WILLIAMSBURG, VA–The Hampden-Sydney Tigers began their fall 2017 CCRC schedule with a loss at William and Mary. The Tigers had previously only faced Longwood University in a thirty-minute scrimmage eleven days prior, resulting in a 15-15 tie, while the Tribe was coming off a more than hundred-point victory over Lynchburg College. Knowing this, the Tigers expected a physical, demanding game and had prepared for that. While holding a ten-point lead going into the second half, penalties and fatigue gave the Tribe enough footing to put together a second half comeback and take the win.
The Tigers were the first on the scoreboard when, in the 11th minute, second row Lawson Omer recovered a loose ball out of the back of a Tribe ruck and passed it wide to winger Ciaran Lewis, who took it in from nearly 22 meters out for a try. Austin Hardman's conversion attempt was no good, but the Tigers had found a weakness they would exploit again and again. Five minutes later, center David Miller intercepted a pass between the William and Mary centers on the Tigers' 10m line and outran his pursuers for sixty meters to score the Tigers' second try in the 16th minute. Austin Hardman's conversion attempt again failed to hit the mark, but the Tigers expanded their lead to 10-0. The first two tries of the game were created not on the Tigers' possession, but by providing consistently high pressure on the Tribe's back line. Just as in the Longwood scrimmage, pressure on the opposing backs created sloppy passes, dropped balls, and plenty opportunities for counter-attack.
After these first two tries, both teams began to settle in. William and Mary switched strategies to keeping the ball tighter to their own rucks and relying on bruising runs thanks to their forwards rather than trying to outflank or break through our back-line defense. The Tiger forwards performed admirably—making tackles and contesting possession—in the trenches throughout the day, but penalties in and around the ruck continued to give the Tribe opportunities to advance the ball. Around the 20-minute mark of the first half, the Tigers conceded a penalty near their own 22, and while the ensuing penalty kick toward touch went long, giving the Tigers a 22-drop. Mistakes in execution failed to produce the kind of clearance or counter-attack we need on restarts and another penalty once again had the Tribe with the ball back inside the Tigers' 22. In the 24th minute, the Tigers allowed the first try for William and Mary on a multi-phase goal-line stand. The conversion kick was good and the Tigers' lead was cut to three, 10-7.
The Tigers managed two more tries in the first half, this time off their own attack. The first of these came in the 27th minute off a Tiger scrum near the William and Mary 22. Set pieces were not a particularly strong aspect of Hampden-Sydney's game this day, with the scrum losing its first two put-ins and the lineout being weak on own-ball (offense) and defense. Despite these early problems, the scrum came together during the first half and put in a strong performance for the remainder of the game. The Tiger's third try came in the 27th minute off the scrum, which, although won on our put-in, found the ball coming out the side and back of the scrum. Scrum-half Dakota Reinartz quickly recovered and fullback Zack Toney made a great heads-up decision to attack weak, taking a pass from Dakokta Reinartz and running in nearly untouched for the Tigers' third try. Austin Hardman's kick was good and the Tigers expanded their lead to ten, 17-7. In the 33rd minute, second-row Lawson Omer took a perfectly-timed offload from center Conor McCabe in for the Tigers' fourth and final try of the first half. Austin Hardman's kick was no good, making the score 22-7.
Hampden-Sydney had put together a winning strategy. Pressure on offense and defense had the Tribe on their heels for large parts of the first half. Even though the Tribe forwards were able to often break the gain line on initial runs, over-commitment to their own rucks was hurting their ability to move the ball upfield in the pack. backs weren't a great answer, either, as the Tigers' pressure made it difficult for them to generate big gains in ground. Set pieces were a strength for the Tribe, but the Tigers were definitely in control in the loose throughout the first half, their biggest weakness being penalties committed due to inexperience or over-aggression. These penalties resulted, in the 39th minute, in the Tribe once again grinding out a try with their forwards on the goal line. The Tribe were unable to convert the kick and the first half drew to a close, 22-12 in favor of the Tigers.
The second half saw William and Mary put together an impressive comeback through continued exploitation of Tiger mistakes and penalties as well as a roster-depth advantage in the face of Tiger fatigue. To start the second half, the Tribe made a number of substitutions to put fresh legs on the field and began to see the benefits of fresh legs quickly. Breakdowns in the Tiger defense produced penalties giving the Tribe possession in good field position and they produced the first try of the second half in the 44th minute. A successful conversion closed the score gap to three, 22-19. The Tigers responded by moving the ball down the field with strong possession at the ruck and tough running into contact. In the 49th minute, the Tribe conceded a penalty deep inside their own 22m and fly-half Austin Hardman took the tap kick from nearly ten meters out for a solo effort try. His kick conversion was good and the Tigers pushed their lead up back to ten, 29-19.
In the 55th minute, no. 8 Ian Curley was yellow-carded and sent to the sin bin for ten minutes. The Tigers' relative fatigue and short-handedness gave the Tribe more than enough leeway to climb back into the game and eventually take the lead. Over the next ten minutes, while they were playing with a man advantage on the field, they were able to exploit the holes in the Tiger defense and the lack of defensive pressure that had been so prominent in the first half. By the time the Tigers were at full strength again, they had conceded nineteen points off three tries (in the 15th, 17th, and 25th minute) and two conversions. Once again at full strength, the Tiger defense contained the William and Mary attack, but they were unable to exploit opportunities to put more points on the board. The points conceded during the short-handed ten minutes were decisive and the end result was a 29-38 loss.
