Not there yet

South Carolina gave defending Southeastern Collegiate Rugby Conference 15s champion and fourth-ranked Tennessee a spirited fight Saturday but fell short 33-27.

The Volunteers led throughout the contest. On several occasions the feisty Gamecocks cut the Tennessee advantage to within a try. But the resilient Volunteers always had an answer.

The difference in the game was Tennessee’s line-out mauls, which produced two trys for the men in orange.

The Volunteers scored first on a rolling maul eight minutes into the game to go up 7-0. Six minutes later, sophomore prop Erik Elken answered with a try to cut the lead to 7-5 after a failed conversion. The next 10 minutes belonged to the Vols as they scored two trys, one on a line-maul and another from their backline to stretch their lead to 19-5.

The Gamecocks wrested the momentum away in the final 10 minutes of the half. Andrew Reese converted a penalty kick, and team captain and All-American Grant Howard found the try zone to cut the Volunteers’ lead to 15-19 at halftime.

The second half was more of the same. The Volunteers put together a balanced offensive attack while all the Gamecock trys came from the forwards.

At the 44-minute mark, Tennessee broke through the Gamecock backline to score a try to go up 26-15, before junior flanker Tom Allison found the try zone. The conversion failed, but UT’s lead was 26-20. The Tennessee backline struck again with a try at the 76-minute mark to go up 33-20.

South Carolina flanker Gavin Curran added a try near the end of the game to trim the Volunteers’ lead to six, but time ran out on the Gamecock rally.

“Our backline was really scattered today, and our team defense did not perform to our standard,” said South Carolina Coach John Roberts. “To compete against elite-level teams, we must be balanced. Congrats to Tennessee on their well-deserved win.”