Life University moved to 3-0 and all but clinched the Mid-South DIA Conference with an 18-15 nailbiter at Lindenwood.

With the loss, Lindenwood drops to 1-2 and is eliminated from any chance of winning the Mid-South. Davenport can still win the Mid-South if they win both of their remaining games, with bonus points, beat Life by at least eight, and deny Life a bonus point of any kind.

Like every other game in the Mid-South this year, the game was extremely close. Life started the scoring with a Blane McIlroy penalty kick, and Lindenwood equalized with a penalty goal from scrumhalf Mickey Bateman moments later. In a physical and defensive contest, tries were going to be at a premium, but they did come. Life sent Mitch Wilson over for an 8-3 lead. A kick ahead put Lindenwood under pressure, and after a Lindenwood mistake, Life capitalized and sent the ball wide. McIlroy worked a loop with Jake McFadden and then found Wilson on the wing. 

Then, after a long period of pressure during which they were held up in-goal, Lindenwood finally got over the line to tie it at 8-8. Center Alex Augsburg made a break and was hauled down just short of the line. After a series of pick-and-goes, the Lions punched it in. That’s how the half ended.

Working well for Lindenwood at this point was their scrum.

“They were very physical in the scrum,” said Life Coach Tui Osborne. “That gave them a bit of an advantage, so we moved Jake Anderson to tighthead lock and that helped us a little. But we still had to try to stay away from scrums so we could keep the ball.”

Life’s lineout, however, was a little more successful and Lindenwood’s was not as consistent.

“There was strong running from both teams,” said Lindenwood Coach JD Stephenson. “Life is very technical and very good on defense - with Scott Lawrence as your coach you don’t really have an excuse but to be a good defensive team. They know when to try to strip the ball and when to hold you up, or just take the ruck and fan out.”

Life sped up their attack in the second half, and forced a few penalties that got the Running Eagles on the front foot. Off a lineout they spun the ball to Zander Van Schalkwyk. The center had support out wide, but saw the Lindenwood defense slide over, so he just put his head down, and kept his legs churning as he carried defenders over the line for the try. McIlroy slotted a key conversion and Life’s 15-8 seemed huge. More pressure from Life produced more penalties put Lindenwood on the back foot, and shorthanded as they received a yellow card. McIlroy slotted a penalty, and Life led 18-8.

But it wasn’t over. After a long period where the game seemed stuck in midfield, Lindenwood exploited a turnover and Augsburg raced over to make it 18-13. Lunaile Tshuma slotted the conversion to put his side within three points. 

The Lions had a little more roar left. After surviving a Life opportunity that almost produced a try, Lindenwood marched their way into Life territory and got a penalty about 40 meters out. This was a key moment. Time was up, and the Lindenwood players understood that they had no time to kick for a lineout, or even to take a scrum. It was tap and go for the win, or go for posts and get the tie. They opted for posts, and unfortunately for the Lions, Tshuma’s kick just drifted wide.

“We’ll take the win,” said Osborne. “We knew it wold be a tough match, very physical. Our goal was to be as physical as we could. Penalties did not help us, and we need to fix some other things, but we know every game in this conference is an important game, and every game is a tough game.”

“First-up tackles were ferocious,” added Stephenson. “The thing about Life is, if they get into your 22 they’re coming away with three points or seven, so you’ve got to stop them in the neutral zone. We did that pretty well, but we also made some errors - some unforced and some created by them - and we need to learn bit more about when to offload out of the tackle and about ball security. We’ll learn a lot from this.

Life 18

Tries: Wilson, Z. Van Schalkwyk

Convs: McIlroy

Pens: McIlroy 2

Lindenwood 15

Tries:  Forwards, Augsburg

Convs: Tshuma

Pens: Bateman