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News
Rugby, Rugby, Rugby -
Oy, Oy, Oy!
1/26/08 -- This past weekend the Greenville Griffins RFC got
their 2008 matrix season underway with a crucial 13 - 11 road
victory in Charleston South Carolina by holding off a very determined
Outlaws side. After going 1 -1 at the D2 nationals in Columbia
last year the Griffins came into this season not only as the
defending matrix champions, but also as the 11th ranked team
in D2 rugby. Being at the top of the table puts a big target
on your back so it was imperative for the Griffins to back up
the best spring season in the clubs young history with a strong
showing.
As the first half got underway it was clear that it was going
to be a fast paced physical game the whole way. In the early
moments of the half both sides challenged the others inside
defence with crash after crash but each came up empty as the
big hits were coming in from both teams. As the half wound
on the style of play shifted to a wider attack but both teams
were able to play some impressive cover defence. As the contest
wore on the Outlaws lack of discipline started to catch up
with them. And as the penalty count mounted the Griffins eventually
eased ahead in terms of the territorial advantage and were
able to draw first blood through a routine penalty from 10m
out that winger Johnathan Mulli slotted with ease (Griffins
3 - Outlaws 0). At the time going for poles was a hotly debated
issue as the Griffins pack was chewing up a lot of ground
with their Savannah tactics, but the penalty was the right
choice and ended up being the difference at the end of the
match.
The remainder of the half was a great contest both physically
and mentally that saw both sides making several wide line
breaks only to be swallowed up by good cover defence. During
that 25 minute stretch the Griffins backline was playing some
of their most physical defence in years. One passage that
comes to mind is when the Outlaws Eagles (pool) representative
made a long break down the left side of the pitch only to
be cut down by fullback Dave "PNG" Edwards. As the
tackle occurred he was able to offload to inside support but
that was snuffed out with a big hit by flyhalf Mike "Tex"
Miller.
Towards the last 10-15 minutes of the first half the Griffins
pack was able to put the squeeze on the Outlaws forwards at
both lineout and scrum time. The resulting advantage that
was gained by winning the physical battles eventually set
up a scrum at mid field which the Griffins used to launch
their attack for the only try of the first half. The scrum
was solid as a rock providing clean ball for the captain and
scrum half Brett Vandermerwe. He made an excellent move off
of his outside foot to get away from the opposition scrum
half and was faced with only the fullback to beat. Loose forward
Brandon Harrison took an inside ball from Brett and he had
the power and pace to make it to the line for the first try
of the matrix season. Mulli was able to slot the extras and
the Griffins rolled into halftime with a narrow lead (Griffins
10 - Outlaws 0).
As the second half got started it was clear that the Outlaws
had their backs against the wall and that they were ready
to fight their way back into the match. They made substitutions
at some key positions (9 and 12) and straightened out their
discipline problems. They also shifted their defensive pattern
to cut down on some of the line breaks that the Griffins inside
backs had been making during the first half. Both sides again
traded possession and territory evenly during the early portion
of the second half but he Outlaws were able to get on the
board first with a penalty kick to bring the score to (Griffins
10 - Outlaws 3).
After being hit for 3 the Griffins were able to do enough
to get into the Outlaws territory and eventually won another
penalty that winger Johnathan Mullikan slotted to give the
Griffins a little breathing room (Griffins 13 - Outlaws 3).
And then the injury bug hit. After taking some heavy knocks
in close to the scrums and rucks captain and scrum half Brett
Vandermerwe had to be helped from the field after straining
his left hamstring. Upon his departure the Outlaws slotted
another penalty which brought the score to within a converted
try (Griffins 13 - Outlaws 6). To make matters worse a few
minutes later the Outlaws put in their first try of the day
to bring the scores to within a coversion of being tied. Fortunately
for the Griffins Oliver "OG" Goodman kept the try
scorer away from the stick and their kicker failed to convert
(Griffins 13 - Outlaws 11).
And then the injury bug hit again as number eight Dan Roberts
was side swiped in the knee by a diving defender after mistakenly
missing a flyhack opportunity and had to be helped from the
pitch in serious condition. Due to the fact that we traveled
light and that we had already lost Brad Oney in the first
half the injuries were starting to become a factor. With somewhere
between 15 - 19 minutes to play it was clear that the match
hung in the balance and that either team could have come away
with the victory. The Griffins knew that they would have to
lay it on the line to come away with the road victory and
that is exactly what they did.
It was a great start to the matrix season but it did come
at a cost. Potentially losing Dan Roberts and Brad Crawley
for the season to knee injuries, having Brad Oney in doubt
with a foot injury, and the questions surrounding Brett Vandermerwes
hamstring the Griffins have a lot of questions to answer this
week at they prepare for a tough Cape Fear side that will
be traveling to Greenville with getting back into the top
of the matrix pool on their mind after dropping a game at
home against Columbia last week. The side will certainly be
focused on handling their business at home this weekend.
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