New Orleans(A,B) vs. Baton Rouge (A,B)
Date: February 7, 2004
Time: 2:00 PM
Venue: Highland Road Park Baton Rouge, LA
Referees: Richard Parker(A), Steve Ward(B)
Sirs:
Submitted
by John Godbee(PR Chairperson)
The Baton Rouge Rugby Football Club won its fifth straight Texas Rugby Union
(TRU) match on Saturday by defeating the New Orleans Rugby Football Club 29 - 6
in a hard fought contest at BREC Highland Road Park. The two clubs are old
rivals with several players on both teams having played for the other team in
the past. The day was sunny and cool and the pitch was still damp from the
rains during the week. A large crowd, by Louisiana rugby standards,
witnessed a physical contest dominated early by each side's forwards. New
Orleans scored first on a penalty to take a 3 - 0 lead, but Baton Rouge
countered with a converted try to go up 7 - 3 after ten minutes. Both
teams exchanged penalty kicks to make the score 10 - 6 in favor of Baton Rouge
with 15 minutes left in the half. Baton Rouge dominated the final 15
minutes of the first half and the first 10 minutes of the second half, but
tallied no points for their efforts, twice spurning penalty kick opportunities
in order to play for trys. With the score still at 10 - 6 with 30 minutes
remaining, New Orleans' size advantage began to tell as they pounded at Baton
Rouge, but three times they were stopped just short of the go-ahead score, twice
by their own miscues and once by a tenacious Baton Rouge defense. That
seemed to frustrate the visitors and Baton Rouge immediately made them pay with
a well deserved try to make the score 15 - 6 with 15 minutes remaining.
Baton Rouge put the game out of reach two minutes later on a beautiful blind
side move from the Baton Rouge Number 8 who linked up with the Scrum Half and
Wing for the most exciting try of the match. A final try at the whistle
gave Baton Rouge a well earned 29 - 6 victory. The Baton Rouge A Side is
10 -2 on the season and 5 - 0 in the Texas Rugby Union.
The B Side match was very intense as New Orleans sought to save face. The
match went back and forth for most of the afternoon and wasn't decided until the
final whistle with Baton Rouge coming out on top 17 - 10, to sweep New Orleans
for the first time in over six years. The Baton Rouge B-Side is 6 - 0 on
the season and 5 - 0 in the Texas Rugby Union.The club will be back in action
February 21 and 22 at the Annual Baton Rouge Mardis Gras Rugby Tournament which
will field men's teams and college teams from all over the South and Midwest.
The feature match will be Baton Rouge vs the undefeated Austin Huns Rugby
Football Club in a match that will determine the regular season champion in the
Texas Rugby Union, Division 2. The Mardis Gras Tournament will be held at
Highland Road Park(see map)
Park in Baton Rouge. The public is invited.