Gainesville, FL - South Carolina opened SCRC 7's play Saturday the same way it left off 15's play in the fall, with a tournament victory in Gainesville, Florida. The Gamecocks went a perfect 5-0 on the afternoon, defeating Tennessee twice en route to a cup championship in the first of four Southeastern Conference tournaments.
The Gamecocks cruised through pool play with victories over Tennessee, Ole Miss, and Vanderbilt. South Carolina knocked off Florida in the semifinals, while Tennessee shut out Alabama in the other semi to force a rematch in the final.
After falling to South Carolina in pool play, the Volunteers jumped out to a quick two-score lead in the final. "Tennessee, they are always going to play us hard, and they had a little extra incentive after losing to us first thing in the morning," said South Carolina coach Mark Morris.
Tennessee came out hitting hard, but the Gamecocks responded with two tries following the half to even the match, though Tennessee refused to quit, issuing continuous pressure on the Gamecocks.
Tennessee had a chance to tie or take the lead, but a penalty for striking an opponent while trying to use a stiff arm stifled the attack. The penalty resulted in a yellow card. The Volunteers hung around and spent plenty of time inside the South Carolina 22, though stern defense from the Gamecocks kept Tennessee out. The final whistle blew with a 26-21 score in favor of South Carolina.
Head 7's Coach, Steve Darnell, for the Gamecocks was pleased with the result. "Good start to the tournament series with contributions from all players who made it onto the pitch and essential support from all of those who did not play. A very strong defensive showing against Ole Miss while down to 6 players to secure the shutout and numerous assists for scores, as well as many individual efforts to get into the try zone throughout the day."
When asked about individual performances, Coach Darnell added, "While all players contributed to the wins, several standout. Brett DeBoy played every minute of every game earning him the Iron Man Award, with numerous scores throughout the day. Christian Harrell earns the Attacking Player Award with his try production, and while Tim Hamill also scored numerous times, he shares the Defensive Player Award with Brian Keown for their game saving tackles and chase downs into the try zone."
The Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference will feature two more tournaments prior to the SCRC Championship, and the winner of the SCRC Championship will earn a berth at the CRC in May. For the Gamecocks, they are using these tournaments to gain some valuable experience in an effort to get back to the Penn Mutual Collegiate Rugby Championship on NBC Sports.
"We reevaluated how we played last year, and the biggest problem for us was not having enough game experience going into the CRC," said Morris. "We have been working since we finished 15's a couple of weeks ago and continue to plug along to try and get better each week."
Playing in the SCRC series will certainly help prepare the squad that receives the automatic qualifier to the CRC. According to Morris, the level of play is much improved from years past.
"Overall, competition across the board was a lot better for all the SEC teams, everybody seemed to step up their programs all the way down the entire conference."
The second installment of the SCRC 7's series brings teams to Tuscaloosa, Alabama on March 28th. The teams will be divided into pools of round robin play, with teams emerging into a semifinal round and then championship round based on results.
"We are back to work this week preparing for the second leg of the tournament series at Alabama and look forward to working towards securing a number one seed for the SCRC finals," added Darnell.
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