Cameron Walton

The Memphis Tigers fell to the visiting Mississippi State Bulldogs last Saturday.  The bulldogs came to Memphis short and were bolstered by several of the Memphis Kings.

Post match analysis shows the loss was associated with several factors:

• The Tigers fresh off of their trip to the SIRC 7s tournament clearly were off their 15s game.  Most of the Bulldogs points
  

  Hayden Snyder

  were scored in the first half before the coaches could make critical defensive adjustments.

• Thankfully, we have some very good new players. Unfortunately, they have not had
  

  William Gibson

  time to learn our offensive and defensive strategies, leaving missed opportunities and gaps in our defense.

• We are still in search of a kicker. As Swat has said, if you can kick, you get to start,
  

  Captain Chris Lemons

  even if you have never seen a rugby game before.  We are that desperate.

This was a very frustrating loss for the Tigers and the lads were clearly disappointed.  What made the loss more disappointing is that most of the players played their hearts out.  The Tigers to a man were aggressive to the very end.  Powerful running plays moved the ball nicely into position only to become stopped by a knock or fumble after the tackle.

We will get to work as soon as the weather lets up.  We have a lot of season to play and we will get better with each match.  The lads are gelling as a team and they have lots of heart.  I am confident we will sort these issues out.

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Old Boys, Friends, Family and Fans – We need your support.  Please join the Tiger Rugby 100 Club and be a person who contributes at least $100 annually to help the club.  It is easy to contribute with Pay Pal…  and if you are tight on funds, set it up to charge your card $10 per month.  Everyone can handle that.  Even Phil.  Ha!  Just kidding Phil.  We are trying to get 100 folks to sign up, so everyone must be in.  (I’m leaving Phil’s name until he signs up and then I am going to pick on someone else.)

Please update your Kroger Card for Tiger Rugby.  Kroger requires that you select your funds to go to the Tigers each January.  So, if you have signed up in the past, please sign up again.  This is free money.  A small portion of each purchase will be given to the Tigers. So, go to this Kroger page to learn more and sign up today.  Discover how we can get free money from Kroger.  Thanks for helping with this important initiative.  Do not delay. Do this today.