Tupelo, MS -[/B] South Carolina claimed its third-consecutive Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference (SCRC) 7s tournament, sweeping the series with an emphatic 34-0 shutout of Florida in the final in Tupelo, Mississippi. The Gamecocks will look to continue their momentum in the SCRC qualifier tournament this weekend.
USC opened the tournament with a 24-17 victory over Mississippi State. The Gamecocks continued pool play with a 35-10 win over Georgia. As the seeding played out, South Carolina saw Georgia and Mississippi State in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. With wins over both, the Gamecocks earned a berth in the Cup Finals.
Florida took the unorthodox road to the finals, losing both pool play matches to Alabama and Ole Miss. The Gators took out two-time SCRC runner-up Tennessee in the quarterfinals, however, and then exacted revenge on Alabama to earn a spot in the finals.
Florida had nothing left in the tank, though, falling to South Carolina, 34-0. "We certainly had more gas in the tank than Florida did," USC 7s coach Steve Darnell told Rugby Today. The Gamecocks pride themselves on their conditioning and believe it is one of the big reasons they have sustained success. "We improved as the day progressed with the culmination in the finals shutting out Florida. We did have some problems with defense earlier in the day, losing our shape several times and allowing line breaks with several leading to scores. Team depth and overall conditioning allowed for little fall off in performance during the five games and we will continue to tweak our conditioning this week."
The Gamecocks jumped out of the gate early collecting a couple of tries. USC had a few line breaks early and Chris Harrell outflanked the Florida defense for the second score of the game. Harrell had an outstanding tournament, netting at least one score in each game.
Florida turned the ball over several times following the early deficit compounding the problem of limited possession. South Carolina capitalized on the errors, adding a few more scores before halftime "We were very much clicking in that game," Darnell added. "Things were going well. Retaining possession really did starve Florida."
At the start of the second half, USC made a few substitutions and started exploiting some defensive gaps. James Whipper made a big difference, making several line breaks and using his great top speed to seal the game in the second half.
With the victory, South Carolina continues to dominate SCRC play. Darnell attributes much of their success to the team's cohesive play.
"After a slow start, we were back on track for the remainder of the day thanks in part to the leadership from Captain Tim Hamill. Having the team work as a unit has been very helpful, and when they needed to shine as individuals they were able to do that. Christian Harrell continued his scoring contributions with tries in every match and James Whipper put his mark on the day with several scores including a single handed return from a kickoff that featured a number of broken tackles. Sean Barnes contributed scores as well, but was most effective at ball retention going to the floor numerous times to secure possession. Others made the tackles they needed to make, attacked space when it materialized, and supported their teammates in defense and in the attack with the overall results being a true team effort."
With a win next week, South Carolina will claim an automatic qualifier berth to the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC). After winning all three tune up tournaments, the Gamecocks are heavy favorites to return to Philadelphia next month.
"Our focus will be on defense as we prepare for the SCRC tournament series finals this coming weekend in Knoxville knowing that all of the teams have benefited from the three tournament series with improved play and conditioning. Many thanks to all that have supported our efforts up this point in the season and we look forward to continued support, as well as positive results on the pitch."
Carolina Point Earners[/B]
Sean Barnes: 1 Try
Thomas Coar: 3 Tries
Dana Corcoran: 1 Try
Brett DeBoy: 1 Try
Tim Hamill: 7 Tries / 2 Conversion
Christian Harrell: 6 Tries
Brian Keown: 2 Tries / 13 Conversion
Mike Mahon: 1 Try
James Whipper: 3 Tries / 1 Conversion
