kevin 'Evolution...yeah right!' Whitcher '99 replied with a score to make it 12-12 at the break.

In the second half Dartmouth couldn't put anything together and Henley scored twice to make it 12-25. Storming off the field, Lock Robert 'Funderoos' Leathern '97 was overheard grumbling, 'I should have maimed some of them when I had the chance.'

After almost two weeks of pleasant weather in Wales and England, the DRFC returned to several feet of snow in Hanover and midnight practices in Leverone. No one was very happy.

Dartmouth's next game was against the New England Yankees, a college all-star team consisting of the best players from other New England Universities. The game was held in Boston and was hosted by Mystic River RFC.

The Yankees pressured for the first 20 minutes but were unable to score. Lock Pete 'Smooth rap' Sisitsky '97 and fullback Woods played poised rugby, and Co-Captain Pete 'So what if I own a copy of Buns of Steel' Martin made the conversion to give the DRFC a 7-0 lead at the 25 minute mark.

New England responded later with two quick tries, but with a score from Sisitsky and a penalty kick by New England, the score was 15-14 as the fourth quarter started.

The DRFC demolished New England in the final period. Craig 'Vidal Sasoon' Smith scored, Dimblad made a conversion and two penalty kicks, and lock Rob 'Nobody saw that' Leathern put the game away with a try. The final score was 29-15 to the DRFC.

It was a tremendous victory with one casualty. Co-captain Martin, who broke his arm during the game, said, 'Though it will seem awkward, I'll have to start using my other hand.'

Dartmouth will return to intercollegiate play later this spring, competing in the Ivy League and national tournaments.

Rugby Returns from European Tour

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