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SEC Tournament Write Up
The LSU Rugby Tigers rushed the SEC to take both the B-side and A-side championships, both over the #9 ranked University of Tennessee. The LSU Gold held off the Volunteers to post a 22-18 victory while the Purple side snatched a dramatic victory from an excellent 45 yard kick from senior center Jarrett Falcon to win 30-29 at the final whistle.
LSU Gold's path through to the B-division plate began with a 22-5 to victory over South Carolina and was followed by a 42-0 shutout against Auburn to reach the final. The final against Tennessee was won in dramatic style, with Sid Blakemore putting in a man of the match performance both on defense and on attack. Despite having only three subs and tournament rules, the tigers began with a penalty try from Youssef Bou-Mikael after the a mixture of forward punches and backline attacks brought the ball near the Tennessee goal line before the ball was swung out on an overload only to be stopped by a high tackle on fullback Youssef Bou-Mikael.
Soon after LSU attacked fiercely again to gain a penalty that center Adam Davis put over to make the score eight-nil. But Tennessee pounced right back, with their inside center running hard, smashing through the line at pace, setting Tennessee up for a break. The centers' solid display kept LSU on its back heels towards the end of the first half, though solid defense from the Tigers and an excellent display of poaching prevented the Volunteers from putting too many points on the board. 1st half score was 17-8. The Volunteers began creeping back in, but a great individual effort from center Adam Davis and a conversion gave LSU a solid lead to end the first half. Unfortunately, injuries began to mount and soon after the first half LSU began losing most of their scrums to the bigger and more powerful Tennessee pack. Tennessee put a kick through immediately after the 2nd half whistle, and soon scored a try to follow up, making the score 18-17. But the tigers didn't let that faze them, as they replied with a try of their own to take the lead 22-18. From that point on it was really one-way traffic for the Vols, with the Tigers repelling wave after wave of Tennessee attack, clearing five separate attacks from the LSU goal line before the final whistle blew.
LSU's Purple side went through a very similar pathway to the final, first defeating Florida 38-3 before demolishing Ole Miss, who had defeated the Tigers in the SECs last season, by the score of 60-7. #9 Tennessee had defeated Vanderbilt and Auburn in similar fashion. Sunday's final game was a scorcher of a match that saw the teams exchange the lead four times in the final twenty minutes. LSU came out with an intensity and style that Tennessee was not prepared for and within a few minutes were rewarded with a penalty to make it 3-0. Five minutes later LSU came back again, and after a stint in the Tennessee twenty two, number 8 Eric Johns powered through a number of tackles to score under the posts; the conversion was good, making it 10-0. LSU was not done yet; slick handling through the backline lead to the evasive fullback Adam Ducoing to dot down on the left side, making the score 15-0 within the opening fifteen minutes.
After that opening blitz by LSU, however, Tennessee showed cool to come back hard, and midway through the second half a clever chip kick from the Vol flyhalf isolated Ducoing and winger Nick Raziano, with the Vols pinching the ruck to run 20 meters down the sideline to dot down in the corner. The Vols came away with another 3 points after LSU gave away a penalty for hands in the ruck in front of the sticks. The halftime score was 8-15.
The second half ensued with Tennessee attacking hard, and within a few minutes they managed to score off of a counter attack, with the Vol #14 putting in a nice conversion to tie the score 15-15. LSU replied ten minutes later with an 80 yard try that saw fullback Adam Ducoing put substitute wing Sid Blakemore up against one man to beat. Blakemore backed his pace, checking the covering defender in before beating him on the outside to make it 20-15. The try put LSU into the lead but not for long; some powerful running from the Tennessee centers along with some great support play allowed Tennessee to score a clean try under the sticks, which their winger converted to take the lead for the first time in the game with twenty minutes left to play. LSU did not wallow, however, and began to press hard against the stern Tennessee defense. With seven minutes left to go, LSU created one of the tries of the tournament, from a turnover going the length of the field, with the ball exchanging numerous hands, some getting the ball more than once in just moments, before scrumhalf Bobby Johns broke a tackle and raced to the corner to score a try to take the lead back 27-22.
Credit to Tennessee as they came back immediately, and a series of powerful surges brought the ball all the way to the LSU goal line, where a pick and go from Tennessee number six put the Vols right back in the lead with only three minutes to spare. LSU raced back to restart play, and while the Vols controlled the final three minutes calmly, an excellent poach from flanker Eric West at midfield lead to an counterattack that drew a penalty 45 yards from the posts. With no time to spare, senior Jarrett Falcon lined it up, and coolly split the sticks to the sound of final whistle, and thus crowning the Tigers with their first SEC tournament championship in two attempts.
Congratulations to all the LSU tigers for their great spirit and hard work. Despite having only 33 players to fill both the A-side and B-side brackets, a combination of hardnosed defense and courageous attack led both sides to victory. The Gold side's display was very impressive considering the number of new players brought on tour, and for an excellent showing of defense when it mattered most to secure victory. Congratulations also to players Adam Ducoing, Bobby Johns, Andrew Larkin, Eric West, and Michael Heier for making the Kreb's Select team of the tournament. Congratulations to Sid Blakemore for having a man of the tournament display, showing strong leadership through example throughout the entire B-side tournament as well as the Final to help LSU clinch titles in both divisions.
