Receiving an invitation to play in the ACRC Bowl Series, the Men's Undergrad Rugby team travelled to Charlotte, NC on Saturday to take on the United States Militray Academy (Army) in what was Dan Payne's last game as head coach.
With the undergrads split up during the fall - some playing with the Elite Training Group, and others participating in scrimmages and exhibition matches - this was the first game they all played together since last spring. Showing a few signs of rust, the Running Eagles spent much of the first 10 minutes of the match in Army territory, only to have their efforts thwarted by careless penalties. Blane McIlroy finally broke through and scored a try under the sticks to make the score 7-0. McIlroy converted a penalty a few minutes later to increase the lead to 10-0.
Life U finally settled down and put together a great set of disciplined phases which put Hiko Malu through for a 17-0 lead. Army would take advantage of a Life U miscue deep in their own end, and dot down for an unconverted try to close the gap to 17-5. But another spell of patience and discipline would send captain Glen Maricelli over the try line. Army's scrum half would find a rare break in the Life U defense and offload for a converted try to bring the score to 24-12 at the halftime whistle.
Freshman Duncan Van Schalkwyk set up his own try on a great tackle from a box kick early in the second half. Harley Davidson would score a few minutes later on a great offload from Mark Gribben. Davidson would get his second try midway through the second half, and Gribben would be rewarded for another fine run to make the score 48-12. Army and Life U would each tack on one more try to make the final score 53-19.
It was a great match to cap the fall rugby season for Life U, and a special capper for Life U Head Coach Dan Payne. With Payne's new responsibilities as Athletic Director, he will take a reduced role with the rugby team. The Undergrads started in 2010 under Coach Payne and have become an elite program, winning the Division 1-A national championship in 2013, and finishing runner-up in 2014.
Congrats to the boys and to Dan Payne for a great final match of 2014!
