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Pirates take the spoils at State Tournament
State Tournament
Sunday, October 26th, 2008
Danville, Va — Despite scoring the first and last tries of the game, experience told in the final game of the 2008 State Tournament and ECU came through as champions.
The Tarheels got off to a great start, collecting the ball after their own kick-off then producing quick ball which ended up with Gregor MacLennan going under the posts for a seven point lead after about 30 seconds of play. They continued to pile on the pressure for long periods of the first half but couldn’t score when it mattered, going close on several occasions.
More importantly, the first three times ECU got out of their half they were awarded penalties which Robert Lee duly slotted – the ECU Grad student kicked superbly all day.
The Tarheels continued to play well but just before halftime, ECU got right in the driving seat with one flash of brilliance and one piece of luck.
Freshmen center Matt Hughson showed that he is possibly one of the best players to come through the North Carolina HS system when he took a ball on his own half way line, beat three tacklers close to touch and then charged over for a brilliant score. Then ECU charged down a kick, the ref missed the knock-on, with the ECU player narrowly beating UNC to touch the ball down.
After the break, having weathered the storm, ECU cruised home with 4 tries. Gregor MacLennan got his second try with the last play of the game. UNC were comprehensively beaten by a better side on the day and there can be no complaints about the score.
Although the team was bitterly disappointed with the defeat, the UNC team showed well this weekend. Many young players made a big impression with massive performances coming from Justin Epifanio, Stewart Stokes, Ben Mohan and Evan Raczkowski.
It is easy to mark up a State Tournament loss as a failure with the past record of UNC being perennial winners, but collegiate rugby in North Carolina has changed. The emergence of ECU as a force has come from the abundance of students who have come from rugby playing high schools within the state. Hopefully they will now take the step up and join UNC in South's Division One league.
The arrival of the scrum machine will help immensely and the youth of this team will ensure that the future is bright for the Tarheels. Looking at the two teams this afternoon you could visibly see a vast age difference, although ECU have a few young players, most of them are seasoned campaigners. It didn't go for UNC today, but the future looks bright.
Next week 8 UNC players will be representing North Carolina in the South's All Star competition in Greeneville, South Carolina. The remaining players will take on Elon at home, kick off 1pm.
UNC Lineup:
Man of the Match:
Tries: MacLennan (2)
Conversions: MacLennan (2)
Penalties:
Drop Goals:
Reported by Andy Richards
Modified Oct 31, 2008. 10:38 am