It's been a good start for Dartmouth and a nice follow-on from their run to the CRC final.
And one of the players who has been part of that wave is Richard Wofford. A smart rugby player with good experience, a talented ballcarrier, and tough defender, Wofford added another word to his resume at the CRC: clutch.
In the CRC Dartmouth played five games, all decided by a try or less. In total they scored 12 tries, and Wofford scored five of them. (Ethan Knight scored five, as well). Those tries included the overtime game-winner against AIC, a try in the final which they lost 14-12, and both tries in a 10-7 win over Notre Dame.
He has followed that up with a strong start for this 15s season.
"Scoring an overtime try and winning that game in the CRC was one of the best feelings I have ever had," Wofford told GRR. "That was an amazing tournament. Every game was a one-score game. Our 7s coach, Dom Wareing really helped us. In 2025 we almost lost to Indiana and we won in overtime and I remember coming off the field thinking 'we almost went out in the second round.' But Dom was all smiles; he said 'in 7s, a win is a win.' That told me a lot about how you look at the game, and especially in 7s, you can't look at the past."
Coming into this season Wofford said he doesn't feel like he does anything particularly different; it's more that he is playing with more confidence.
Wofford started playing in Atlanta Youth Rugby, encouraged b his dad, who played the game himself before turning to refereeing. He started playing as an eight-year-old, but also played other sports—rugby, basketball, wrestling, football, it all helped me.
Wofford excelled, and when got to play with Panther Rugby Academy, which helped develop his play, he realized he might be quite good at this sport.
"That Panther experience was really good, I felt I played well, and I was really enjoying it," Wofford said. "It became something I knew I wanted to keep doing."
When college came up, Wofford knew he wanted to go to a good school and also play competitive rugby. He looked at the service academies, and Brown, and finally settled on Dartmouth.
"Playing at Dartmouth was a new experience for me," Wofford explained. "A lot of the team is walk-ons, and they come from a lot of different cultures. For me, I had played club rugby in high school so I never played for my school. So that was a new experience for me."
