LYNCHBURG, VA – The Tigers ended their fall regular season on a high note with a sound victory over Lynchburg College.  With the win, they improve their regular season record to 3-3 (2-1 at home and 1-2 away) and they cement a fourth place seed in the coming NSCRO Tournament next weekend in Roanoke. The Tigers will play Emory and Henry again in the first round, with the winner of that match moving on to play Washington and Lee University.

The Tigers were in complete control throughout the game. Nevertheless, in the first half, they gave up a number of try-scoring opportunities with forward passes and knock-ons, most being the result of what I call "greedy" play. "Greedy" play is generally just impatience, marked by players trying to force results now instead of waiting and developing better opportunities. A prime example is players in contact or at the breakdown trying a pass or a quick play instead of setting a clean ruck and keeping safer—but slower—possession.  In the second half, the Tigers slowed play down a little more and made cleaner passes. Their play in the first half was good, but the second was perhaps even better.  It was probably the best rugby—by which I mean a mixture of technical execution and beautiful flow—the team has played all season.  Keeping the ball on attack meant the players fatigued at a slower rate, and there's always an extra spring in the step when all parts of the game fit together well.

Lynchburg was, as usual, a physical side with a number of good athletes, so the Tigers' victory did not come from physical dominance or superior athleticism at every position.  On the contrary, it was a sound win because the Tigers were better organized and had technically sound players at every position.  Despite this difference, Lynchburg did a number of things well.  In the second half, their counter-rucking broke down the flow of the Tiger attack and on a couple of occasions produced a turnover.  While comparative disorganization told a good deal of the story, the other part was simply a numbers question.  Lynchburg started the match with only fifteen players, and, when one of their props went down in the 27^th minute with a jaw injury, they were forced to play man-down the remainder of the match.  Compared to many other opponents this season, Lynchburg played a remarkably clean match, committing relatively few penalties and generally keeping composure, despite begin on the losing end of a lopsided match.  It was a commendable performance.

Below is a breakdown of Hampden-Sydney's scoring on the day.  All conversion kicks were taken by fullback Brennan Vaught.

1^st minute: Try – wing Alex Dent. Kick was good. 7-0
9^th minute: Try – center David Miller. Kick was no good. 12-0
12^th minute: Try – wing Jacob Johnson. Kick was no good. 17-0
15^th minute: Try – center David Miller. Kick was no good. 22-0
21^st minute: Try – center David Miller. Kick was good. 29-0
33^rd minute: Try – center David Miller. Kick was good. 36-0
35^th minute: Try – hooker Spencer Parrish (first career try in a match). Kick was good. 43-0

42^nd minute: Try – flanker Will Rinn (first career try). Kick was good. 50-0
47^th minute: Try – second-row Jonathan Abkemeier (first career try). Kick was no good. 55-0
51^st minute: Try – center David Miller. Kick was good. 62-0
53^rd minute: Try – wing Drew Gustafson (first career try). Kick was no good. 67-0
55^th minute: Try – hooker Spencer Parrish. Kick was no good. 72-0
61^st minute: Try – center David Miller. Kick was no good. 77-0
66^th minute: Try – wing Drew Gustafson. Kick was no good. 82-0
72^nd minute: Try – fullback Brennan Vaught. Kick was no good. 87-0
75^th minute: Try – prop Chris De Salvo. Kick was good. 94-0

It is difficult to coach a match as lopsided as this one turned out to be. On the one hand, there is neither honor nor glory in an unsportsmanlike running up of the score. On the other hand, crippling the gameplan to avoid scoring is a mocking form of condescension.  Because of injuries, we did not have as many substitutions going into this game as we would like to have had. Substitutions would have given our starters more rest and valuable game experience for developing players, as well as perhaps lowering the number of tries scored.  When Lynchburg went a man down due to injury, Coach Brammer and I considered what we could do to make the match more even. In the end, we concluded that the best course of action was to continue playing the game we had taught our players, but keep an eye out for any excessive celebration or gloating. Our players comported themselves as gentlemen.

I've never seen a Hampden-Sydney rugby team like the one we have on the field this season. Though we ended up 3-3 in the regular season and a bit of a disappointing fourth rank going into the championship tournament, we were never completely out-classed in any of those losses.  We were "in the game" until the final whistle.  No opponent has blown us out the way we were blown out last fall against W&L and JMU Developmental.  Nor has there been a forfeit as we did to CNU last year when injuries and generally poor numbers denied us a traveling side of 15.  I'm excited to see how this team will respond to the challenge of the tournament next weekend and for how we will grow over the offseason and in the spring.