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Two in a Row: Carolina defeats Clemson 21-10 |
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South
Carolina clinched fourth place by beating
Clemson 21-10. The Gamecocks led by 7-5 at the
half. USC’s outside center Brad Kieber was the
difference maker after dotting down twice on
brilliant individual plays.
“I
think we really controlled the ball well,” South
Carolina head coach Geoff Mason told ARN.
“Clemson is a well-drilled team, but our
forwards just kept grinding them down.”
Elsewhere, Tennessee and Arkansas State tied
13-13 in a sensational South Championship match.
As result of South tie-breaking rules (based on
point differential), Arkansas State is the South
Champion in their first year in Division One,
and will face San Diego State University at the
National Championship Tournament in Albuquerque,
NM. Tennessee will face the University of
California as the South's #2 seed.
South final standings (unofficial):
Arkansas State (17 pts)
Tennessee (17 pts)
North Carolina (14 pts)
South Carolina (12 pts)
Florida (10 pts)
Clemson (8 pts)
Georgia (6 pts)
Source:
American
Rugby News
Photography from the USC-Clemson match is
available at
Geoffrey Palcher
Photography. |
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The Daily Gamecock: USC
rugby needs more attendance, recognition |
By
Cait Costello
By simply observing which sports here at USC
require a ticket to go to a game, it is easy to
tell which sports we in the U.S. admire most:
baseball, basketball and, of course, football.
We have been raised in the environments
surrounding those three and we know what to
expect at a game. Other sports that are popular
in other countries tend to confuse us with their
environments and customs. I'm sure soccer
hooliganism makes sense in the U.K., but I don't
quite get it. Sometimes, we have to dive right
in to understand these strange sports.
Last semester, I attended a USC men's rugby game
against Clemson. All I knew about rugby
beforehand was that it was similar to football
but contained much more violence,because of an
utter lack of padding. What I saw at the game
reaffirmed that opinion and transformed me into
a rugby fan.
The actual game of rugby, including scoring, is
similar to football. However, the game is
continuous, making it much faster and more
exciting to watch than football. There are
elements of rugby that can't be found in other
sports, the "scrum" fighting to push the other
team away from the ball, and a "line out," in
which the teams pick up members of the team by
their shorts to catch the ball.
The USC Rugby Football Club was founded in 1967,
making it the oldest sports club on campus. It
is also one of only seven teams from southern
universities allowed to compete in the USA Rugby
South Division I competition, as well as many
other prestigious tournaments. Yet despite all
their accomplishments, the team does not receive
nearly the amount of Gamecock love it deserves.
The Clemson Rugby Club was also created in 1967
and likewise is the oldest club on that
all-too-orange campus. The rivalry between the
two rugby clubs is no less vicious than the one
between the two football teams; The only
difference is that the latter takes place at
Williams-Brice Stadium and the former down at
the fields next to the Strom Thurmond Wellness
and Fitness Center. USC has plenty of passionate
Gamecock fans; They all should come out to the
final home rugby match this season to cheer them
on to victory against Clemson in the second game
against the Tigers of the year.
These are our fellow Gamecocks and they have
earned praise for their recent move to a
Division I conference. Let's give it to them
tomorrow during their game. For more information
regarding the RFC, visit their website at
www.uscrugby.com. As the refrain of an
unprintable rugby song goes, "Saturday is a
RUGBY DAY!"
Source:
DailyGamecock.com |
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Tar Heels pull ahead early, beat Carolina 48-10 |
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UNC beat South Carolina 48-10,
while Florida got by Georgia
22-15 in Saturday’s Matrix
games.
The start of the UNC-USC game
was marked by a minute’s silence
in honor of former UNC student
body president Eve Carson, who
was shot and killed earlier this
month in Chapel Hill, NC.
Several UNC seniors knew Carson
and this was the first
opportunity since spring break
that they had to pay their
respects.
North Carolina took the points
early via the boot of flyhalf Ed
Perkins and then added some
five-pointers on their way to
building a 31-10 halftime lead.
South Carolina looked a bit
lethargic at times whereas UNC
jumped out of the blocks fast
and didn’t give the opposition a
sniff.
“It was just the win we needed
after that trip to Arkansas
State,” North Carolina head
coach Andy Richards told ARN. “I
think the difference was that we
put an extra 20 points on the
board by kicking forward and
following up.”
From USC’s standpoint, they gave
up too big of a head start and
couldn’t peg back the
difference.
“They were far superior in the
rucks and we had no continuity,”
added South Carolina head coach
Geoff Mason.
