No. 2 Tennessee defeated No. 10 South Carolina, 27-22, Saturday in the SCRC championship game at National Athletic Village Field at the Pier in Seneca, South Carolina.
Rankings reflect National Collegiate Rugby.
The meeting was the second between the Vols and Gamecocks this season.
The Vols defeated South Carolina, 27-12, Oct. 29 at Tennessee Rugby Park.
Following the contest, Tennessee co-captain Josh Shetler discussed the championship victory.
“We faced adversity all week with sicknesses and injuries,” Shetler told Vols Wire. “Greg Giangiulio, our hooker, went down in warmup and our starting prop, Brendan Bibb, moved over and carried our forwards all game. Four freshmen started.
“We stood strong and got out to an early lead. South Carolina came back and held the lead at 22-17 with 13 minutes left in the game. Again we stood behind our defense and got in the try zone with 10 minutes left. The game was tied, 22-22. We marched down the field and scored again. Having the lead with around five minutes to go, we turned the ball over and gave possession back to the Gamecocks. Our defense had to come back up and stand strong. For what felt like forever, we stood strong on defense again, and forced them out of bounds. We claimed the third consecutive SCRC championship again. Our determination and effort was at a season high. We were not backing down, we wanted it from the beginning. This is Tennessee rugby.”
Below are Tennessee’s game results during the 2022 season. The Vols will look to repeat as national champions.