It was a pretty warm afternoon for fall, but it made for a great day for rugby.
The University of Georgia’s Rugby Club had its Alumni Day at the intramural fields yesterday. Plenty of former UGA rugby players came back to Athens to watch this year’s A and B teams face off in matches against Louisiana State University.
Energy was high. A lot of the guys were glad to be back on their old stomping grounds and watch on as the current team carried on their legacy. There were chants, songs, and plenty of cheers as both of the UGA Rugby Club’s A and B teams won against the LSU Tigers.
In the first match, the A team started off a little slower than they would have liked, but managed to pick up the pace before halftime, coming out 19-0.
President of the Rugby Club, Brian Acklen said there was “a lot of physicality in open play” to help the Dawgs get that first half boost. There were key plays from the outside center, winger and fullback and good runs from Bryson Braswell and freshman Garrett O’Dell to help put the Dawgs on the board.
“Ran around ‘em. Ran through ‘em. Ran over ‘em,” Ackwell said regarding his team’s play in the first half.
Things got a little sketchy in the second half though. Injuries to key players at wing led to impromptu substitutions and the stout defense that held the Tigers to 0 points in the first half began to give.
Speed was the key for LSU. Whenever they could, they’d find a way to bring the ball around the edge, exploiting players that were recently subbed in. Plays like that led the almost-comeback for the Tigers. They amounted 19 points in the second half and even had the ball with an opportunity to tie the game on the last possession of the game, but Georgia held out and shut them down before they could and pulled out with a victory, 26-19.
During the B team game, there were multiple fast and long runs from UGA players that led to big scores. On one play there was #17 for the Dawgs slipped past multiple defenders, and had a trail of Tigers trailing behind him as he found the end zone.
Quite the way to cap off the last home game of the season. The UGA Rugby Club is now looking forward, continuing conference play in Knoxville against the University of Tennessee on November 5th.