Source:
American
Rugby News
Despite ARN reporting to the
contrary, USC can finish 4th in
the South next weekend with a
victory over Clemson, thanks to
a win earlier in the season over
the University of Florida. |
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Carolina Women advance to South Final Four |
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By lieu of an Arkansas State
forfeit, the USC Women's Rugby
Club will advance to the USA
Rugby South Final Four, and are
two matches away from making the
USA Rugby Division II National
Championship Tournament. Their
opponent is yet to be
determined, but the South Final
Four takes place this weekend at
the University of Alabama. |
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'Battle of the Carolinas' will decide 3rd Place |
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With a win in Chapel Hill, South
Carolina can clinch 3rd Place in
USA Rugby South Division One, a
solid first-year finish in a
conference with national powers
Tennessee (#13) and Arkansas
State (#15). |
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South Round-Up: Spring Break Edition |
Tennessee defeats Clemson 44-28
(03.08.08), readies for South
Championship match against
Arkansas State
Tennessee 'B' clinches South 'B'
Championship with 69-14 thashing
of Clemson (03.08.08)
USC Women defeat Western
Carolina (03.01.08), win
conference and home USARS
Division II playoff-match for
03.22.08
Furman, Coastal Carolina advance
to playoffs in USARS Division
III, represent Palmetto against
Duke, Elon respectively
USARS Men's Collegiate
Division II Playoffs:
Wake Forest University at Middle
Tennessee State University
Western Kentucky University at
East Carolina University
Florida Atlantic University at
Georgia Institute of Technology
Auburn University at University
of South Florida
USARS Men's Collegiate
Division III Playoffs:
Duke University at Furman
University
Coastal Carolina University at
Elon University
Mississippi State/UL-Lafayette
winner at Lee/Tennessee Tech
loser
Lee/Tennessee Tech winner at
Mississippi State/UL-Lafayette
loser
USARS Women's Collegiate
Division II Playoffs:
Arkansas State/Tennessee loser
at University of South Carolina
University of Georgia at College
of Charleston
University of South Florida at
East Carolina University
Elon University at Arkansas
State/Tennessee winner
Open weekend results
(03.01.08):
Florida upsets Clemson 36-24
Arkansas State blanks North
Carolina 75-00
Tennessee downs Georgia,43-00 |
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Message Board now operational |
After a year and a half wait,
uscrugby.com once again has a
message board. The new version
is a phpBB-style board complete
with privacy protection for
current club members and
officers, but still has open and
public areas for alumni, fans,
and onlookers. You can access it
by using the navigation bar
overhead or clicking
here.
*Important*
If you are a USC student, you
must use your USC e-mail if
you wish to have private access
to the 2007-2008 Club Forum.
Comments? Concerns? Suggestions?
E-mail the webmaster at:
erikgeib@yahoo.com |
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Carolina among 11 Palmetto Rugby Union clubs
awarded National Guard team kits |
Eleven
teams from the Palmetto Union have been awarded
kits and practice equipment from the National
Guard, a sponsor or USA Rugby. Each kit includes
jerseys, shorts, socks, protective headgear,
practice and game balls, a set of National Guard
goal post pads, tackle pads & shields, training
bibs, practice cones, equipment bag, field
flags, kicking tees, mouth guards, coaching
book, video, and a USA Rugby Law Book. The
following teams -- and the Union -- are
appreciative of this grant with will wear the
Guard logo with pride: Clemson University (men
and women), Coastal Carolina men, College of
Charleston (men and women), Furman men, Lander
men, The Citadel (men and women), USC (men and
women).
Source:
Palmetto Rugby Union |
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USC falls to Tennessee; UT advances towards
South showdown with Arkansas State |
The
Volunteers knocked off a gutsy South Carolina
49-12, while the Tribe topped a game Florida
36-6. Elsewhere, UNC blanked UGA 52-0.
In Columbia, Tennessee raced out to a 24-5
halftime lead and then bettered themselves in
the second forty, all the time keeping the
Gamecocks at bay by restricting them to a try in
each half.
Kevin Hartley and eightman Matt Abernathy paced
the Vols with two tries apiece, while Chad
Edmons, who stepped in at flyhalf, distributed
the ball well to his backline and scored a try.
“They have a very strong pack and I was
surprised at how big they were,” Tennessee head
coach Butch Robertson told ARN. “We were kind of
pleased with it, but again we still have things
to fix.”
From USC’s standpoint, they came out of the
blocks slowly and gave Tennessee a hefty head
start, a gap they weren’t able to close. Their
try-scorers were fullback Joe Vellon and prop
Aviv Shamah.
“I think we matched it in the forwards, but in
the backs we missed a lot of tackles and they
got us on the outside,” added South Carolina
head coach Geoff Mason.
Source:
American
Rugby News |
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Gamecocks down Bulldogs, improve to 2-1 |
South Carolina beat Georgia this
past weekend, 33-14. USC scored
five tries in all and wore down
the Bulldogs, mainly through the
forwards.
