Saturday was windy but fair weather for a rugby game. The game started at 1:30 on the USF Pitch with much anticipation, as it was the second meeting between the UCF Knights and the USF Bulls.
A well-placed kick, by Max Roehm, led into a quick fight for possession, but after that the first half was a lousy show of rugby. The Knights were burdened with simple errors and a lack of maturity, starting to a slow disorganized pace.
Losses in the scrum and lineouts gave the Bulls ball possession for much of the half but the Knights’ tackling and rucking kept to Bulls at bay from the try-zone.
Offensively the Knights were unable to make headway scoring a single try in the first half. Sean Nicholl scored driving the ball in.
The second half saw a different team even though the Knights were down a man, Gerhard Veit in the sinbin after an altercation; the Bulls having to play a man down for the remainder.
(Rugby Sidebar: In the game it is a penalty for a tackler to lift a ball runner off the ground and put him down without control. And penalties are enforced as the referee sees fit, in this case the player was kicked out of the game, may face suspension, and no sub allowed in.)
The Knights kept the ball, winning in the scrums and line-outs, and had the wind at their backs the game changed. The forward pack fought hard and drove down the field, allowing for clean passes into the backline and hard punches through the defensive line.
Playing dynamically with interchangeable leaders on the field the Knights finished the half 37-3.
Conditioning and athleticism helped the Knights through this game. Better teams will not be forgiving.
