34th Mardi Gras Rugby Tournament(MGRT)
Austin(A,B) vs. Baton Rouge (A,B)(80 minute
matches during MGRT)
Date: February 21, 2004
Time: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Venue: Highland Road Park Baton Rouge, LA (Three pitches)
Referees: Randy Campbell(Austin A match), Spellman(Austin B match),
Steve 'Meathead' Ward (MGRT matches)
Sirs:
Submitted
by John Godbee(PR Chairperson)
The Baton Rouge Rugby Football Club had one the best days in its long history on
Saturday as it locked up the top seed in the upcoming Texas Rugby Union (TRU)
playoffs, won the 34th Annual Mardi Gras Tournament and won the B-Side
championship for the for the 2003-04 TRU season.
The day's feature match pitted the undefeated Baton Rouge A-Side against the
undefeated Austin Huns Rugby Football Club A-Side for the top spot on the TRU
Division II Table. The mild and sunny conditions played right into the
hands of Baton Rouge's smaller and faster back line and they put Austin in a
hole early with a beautiful break from the outside center who linked up with the
fullback who simply outran the defense for the first try. Baton Rouge
pressed the attack and quickly added a second try on a broken field run from the
flyhalf who eluded two tacklers five meters from the goal before diving for the
score. With the Huns back on their heels, Baton Rouge continued to press
and were rewarded with a penalty kick to make the score 15 - 0 with the match
barely 10 minutes old.
Like all good teams, the Huns recomposed themselves and did what they do best
which is play physical, forward oriented rugby. They dominated possession
and field position the remainder of the half, but the Baton Rouge forwards were
up to the challenge and the Huns were made to work hard for every meter of
territory. With only seconds remaining in the half, the Huns punched over
their first score to close the gap to 15 - 5.
The second half began much as the first half ended with Austin camped in Baton
Rouge's end, but the Baton Rouge defense was both well organized and committed
and repulsed the Huns every time. With about 20 minutes remaining, Baton
Rouge was awarded a penalty kick which stretched the margin to 18 - 5. The
outcome was still in question, but the Huns had simply expended too much energy
for too few points and Baton Rouge was finally able to take the initiative once
again. They closed the deal with 10 minutes remaining on a counterattack
from midfield with the inside center touching down between the posts to make the
score 23 - 5. The teams traded trys in the final minutes to make the final
score Baton Rouge 30 - Austin Huns 10.
Earlier in the day, the Baton Rouge B-Side had set the tone for the day by
defeating the Austin Huns B-Side 18 - 16 in an extremely hard hitting contest
for the B-Side championship of the Texas Rugby Union. Both teams were
undefeated in league play coming into the match. Austin dominated early,
but Baton Rouge scored before half to take a 10 - 9 lead to the intermission.
Baton Rouge increased the lead to 13 - 9 on a penalty kick midway through the
second half, but the Huns touched down a kick into the try zone to take a 16 -13
lead with less than ten minutes left. With only four minutes remaining in
the match, Austin's fullback misplayed a ball under pressure on his own goal and
Baton Rouge's outside center dove on the ball for what proved to be the winning
try. The B-Side championship is the first Texas Rugby Union championship
Baton Rouge has won since affiliating with the TRU in the late 1990's.
The final in the Men's Division of the 34th Annual Mardi Gras Tournament was
played late Saturday afternoon between Baton Rouge and the Toronto Dragons Rugby
Football Club. Baton Rouge led early, but the Canadian side was well
drilled and came back to take the lead just before half at 10 -7. Baton
Rouge utilized their depth and made some tactical substitutions at half which
paid off in the second half as the back line contributed two trys to take a 21 -
10 lead into the final ten minutes. The Dragons refused to quit and scored
a try to narrow the margin to 21 - 17 with three minutes remaining. Baton
Rouge was able to keep Toronto out of the attacking half of the pitch for the
final minutes. The Tournament win was Baton Rouge's third consecutive
Mardi Gras Tournament first place trophy, having defeated Shreveport in the
final in 2002 and 2003.
Kansas University defeated the University of Arkansas to claim the Mardi Gras
championship in the College Division.Baton Rouge's A-Side is 12 - 2 for the year
and 6 - 0 in the Texas Rugby Union. They will be seeded first at the Texas
Rugby Union playoffs to be held in Austin the final weekend of March.
Baton Rouge's B-Side record stands at 8 - 0 overall and 6 - 0 in the league.
They are the Texas Rugby Union 2003-04 B-Side Champions.