The 2017 season was a promising year for the college's 1st XV, with the team opening their account with a 27-13 away win against Liston College. The following weekend, Dilworth produced one of the biggest upsets in 1A history, beating 2016 National Champions and 2017 World Championship silver medallists, Mount Albert Grammar, 20-15. The win brought national attention to the college and took Dilworth to the top of the 1A table for the first time in the school's history. After respectable 2017 and 2018 campaigns avoiding relegation, a noteworthy feat for the league's smallest school with a roll of just over 300, in 2019, Dilworth finished the season in the drop zone. However, in their relegation match, they won emphatically, downing One Tree Hill 95-0 to secure a sixth consecutive berth in 1A rugby for 2020.