Dartmouth Represented Among USA Rugby, Magazine All-Americans

Several Dartmouth Rugby players were recently selected for accolades among the American rugby community.  Most notably, Co-Captain Paul Jarvis ’12 was selected as one of 37 players on the USA Rugby Collegiate All-American squad.  The team is selected from the pool of collegiate players who attend a domestic American university and compete for an American university team, and is picked on the basis of performance over the course of the domestic collegiate rugby season.

Jarvis, who received an Honorable Mention from the selection committee for the 2008-09 season as a freshman, expressed gratitude and pride in being selected.  “I'm very excited and proud about having made the All-American squad”, he said, forwarding credit to Coach Magleby and the Dartmouth Rugby program for “creating an environment where the level of play is continuing to rise and the standard expected from everyone is so high”.  

Selection for the All-American squad carries with it an invitation to continue to the next round of selection for the Collegiate All-American Touring Squad, which is open to all players eligible to play in the United States, including students studying or living abroad.  This team will be coached by Dartmouth Rugby coach Alex Magleby ’00.  Jarvis, who will be taking classes this summer in Hanover as part of Dartmouth’s sophomore summer program, said he is still deciding whether or not to pursue a spot on the touring squad, citing academic commitments and a long spring season.  Nonetheless Jarvis said he is “honored” and looks forward to continuing to compete at the highest levels next year.

Meanwhile, several other Dartmouth players were named as part of the “All American” squads published by two popular American rugby periodicals.  American Rugby News selected Jarvis and Will Lehman ’12 as members of their All-American team, while Rugby Magazine bestowed juniors Charlie Grant ’11, Nick Downer ’11 and sophomore Derek Fish ’12 with honorable mentions for their squad.  Unlike the USA Rugby All-Americans, which are determined by regional selectors in conjunction with a country-wide selection committee, the magazine All-Americans were selected based on mailed-in nominations from coaches around the country based on performance this past season.

Congratulations to all Dartmouth Rugby players on a great 2009-2010 season!  While Dartmouth will likely field several sevens teams this summer, the team will not reunite in earnest until the start of fall preseason training on August 27th.  The first match of the fall 2010 season is scheduled for September 4th against Queens University in Kingston, Ontario.