Baton Rouge (A,B) vs. DARC(A,B)
Date: November 22, 2003
Venue: Lake Highlands Park Dallas, TX
Sirs:
Just hours after England won its first Rugby World Cup with a dramatic last second drop goal to sink Australia 20 - 17 in overtime, the Baton Rouge Rugby Club won its first Texas Rugby Union Cup match of the year as it squeaked past the Dallas Area Rugby Club (DARC) 27 - 25 in Dallas on Saturday afternoon. Baton Rouge couldn't take advantage of the windy conditions that favored them in the first half and quickly fell behind 10 - 0. A three point kick from a penalty narrowed the score to 10 - 3 after 20 minutes, but DARC stole a Baton Rouge scrum deep in Baton Rouge territory and attacked to the weak side for a well executed try and conversion that put them up 17 - 3 five minutes before the half. Baton Rouge came out firing after the break and closed the gap to 17 - 10 with a converted try at ten minutes of the second half. But then a kick following a penalty against Baton Rouge took the score to 20 - 10 in favor of DARC. Baton Rouge then took control of the match, reeling off 17 unanswered points as the speed and ball handling skills of its backline players coupled with the fatigue of the DARC defenders began to open up gaps in the DARC lines. Down 27- 20 with just minutes left, DARC rallied and punched the ball across the goal line with its forwards, leaving their kicker a tricky conversion attempt in gusting winds to draw the match level. But the wind had the final say and Baton Rouge had a hard fought victory in a points paying match.
The Baton Rouge B side ran in six trys to two for DARC and took the B side match by a score of 32 - 17. The Baton Rouge B side is 2 - 0 on the season.
The Baton Rouge A side's overall record for the season stands at 6 wins with 1 defeat. They are 1 - 0 in Texas Rugby Union Division II Cup matches. The next match is against Houston Area Rugby Club's (HARC) Division I side in Houston on December 6.