Virginia Tech defeated the University of Louisville 24-22 to claim their second straight NCR D1AA championship and putting an emphatic stamp on the value of a difficult schedule in honing good rugby players.
The Hokies, who went winless in the Rugby East, a conference made up entirely of D1A or NCR D1 teams (except for Virginia Tech), used that experience to work their way through a supremely difficult playoff series.
They beat Tennessee 38-34 in the quarterfinals, St. Joseph’s 17-15, and then Louisville 24-22.
The game itself was fast-paced and played at a high level. The intensity of the tackles made for a game where points were at a premium, and Virginia Tech’s defense in the final 20 minutes was astonishing in its ferocity.
In the opening section of the game the Hokies were the ones on the front foot, running through phases but finding few gaps in the Cardinals’ defense. But eight minutes in flyhallf and co-captain Fernando Anduaga, who is also the club president, spotted a little mismatch, cut through the gap and sidestepped his way past two other defenders to get over the line. Down 7-0 Louisville took the fight to Virginia Tech, but it was slow going. The Cardinals passed up a kickable penalty to tap and run, and it paid off. Flyhalf Aaron Stevenson slipped around a tackler and offloaded to center Brennan Morton Strauss and the freshman was over for Louisville’s first try.
The conversion was good and we had a tie ballgame.
The wind was certainly a factor in this game and Louisville was playing into it. The breeze wasn’t especially strong but it did hold up clearance kicks. One such kick meant for touch stayed infield and Virginia Tech wing Will Richey weaved inside and outside and took off for the tryline. He was dragged down before the line but both tackler and tackler carried their momentum to the line, and Richey reached out and scored. Back and forth they went. Virginia Tech was right at the line but somehow were held out.
Louisville edged closer after a chip-and-chase by Stevenson. The Hokies managed to hold onto the ball, but eventually infringed and a penalty goal from scrumhalf Cameron Donlon made it 12-10 at halftime.
