It was a challenging night for Alabama’s men’s rugby club as it faced the Tennessee Volunteers. The A and B sides both fell short against their opponents, with scores of 31-12 and 31-29, respectively.
“The most challenging thing was bouncing back as we kind of slowly watched the game turn against us little after little, and we did at the very end. And then they just, they made a good kick to beat us, and we had the lead with a minute and a half left,” wing Chase Travis said.
It was a tough night for both the A- and B-side teams. They both had to face powerful scrums, a way to restart the game and gain possession of the ball, and tough rucks, where the ball is on the ground and can be moved only with players feet.
Even though it was a tough night, wing Alex Watta still had positive things to say about the team.
“I got my first try in an actual game, so that was pretty cool,” Watta said. “The B team, I feel like, finally got the ball. We started a little sloppy, but we came together as a team and we made a lot better plays in the half, and we got two tries out of it.”
The A team lost 31-29 in a hard-fought battle on the pitch. The team was up 24-0 at the half, and was neck and neck for the second half. The team had it all together in the first half, and slowly lost that feeling in the second half. The Crimson Tide had gotten the lead back, and with a minute and a half left in the game the Volunteers scored a 3-point penalty kick.
“We played 60 minutes of good rugby,” head coach Nathan Williams said. “We executed very well in the first half. We were nowhere near competing with this team a year ago, and to step on the field and to lead the game for most of it and have a chance there in the last minute to win.”
The B side had a tough-fought match as well. It had not scored at the half, and came back to score two tries and conversions. A try is worth 5 points and is followed by a 2-point conversion kick. For the B side, flanker Sean Crabtree scored the first try, and Watta scored the second. The 2-point conversions were scored by flyhalf Joaquin Ferreiro.
The five tries in the A-side game were scored by No. 8 Jake Morrison, who scored two; flanker Jacob Floresca; scrum half Tom Kendall; and wing Sean Sullivan. The two conversions were scored by fullback Nathan Williams.
“The guys are hungry for more, and I don’t think I have to motivate them a whole lot to not experience that kind of loss again, so being that close in the end, giving them a chance, and losing it is enough motivation to keep these guys grinding,” head coach Williams said.
The Crimson Tide rugby will be back in action at home against Clemson University on Saturday.