“We still have a ways to go in
getting to the upper echelons of
the South Division 1 but we have
had two wins on the trot," South
Carolina coach Geoff Mason told
ARN. “Georgia played
constructively but we tackled
well and did not let them make
many inroads. Still the next
game against Tennessee will be a
real test.”
Source:
American
Rugby News |
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USC improves to 1-1 in matrix play with
hard-fought 22-17 victory over Florida |
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Home field advantage and
physical gamecock play seemed
too much for a well-coached
Gator team. The Gamecocks played
a solid match showing that they
belong in Division 1. Credit is
due to Brad (B-side) Kieber for
his especially strong
performance with 3 tries. Aviv
Shamah also had a try early in
the game to put the gamecocks on
top. Next up the Gamecocks
travel to UNC. |
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Gamecocks fall to Arkansas State
in first D1 match, look to
rebound in Week 2 |
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With an incomplete roster and
after a long journey, the
Gamecocks fell hard to Arkansas
State this weekend. The
Gamecocks came out slow and were
out-played by a fundamentally
sound Arkansas State team. The
lone Carolina try was scored by
Senior Captain Joe Vellon and
Corey Benov added a field goal.
This week the Gamecocks look to
rebound as they play the Gators
on Saturday. |
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USC DEFEATS CLEMSON |
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Results from Friday, November
16th, 2007:
South Carolina First XV 26,
Clemson First XV 25
South Carolina Second XV
00, Clemson Second XV 13
Jupiter (FL) HS RFC 49,
Gilbert (SC) HS RFC 00
USC First XV finishes Fall
season with 10-3 record, defeats
Clemson University for the first
time in 13 years. |
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Last
Match |
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Saturday, March 29th
Columbia, SC
A:
3:30 PM
B:
5:00 PM
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Clemson |
A |
10 |
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South Carolina |
A |
21 |
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Clemson |
B |
15 |
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South Carolina |
B |
12 |
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Match
Photo |
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I Surrender! All Hail
Carolina! |
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Photos now available |
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Photography is now available
from the USC-Clemson match that took
place in Columbia, SC on
Saturday, March 29th. Photos
are available for purchase
through
Geoffrey
Palcher Photography.
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A Special Thanks |
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Thanks to Coach Smolka for
coming out and helping with
practice while Coach Mason was
away. |
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Other
Headlines |
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SC Army National Guard High
School Rugby action now
underway!
schsr.com |
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Thank you to all our alumni for
their valuable donations - we
remember your dedication every
time we take the field. |
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New club e-mail:
USCRugby@gwm.sc.edu |
New officers for 2008!
Congratulations to the
following:
President: Glenn Tabasko
VP: Anthony Hughes
Treasurer: Shane Brenner |
Fall 2007 Club Awards:
MVP: Brad Kieber
Best Forward: Josh Skaggs
Best Back: Dave Kitching
Most Improved: Vinny Calzone
Best Rookie: Jacob Tinman |
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South Carolina RFC to host
Jupiter (FL) HS RFC vs. Gilbert
(SC) HS RFC this Friday,
November 16th, at 5:00 PM. |
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Carolina Rugby stumbles at 2007
Palmetto Championship
Tournament, losing to Coastal
Carolina 18-5 after beating
Citadel 'B' 32-0. |
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Standings- Division I (A) |
|
Team |
W |
L |
T |
PF |
PA |
PTS |
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ASU |
5 |
0 |
1 |
322 |
032 |
17 |
|
UT |
5 |
0 |
1 |
225 |
078 |
17 |
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UNC |
4 |
2 |
0 |
166 |
137 |
14 |
|
USC |
3 |
3 |
0 |
108 |
215 |
12 |
|
UF |
2 |
4 |
0 |
098 |
162 |
10 |
|
CU |
1 |
5 |
0 |
111 |
202 |
8 |
|
UGA |
0 |
6 |
0 |
037 |
242 |
6 |
|
|
Standings* Division I (B) |
|
Team |
W |
L |
T |
PF |
PA |
PTS |
|
UT |
6 |
0 |
0 |
311 |
056 |
18 |
|
UF |
5 |
1 |
0 |
176 |
038 |
16 |
|
UGA |
4 |
2 |
0 |
120 |
144 |
14 |
|
USC |
3 |
3 |
0 |
080 |
123 |
12 |
|
ASU |
2 |
4 |
0 |
078 |
119 |
10 |
|
UNC |
1 |
5 |
0 |
052 |
162 |
8 |
|
CU |
0 |
6 |
0 |
051 |
204 |
6 |
|
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* |
Standings are according
to
scores made available
by member clubs. |
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