Brown storms through Ivy 7s field, shuts out Dartmouth to claim 2026 title
Brown Men’s Rugby left no doubt Sunday in Boston, closing the 2026 Ivy League 7s tournament with a 17-0 win over Dartmouth in the championship match and a defensive performance that set the tone for the entire day. The attack had been electric from the opening game, but the final showed something else, too. Brown could score in bunches, from anywhere on the pitch, and when the title was on the line, the team could also smother an opponent.
The Bears opened the tournament with a 39-5 win over Cornell, and Theo Romero wasted little time getting started. He finished three early tries, the first at 1:25 off an Owen Clarke offload, then another at 3:25 after Charm Tuala connected on a setup that again came from Clarke. Romero struck once more on a quick-tap penalty at 4:50, with Tito Edjua adding the conversion. Tripp King followed with a try out wide after forcing a lineout by dragging a Cornell ball carrier into touch on the previous sequence. Cornell briefly answered with the lone try scored on the Bears all tournament, but Brown quickly restored control. Thomas Bouchard forced a defensive turnover that led to an Inigo Langford try and conversion, Cameron Kean created another turnover that set up Romero again, and Fred Hughes capped the match with a try from more than 50 meters out.
The second pool match brought a 29-0 shutout of Harvard, driven by Brown’s pressure and Edjua’s finishing. His first try came after he somehow backed out of traffic, created space, and burst through a gap, then converted it himself for a 7-0 lead. Brown’s next score came when Bouchard forced a turnover, St John Smith scooped up the ball, drew the edge defender, and sent Marco Lapierre through untouched from more than 40 meters away. Edjua added two more tries, one from a Bouchard pass off a scrum inside the Harvard 22 and another off an offload near the goal line after Clarke broke multiple tackles. Matt Schwab closed the shutout with an interception try.
Brown saved its biggest point total for Penn, rolling to a 48-0 result in the third match. Erik Estienne scored 20 seconds in on a 60-meter run from a Romero offload straight off the kickoff, and Brown never slowed down. Estienne added another on a quick tap-and-go penalty, Hughes scored short side from a ruck off an Edjua pass, and Edjua crossed twice after turnovers and broken-field chances turned into open space. Bouchard added a long try from the scrumhalf spot at a scrum, King finished from a scrum deep in Brown territory after a pin-and-pass sequence facilitated by Langford, and Langford scored late after Rowe Stodolnic forced a turnover, Cameron Kean gathered the loose ball, Hughes delivered the long bridge pass, and Langford beat the edge defender.
That set up the championship, and the decisive moments came from both speed and resistance. Schwab opened the final at 2:00, taking a pass from Tuala inside Brown’s own 22, racing 80 meters and fighting off two tacklers for the first try. Brown’s second came at 9:20 after Edjua blew up a Dartmouth penalty play with a tackle at midfield, won the counter ruck himself, and the defense, with help from Clarke and Estienne, forced the turnover that sent Romero on a 50-meter scoring run. Langford then sealed it at 12:00, stepping through a gap off a Tuala pass and scoring from more than 60 meters out before converting for the 17-0 final. For all the attacking highlights, that final against Dartmouth may have been the clearest picture of Brown’s dominance all day.
The individual numbers were staggering. Edjua finished the tournament with five tries, five conversions, and 35 points. Romero matched him with five tries for 25 points, while Langford piled up three tries, four conversions, and 24 points. King, Hughes, Schwab, and Estienne each scored twice. Lapierre and Bouchard added one try apiece. Add it all up, and Brown scored 133 points while allowing just five across four matches, an Ivy 7s run built on pace, breakdown pressure, and a defense that looked strongest when the stakes were highest.
A-side Roster: Thomas Bouchard ‘28, Owen Clarke ‘26, Tito Edjua ‘27, Erik Estienne ‘28, Fred Hughes G’26, Cameron Kean ‘29, Tripp King G’26, Inigo Langford ‘29, Marco Lapierre ‘28, Theo Romero ‘27, Matt Schwab G’26, Ben Shirley ‘27, St John Smith ‘28, Rowe Stodolnic ‘27, Charm Tuala ‘28
