Arkansas Rugby Roundup: LR Club Advances in USA Rugby

Featured, Miscellaneous, Rugby | May 18, 2014 by Sporting Life Arkansas | 0 Comments

Little Rock advances to NATIONAL D2 final four with a victory over snake river (Boise, Idaho) 64-41 @SportingLifeArk pic.twitter.com/E4WP7Qt3t0

— Matt mcclenahan (@_razorbackfoto) May 18, 2014

The Little Rock Rugby Club Heads To The National Championship Series of USA Rugby

The Little Rock Rugby Club “Stormers” have advanced to the ELITE 8 in the nation for the first time in the 40-plus year history of the club.

The team will now compete in the next two rounds of the playoffs in the National Championship Series of USA Rugby. The playoffs will be held in Irving, TX at Spring Trail Park on May 17 and 18.

Last weekend the Stormers traveled to Austin, Texas where on Saturday they crushed the Austin Rugby Blacks Club by the score of 63- 36. Then on Sunday they defeated The Houston United Rugby Team by 33 – 30 to win the Texas Rugby Union Championship.

The Stormers are the only team from Arkansas that is competing in the National Championship series of USA Rugby and will be playing against other teams from Idaho, Louisiana, Texas, Arizona, and California. Their first match will be on Saturday, May 17 at 1:30 pm against Snake River Rugby from Boise, Idaho.

A-State’s Collegiate Team Falls Short in Semis

MARIETTA, Ga. — Despite a well-fought game by the third-ranked Red Wolf rugby squad, Arkansas State University’s pursuit for a national championship came to an end with a 34-27 semifinal loss to Life University Saturday afternoon.

The two teams from the tough MidSouth Conference in Division 1A rugby took the game down to the wire in the semifinal battle with Life who had already claimed the two regular season victories over A-State.

The national championship game is set for Saturday, May 10, on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., featuring Life and St. Mary’s who defeated Lindenwood, 72-7, in the other semifinal game Saturday.

Life got on the scoreboard first to lead 3-0, but the Red Wolves wouldn’t stay down and the scoring seesawed up until the very end. At the half, the Running Eagles took in a narrow 15-14 lead. Life, the second-ranked team nationally, came out early in the second half and added another try to increase its lead, 22-14.

With two minutes remaining in the match, Life scored on a try but missed the kick. A-State came roaring back with a successful try to make the score, 34-27, and the game ended that way.

The game was typical of the two competitive teams who have together won four 15s and 7s national titles. The rivalry between the programs is highly regarded as one of the toughest rivalries in college rugby.