Columbia, SC
September 14, 8:30 PM
Referee: John Meyers

This was a Friday night game, second in our back-to-back games (we'd played High Country in Atlanta the night before). We had some problems with directions on the way up, but ended up with good numbers, especially considering we had played the night before and it was raining in Athens when we left.

UGA started off slowly, not retaining the ball well and looking weak in the scrums. USC moved the ball down field on a penalty kick, then won a lineout and went through several phases of good forward crashes before breaking through for an unconverted try in the left corner.

UGA answered by moving the ball down the field and scoring a quick try, with Josh Tedder taking a penalty tap about 10 meters out and running through USC's forwards to touch down.

USC was awarded a penalty try later in the half for a high tackle about 40 meters out on what the referee judged would have been a successful break. They successfully converted. There was also a penalty kick in there somewhere, but I don't remember where. I'd guess it was between the two tries.

Blake Richter had a nice 20 meter try for us and also kicked a penalty (again, in there somewhere).

Halftime UGA 15 - South Carolina 15

Second half we came out better and started retaining possession very well. The game was suspended because of lightning for about 30 minutes 5 or 10 minutes into the second half. When we came back out half an hour later UGA continued where we left off, taking the ball through many phases. USC never threatened in the second half, but tackled very well and didn't give anything cheap and UGA couldn't quite put the
ball in the try zone. We didn't do a good job of moving the ball around on the later phases, with some better decision making perhaps we could have scored a couple more tries.

Kellen scored a long try on an overlap on the right side which Blake converted and Julian scored a try in the left corner after Trevor took the ball down the left sideline about 40 meters before being dragged down a few meters short, but Julian was there with excellent support and touched the ball down for an unconverted try.

Overall we were happy with our performance. We did well in the scrums after a rough start, despite playing two hookers in the front row, and recycled the ball well for the last 50 minutes of the game. Fitness seemed good for this point in the season, as we got stronger throughout the game despite playing the night before.

Final score, UGA 27 - South Carolina 15

Georgia
-------
1 Josh Jones
2 Eric
3 Josh Tedder
4 Ethan Beck
5 Seth Burrow
6 Cameron Bishop
7 Brian Sanders (Daniel - 40th)
8 Matt Botwin
9 Michael Francis
10 Blake Richter
11 Payne (Graham Swartz - 40th)
12 Scott Hutchison
13 Trevor Maliro
14 Kellen Montgomery
15 Julian Harris

Tidbits: The field was nice and wide but had the smallest try zones I've ever seen (maybe 4 meters deep) -- About 1/3 of the lights weren't on so it was pretty dusky.

Second Game
UGA 12 South Carolina 7
Referee - John Meyers

The second game was a chance for USC to get some of their new guys some game time. They had 2+ sides out there, which was good to see. We borrowed a prop from them (Kyle) who played very well. In fact, I was very impressed by USC's players, I thought they played very hard, and very clean, rugby. I hope they keep that attitude as they learn the game, it's a lot more fun to play against classy kids than to play a team who thinks a ruck is just a great place to throw a punch.

The referee did an excellent job letting the game flow and teaching at key points. We played 2 20 minute periods and 1 15 minute period

Anyway, USC scored a quick try to open the game and then UGA did a good job of applying pressure for most of the rest of the game. We kept the ball in their end for the most part and had good intensity from our guys. We had a few dropped balls which cost us chances at a few more tries, but overall were happy with the game.

Because of the late start to the first game and the lightning break the game ended around 12:30 am.

Oh, and Ray missed his conversion kick and Doug made his.

1 Ray "Sam" Chastain (Seth Burrow - 30th)
2 Pete Bigham
3 Kyle (from USC)
4 Daniel (Doug Porter - 20th) (Cameron Bishop - 40th)
5 Blake
6 Dave "Old Man River"
7 Richard "Tonka" Butler
8 Brian Sanders
9 Graham Swartz
10 Mark
11 Scott
12 Chris Payne
13
14 Nima Soltane
15 Jakes

Blame any errors in this report on Doug and Ray