Georgia Tech
Memphis, Tennessee The Memphis Tigers hosted Georgia Tech on February 9 at Memorial field and came up short. Well…. we just ran out of time. If the Tigers would have had a few more minutes we might have come out on top, but it was not to be.
The Georgia Tech pack outweighed the Tigers by 20 plus pounds per man, but the Tigers could not resist the temptation to run at them. This certainly was not the tactic that was in our best interest. The larger but less fit players were not forced to run, allowing them to conserve their energy. They came to Memphis hoping for a forward match and we gave them one. We just needed more time to win that battle.
The wet field made ball handling difficult for both sides and the referee (Eric Fleming) had his hands full dealing with the unsettled and sloppy play. However, the lads put together a rather entertaining display of rugby with some nice runs and solid tackling by both sides.
The Tigers demonstrated that they had learned their lessons and only had a few offside calls. We’ve been working on phase play and the benefit of our training was to learn how to remain onsides.
High kicks were tough to handle by both sides due to the wet ball. We may have set a record for scrums. I believe there were close to 40 on the day. Despite the poor footing and being outweighed the Tigers held their own in the scrums, winning most of ours and a few of theirs.
Lineouts were much improved in this match which was a great relief to the coaching staff. We have counted lineout play as one of our stronger assets. We need that platform for our attack.
The Tigers did get on the board this game with a nice breakaway run by Freddy Hodges. Phil Elliott converted the kick. Phil notched penalty kick at the 26th minute in the first half for three more. Captain Kian Koleini scored late in the second half and his brother Kasra converted the try. The final was Georgia Tech 31-17 but the play felt much closer than that. We allowed two easy tries early in the second period that put us on the back foot. Despite being behind, the Tigers demonstrated that they were not going to give up until the final whistle.
When the Killer “Bs” took the pitch they had an entirely different attitude. They played a free flowing game and racked up 49 points to nil. (The future is bright! I keep saying that.) The scoring was as follows.
In the first half Bert Milam scored his first try for the Tigers. Mark Williams took a try just before the first half. Both were converted by Kyle Baker for a score of 14-0 at the half. The second half was a track meet in the mud. In quick succession, Jonathan Bauer, Willie Lacey, Brandon Worley, Chris Lemons and Tezman Mosley scored tries. Kasra Koleini converted all kicks and some were at a tough angle. Final score 49-0. (The future is bright.)
We will re-group and head for Georgia Southern this weekend. We’ll be traveling for three weeks and will host Georgia Southern at home in a few weeks. Come on out and support the Tigers.