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News
Greenville go 1-1 at
the Division II Nationals
May 17, 2007 -- Well it was the weekend we had trained all year for. Our chance to represent the South and play the big guns at the nationals.
We had been pitted against the Pacific #1 seed and perennial Sweet 16 and Final 4 participant Red Mountain from Phoenix, Arizona. All the scouting reports had said they had speed to burn out wide so keep it tight and frustrate them. Sounded like an excellent plan but not one we executed so well in the first half. A the 20 minute mark it remained scoreless but we had pretty much been on the back foot the whole quarter. A stupid penalty by yours truly and then not getting back 10 to make a tackle led to their first try under the posts. The scored twice more before we woke up and finally started playing our game and running the ball tight and going of rshort yards at a time rather than big gains. We maintained possession and managed to score a nice try on the stroke of halftime to make the score 22-7.
After a well-deserved verbal shellacking by the coaches we headed out for the 2nd half re-newed and ready to take it to them. We started to play our game in the 2nd half and played better than the first half but any mistake we made was pounced on by Red Mountain. They ended up scoring 7 tries and won the half 45-0. We would go on attack and either knock the ball on, drop it or turn it over in the tackle and before you know it they had scampered 60 meters to score under the posts. We never stopped trying but our skills let us down. Final score was 67-7.
That was the fastest team I have played against in a long time. That game was a great example of no matter how fit you think you are, you are not fit enough. Red Mountain has been here the past 6 years and they know what it takes to win at this level. That game was a great eye opener on how the game can be played and just a great example of High Tempo rugby.
So it was on to Sunday's game. We needed to restore some pride for Greenville and also for the South as Memphis were shellacked 83-5 by Raleigh the day before. We were playing the MARFU #1 Seed and #7 Tourney seed Norfolk City Blues.
We had to come out strong. We couldn't start slow which has been our achilles heel at times. We played well at the strat of the half. Running hammers and keeping them on the back foot with kicks to the corner. We just couldn't quite cross the line. After a period of sustained pressure Norfolk managed to break out and get us back on our line where they eventually crossed to score. Time to pick th epace up and execute. That score woke us up and we again started to work the ball down into their half for sustained periods and come back with scores. We managed to cross their line 4 times in that half with tries to Dan Roberts, Brett Van Der Merwe, Big Zach Hunt and one other. Norfolk replied with one more but we took a big lead going into the 2nd half.
We knew if we came out in the 2nd half and scored quick that would be it. But it was as if we are trying too hard and we let several try scoring opportunities go a begging through sloppy hands. After 20 minutes in the 2nd half the score was still the same. Finally after a period of sustained pressure on their line Brett Fereira manged to stretch the defence and dot down in the corner. We had 15 minutes to go and the legs were starting to get tired. We let Norfolk in for 2 gift tries but managed to hold on for a 32-26 win. A deserved win to cap off a very successful season. Our goal was to reach the Sweet 16. The next step is to strive for the National Championship. The difference between the elite sides there this weekend and everyone else is that to them just making the Sweet 16 is not good enough. Their goal is to win it all. We have shown this year that we can make it too the nationals, the win Sunday shows that we can compete there, the goal now should be to get there every year and go further each year.
Great job everybody and a huge Thanks to the Coaching Staff. Your drive and dedication has gotten us from no matrix wins to competing in the Nationals in just 2 years. Sundays win was a tribute to your work. Looking forward to seeing what we can achieve next year. Thank You.
Dan
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