Coming off a 17-12 defeat of Utah, Dartmouth had to feel confident facing the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame at the USA 7s Collegiate Rugby Championships in Philadelphia.

But they aren’t called the Fighting Irish for nothing, as Notre Dame made Dartmouth work for everything in an exciting 24-19 Big Green win.

For two minutes early on, Dartmouth worked the ball down to Notre Dame's end and looked so very patient before Chris Downer finished off the effort with a dive-over try in the corner. Dartmouth led 5-0.

Then it was 10-0 as Nick Downer helped set up the next try from midfield, eating up ground he is absolutely slammed in the tackle but still manages to put some distance on his pass to Tanner Scott. The wing outraces everyone 40 meters to the corner.

Scott did much the same moments later, this time the try gets converted by Downer.

But Notre Dame started to build some good movements. Nick Severyn got the first try, finishing of a nice series of offloading. The try started when Dartmouth blew over a ruck inside their 22-meter-line, but no one claimed the ball and it lay there, exposed, for Notre Dame to steal.

17-5 at halftime.

“As we all know, an end-of-half, end-of-game try can make a huge difference,” said Dartmouth Head Coach Alex Magleby.

And that it did. Kevin Ritt scored for Notre Dame and with Andy O'Connor’s conversion it was 17-12. Then, with Ritt in the blood bin after a nasty hit, O’Connor sliced through for the tying try. His conversion put Notre Dame ahead, much to the delight of the vociferous Irish supporters.

But the final say was Dartmouth’s. Notre Dame’s Muhammed Abdul-Shakoor was hauled down after a long run, and Dartmouth countered, finally getting the ball into the hands of TJ Cameron for the try.

Dartmouth had escaped. Just.

“We knew it was going to be touch and go,” said Dartmouth Head Coach Alex Magleby, as he prepared to take his team out of the sun and back to their hotel for a break. “At the end of the half there we gave up a bit of possession and made a couple of mistakes.”

Magleby said the situation was the opposite against Utah, where all his team needed was some possession to score some tries.

Against Notre Dame, it was the Irish that dominated ball control.

“They kept the ball real nicely for a long stretch of time and scored on us,” said Magleby. “We had some new guys in there in the 2^nd half and they made some uncharacteristic decisions. In the end we escaped against a good Notre Dame team.”

Magleby said Dartmouth looked good in moments, but the players – some new to rugby – are still learning.

“It was a learning experience for us and in no way was it a comprehensive game for us.”

A young, inexperienced Eagles side was dominated in absolutely every facet of the game in their 87-8 loss to the England Saxons Saturday in Northampton, England in the first round of the Churchill Cup.

The Eagles opened scoring with a Tai Enosa penalty in the very early going, but that would be one of few highlights on the day, as the Saxons ran off 12 tries and 87-consecutive points before Scott LaValla touched down the Eagles' only try in the 78th minute. 

The Saxons' talent, skill and experience gap was most obvious was at the scrum, where they drove the Americans at will, drawing upwards half a dozen penalties for collapsing the scrum. The Saxons' fifth try was a penalty try, awarded after the Eagles' were called for a second scrum penalty in less than a minute.

Starters Phil Thiel and Eric Fry were subbed off early in the second half for Shawn Pittman and Chris Biller, but the changes didn't improve the American scrum. Pittman, in all fairness, was playing out of position at loosehead. He plays tighthead regularly for the London Welsh.

The Eagles also struggled in the lineout, but fared much better in that setpiece than in the scrum. The throws did gain more consistency when Biller took over at hooker for Thiel.

The Eagles managed to put together a threat when trailing 26-3 late in the first half. Enosa caught an out pass off a ruck, stepped through the England defense, offloaded to openside flanker Danny LaPrevotte, who then dished to John van der Giessen to inch the Americans near deep inside England's 22.

This bit of ball movement was the USA's most impressive on the day, but possession was turned over in the ruck following van der Giessen being brought down. The Eagles quickly turned England over and marched straight back to the Saxons' line, but Fry knocked on before touching the ball down. That would be USA's last sniff at points until LaValla scored in the dying minutes. 

The Eagles take on Tonga Wednesday at Moseley Road. That game will be webcast live on Universalsports.com at 12:30 ET and aired in tape delay on Universal Sports at 8pm ET. The Saxons game will premier on Universal Sports ay 6pm today.