The Charlotte Tigers improved to 5-0 and defeated a major rival in North Carolina, edging the defending state champion Chapel Hill Highlanders 15-10 Saturday.

Both teams were unbeaten going into this game, and the matchup lived up to expectations in a back-and-forth battle between two strong programs. Chapel Hill made it on the scoreboard first with a penalty goal when the Tigers infringed in the ruck near their 22. 

Aidan Gallagher slotted the kick with ease, and the Highlanders led 3-0. The Tigers matched that a few minutes later off a Highlanders penalty, and flyhalf Jack Williams put it over from a tough angle.

With both teams playing good rugby, and defending well, tries were at a premium. But when they came, they required some discipline to accomplish. The try of the match came as the Tigers pack took over.  The forwards strung together more than a dozen phases of play, mostly pick-and-go's. Starting from from 30 meters out they drove the ball a few meters at a time, controlled the rucks, and finally sent flanker Isaac Johnson over in a pile of bodies. Williams converted the try and the Tigers led 10-3.

Being on the receiving end of such a grinding, demoralizing try would have sunk a lesser team.  The Highlanders were undaunted.  Their pack with a finish by a well-timed pass out to the backs paid off only minutes later  as they answered right back with a converted try of their own. Try-scoring machine and hooker Manny Seyon did the honors.

Before halftime, the Highlander nearly struck again, only to be held up in the try zone ending the period of play.

"We failed to converted our territorial advantage," lamented Chapel Hill Coach Robert Joseph.

The score was tied 10-10 at halftime.

The second half was a tactical kicking battle between the two sides punctuated by hard, short, well defended runs by both teams. Just as one team looked like they might make a line break, a defender would shoestring tackle the ball carrier. It was intense, hard-played, relatively penalty-free rugby for most of the half.

After a few phases of pick-and-go's by the Tigers forwards, finally able to make it back inside the Highlander’s 22, the ball was spun wide to the Tigers' center duo – a couple of shifty, short runs and ultimately Tiger’s outside center Jordan Bush took a quick line break in for the go-ahead try. That made it 15-10.

Again, undaunted the Highlanders put constant pressure on the Tiger’s defense, led by their powerful-running hooker Manny Seton. With time waning and knowing that a penalty kick simply would not do, Chapel Hill went on a full-on assault inside the Tiger’s 22 for the last several minutes of the match.  With time expiring, the Highlanders drove inches away from scoring, right under the posts, but a hard hit caused a Highlander's knock-on.

Still with time on the clock, the Tigers were not out of the woods.  A handling error led to a 5-meter scrum for Chapel Hill.  The Tigers managed to steal their only scrum of the day here, at the end of the match, when it mattered most.  Williams managed to give his team some breathing room with a kick to touch. From the ensuing lineout, the Tigers managed to turn the ball over after a few phases and then kick the ball into touch again to end the match.

Tigers senior flanker Isaac Johnson was named player of the game for his relentless defense which prevented countless line breaks. The Charlotte Tigers JV team is also 5-0, winning the JV match against Chapel Hill to make it a Charlotte double.

"It was a great game," said Highlanders' Joseph. "We were without a couple of very experienced players but the new guys stepped up."

Chapel Hill got a good platform at set piece and had chances to score, but Charlotte held on.