No Groundhog Day for the Tarheels

by Andy Richards

It wasn't easy but a strong forward performance in the second-half against NC State saw the Tarheels home. Both sides were locked 3-3 at halftime, but brightening skies in the second half saw UNC camped in the NC State half. Territorial dominance wasn't converted into points because NC State closed down the Tarheels three-quarter line with an effective rush defense and it wasn't until 15 minutes from time that Sophomore Prop Darren Webber picked up at a ruck and dived over for the game winning score.

Earlier in the Day, the Tarheels beat UNC Charlotte 51 -3. The Tarheels made hard work of it at first and were only 10-3 up at half-time. UNC-C must have sensed an upset and tried to get under the skins of their opponents by increasing the 'physicality'. Instead of responding in kind, the Tarheels did what they do best and scored 41 unanswered points.

The B side played in a round-robin against ECU and Wake Forest. The Killer B's showed great determination against Wake Forest, and with just seconds remaining Derek Yates made a break up the middle, passed to Andres Lopez who went in to win it 17-14. ECU proved too much of a match for UNC's B side and so all 3 teams finished on 1-1.

The A side will meet ECU in the final on Sunday. ECU played well in patches and did enough to get by Guilford and then Wake Forest. With a dry pitch and both sides intent on playing running rugby, the final should be a great spectacle.

Created Oct 25, 2008. 08:28 pm
Modified Oct 26, 2008. 08:47 pm