Tarheels lose to Volunteers in Knoxville

South D1 League

Saturday, February 16th, 2008

Carolina A 17, University of Tennessee 31

Knoxville — UNC traveled to Knoxville Saturday and fell to the defending South Champions 31-17. A clear sky and great weather heralded a perfect day for rugby at Fulton Bottoms field. Both teams came out fired up and put big hits in to set the tone for a grudge match.
Tight officiating cited both clubs for offsides as lines were creeping up on defense, and the teams traded possessions early. UNC was able to stymie Tennessee’s big centers, create turnovers, and spin the ball wide early to gain some ground offensively. After several minutes in Volunteer territory fly-half Ed Perkins opened up the scoring with a penalty kick. Tennessee responded quickly, however, as an alert winger stepped in front of a Carolina pass at the Heels’ twenty-two and dotted down for the first try.
In what proved to be the theme of the day, UNC did well in the open field and at the breakdown, but were simply beaten in the scrums. The much larger Tennessee pack, when they didn’t steal Carolina ball, were able to keep the Heels on the back foot and disrupt the service from scrum-half Rufaro Sikipa to Perkins.
A few minutes later, Carolina was called for holding on and Tennessee added a penalty kick to extend their lead 10-3. Just after the kickoff inside center Mike Claunch was yellow-carded for dangerous play as he took down a bulbous Tennessee center. Playing a man down proved disastrous for Carolina, and the Volunteers were able to exploit overloads to score two quick tries, one after the forwards camped on the UNC line and then spun the ball to a crashing center, and the other an exploitation of an overload in the corner.
When UNC was back to full strength the backline stiffened defensively, seeing big hits and stout defense from Claunch and full-back Evan Rose (Man of the Match). But UNC was unable to get in scoring position again, and a disheartened Carolina side headed for halftime down 24-3.
Head coach Andy Richards stressed that the game was still winnable at half-time, and backs coach Pete Earsman challenged the heart of the side for allowing the Volunteers to dictate the momentum.
Carolina emerged with renewed focus in a hard-fought and heartbreaking second half that saw many scoring opportunities. UNC charged down the field offensively, playing expansive rugby and doing a good job of passing out of the tackle. UT was repeatedly penalized for offsides and Perkins kicking for touch allowed Carolina to run plays off five man line-outs. Tennessee marked flanker Alex Lee and prop Jackson Paterno well in the backline, schooled from the Clemson game tape to not make the same mistakes as the Tigers.
A professional foul sin-bin for chronic offsides gave Carolina the edge they needed, and after a series of forward picks that were stuffed on the goal-line, lock Eric Martin played Messiah for the Tar Heels and dove for the try. Perkins converted, and the score was a manageable 24-10. UNC had the momentum and the energized Tar Heels again drove down the pitch, this time sprung by freshman winger Daniel Van Niekerk, who weaved through would-be tacklers before offloading to continue the Carolina charge. The Volunteers again buckled down defensively around the twenty two, but captain Rufaro Sikipa found a seam in the defense and kicked a perfect grubber through the heart of the opposition. The last Tennessee defender shoulder-checked a diving Sikipa to save the try. The referee awarded a penalty try, and UNC had all the momentum headed into the final quarter of the game.
Tennessee then ran a time-consuming offensive campaign, the Heels hurting in the scrums and tackling well but unable to win back the ball. The Carolina pack did a great job of holding up the ball in the tackle, and the backline consistently did the same to UT’s crashing centers, but scrums rarely boded well for Carolina.
UNC finally won the ball back and was in good offensive position, but a bizarre turnover gave the ball back to UT.
Emotions were high as the frantic Tar Heels held the middle of the try line stoutly on defense, but a UT winger found just enough space to dive into the corner for a 31-17 Tennessee lead with 4 minutes left, which proved to be the final margin.
The Tar Heels were happy with an inspired second half rally, but deeply disappointed at the result. UNC now looks to their first home fixture of the semester, as they take on the Georgia Bulldogs on Erinhaus Field next Saturday.

UNC Lineup: Baker, Blanchard, Paterno, Rogers, Martin, Epifanio, Lee, Chesson, Sikipa, Perkins, Yates, Claunch, Giffin, Bello, Evans. Subs: Krouse, Van Niekerk, Raczkowski, Gardner, Russo.

Man of the Match: Evan Rose

Tries: Martin, Penalty Try
Conversions: Perkins (2 of 2)
Penalties: Perkins (1 of 1)
Drop Goals:

Reported by Shaun Blanchard

Modified Feb 24, 2008. 04:34 pm