Heading into this weekend’s road trip, which included games at Dartmouth and Brown, the men’s rugby team knew that the possibility of advancing to the Northeast Regional Tournament hung in the balance. The Tigers also knew that they would have their work cut out for them, especially against a Dartmouth team that won the Northeast last year. Before Saturday’s contest, Dartmouth was 4-0 in league play, having beaten its Ivy League opponents by an average score of 66-3.
Unfortunately for Princeton, the Big Green lived up to expectations, getting off to a quick start and never relenting in an 81-3 manhandling of the Tigers.
“Dartmouth opened with a waterfall of tries,” junior inside center Adam Nassr said. “It felt like we were playing defense even when we had the ball.”
“Waterfall” is an appropriate word to describe an offense that kept Princeton on its toes for the entire first half. Dartmouth made it nearly impossible for Princeton to get possession in the match. The Big Green often got the ball to the edge of Princeton’s defensive line quickly enough to give its backs a one- or two-man overlap. Dartmouth’s junior wingers, brothers Nick and Chris Downer, exploited this open space to combine for six tries on the day.
Princeton’s ruggers were impressed with the continuity and offloading of Dartmouth’s backs as well as the technical skill and relentlessness of the forwards.
“Dartmouth’s forward pack had experience, mobility and good hands,” junior prop John Veras said. “They got very low on in the scrum, making it hard for us to get a good push.”
Princeton showed its character in the second half by toughening its defense, despite facing an insurmountable deficit.
“They were not invincible,” Nassr said. “When we put pressure on them in the second half, they made mistakes.”
“At certain moments, we proved to ourselves that we can play with the best,” senior scrum-half Josh Grehan added. “But these were only flashes of brilliance. We have to commit to 80 minutes of good rugby.”
After the game, Princeton drove straight from Hanover, N.H., to Providence, R.I., and tried to put Saturday’s devastating loss in the past.
Despite its best efforts, though, Princeton seemed mentally and physically weakened in a 39-10 loss to Brown. The 29-point gulf between the Tigers and the Bears is a measure that may have been exaggerated by the aftershock of the Dartmouth game.
As has been the case in every game this season, Princeton came out slowly in the first half, only picking up its play in the second. This was not so costly against teams like Cornell and Columbia, which allowed the Tigers to hang around. But Brown, like Dartmouth, capitalized on early Princeton mistakes to create a lead that it didn’t surrender. Penalties handicapped Princeton each time the offense looked to be mounting an attack.
The forward pack, limited by the absence of junior prop Scott Gates — who was injured against Dartmouth — again struggled in the scrums and lineouts. The combination of penalties and poor set pieces allowed Brown’s straight-ahead ground attack to find pay dirt several times early in the first half.
True to form, Princeton opened the second half with a surge of intensity.
“We kept possession, we moved down the field, we scored, and we made tackles,” sophomore wing and Spencer Ryan said. “If we could only stretch how we played in those 20 minutes out into an entire game of rugby, we could really be a scary team to face.”
Junior Zac Flowerman, who moved from hooker to prop in place of Gates, has had a nose for the try zone all season. Flowerman’s two tries, his eighth and ninth of the season, were Princeton’s only scores against Brown.
The Tigers’ record fell to 2-4 and will finish the season with a losing record for the first time in head coach Richard Lopacki’s 10 years with the team. This is also the first season that Princeton has played in an official Ivy League, and senior flanker and hooker Travis Pena said he sees a connection.
“The competition this year has been tougher with the new Ivy League,” Pena said. “A lot of the teams have come up and improved since last year.”
The Tigers end the regular season at Penn next Saturday.
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