Would the presence of Madison Hughes have helped Dartmouth in the CRC?

It’s an interesting question. Hughes, the captain of the USA 7s team did not participate, as he was being saved for the NACRA 7s next week in Cary, NC. Since Hughes has probably been the USA’s best player this season (there are, admittedly, a lot of candidates for that award), and since his roles as halfback, playmaker, and captain are crucial, you wouldn’t want him injured just as the USA was trying to qualify for the 2016 Olympics.

Dartmouth Head Coach Gavin Hickie grudgingly acknowledged the wisdom of holding him out, as did Hughes in an interview.

And both knew that Dartmouth would be a better team with Hughes on it - he was MVP of the CRC in his freshman year in 2012, after all. (Correction - I was incorrect in saying Hughes was on the team in 2011. He was not.)

(NBC’s Brian Hightower rightly pointed out that it wasn’t just Hughes that helped win those tournaments, but the ability to retain ball with big forwards - he then, curiously, started talking about Paul Jarvis, who is 5-9. He probably meant Nate Brakely, who is 6-5.)

Before this year’s CRC, Hickie said Hughes was probably good for ten points a game. Well, if that were true, then the presence of Hughes would have made a big difference. The Big Green beat St. Joseph’s and Penn Sate, while losing to Arizona 24-0 in pool play. Hughes could have produced one extra try in each of those games, and, as one of the leading tacklers on the Sevens World Series, could certainly have stopped at least one try. That wouldn’t have changed their pool play record of 2-1, but the Dartmouth points difference would have improved from +5 to about +25, easily enough to beat out Michigan for a Cup Quarterfinal spot.

After that, who knows? Except Dartmouth would have been facing Cal, and it’s hard to imagine Cal losing, even with Hughes on the other side of the ball. That shows how strong the college teams are getting in 7s - that the presence of one of the best 7s players in the country can boost a team, but not over the top. It’s likely Dartmouth would have made the top eight, but no further. Instead, they made the Plate Final, and finished 10th. 

Note: Hughes got another accolade recently when he was named Dartmouth's male Athlete of the Year - an impressive accomplishment considering rugby isn't usually considered for awards like this.