The Southern Conference has settled its playoff picture after Tuesday’s oft-postponed matchup between UNC-Wilmington and Coastal Carolina.
UNCW, ranked #10 by Goff Rugby Report, and Coastal, ranked #21, had been postponed twice due to tropical storms, and so their game had to be shifted to Tuesday. UNCW seemed the stronger and deeper after both teams played over the weekend, and exerted defensive pressure to force several turnovers.
Tyler Coffey and Ellery Hodson kept Coastal pinned in their end with their kicking, and the forward pack - led by the hard-charging Jonathon Diaz - was powerful.
Tom McCrimmon scored two tries, and Coffer, Wil Collins, Ryan Juliano, and Diaz all scored once.
UNCW ends up 6-0 in the Southern East, while Furman is 6-0 in the West. Furman had to work for it to be Appalachian State 27-7. Down five starters, and playing on a narrower field than they’d like, the Paladins showed they can play in tight, and showed off a nice defensive front.
Freshman second row Dylan Bostock was a force on the day, but the game wasn’t in hand until late. Furman led 7-0, then 10-0, but after Furman misplayed a kick, AHO made it 10-7. The game was still 15-7 at halftime - Furman threatened a lot, but, said Coach John Roberts, “we were disappointed we didn’t punch one more in.
“This was a good win for our team today. A narrow field and gusty wind does not suit our style, but we played really good defense and gutted out a win against a physical Appalachian State team,” said John Roberts. “It can be really difficult when your captain, leading scorer, and top jumper are on the bench watching, but we are doing a good job of pushing through.”
So that sets up the semis this coming weekend, with Wilmington taking on UNC-Charlotte (ranked #22 by GRR), and Furman (ranked #6) hosting Coastal. Charlotte’s only loss was 13-5 to Furman on October 6, while Coastal’s only conference loss was Tuesday’s result against UNCW.
It's expected that the top two will earn a spot in the USA Rugby national playoffs.
Final Southern Conference Standings:
| Southern Rugby Conference | |||||||||
| East Division | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | Pts |
| UNC Wilmington | 6 | 0 | 0 | 290 | 74 | 150 | 6 | 0 | 30 |
| Coastal Carolina | 5 | 1 | 0 | 177 | 81 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 23 |
| The Citadel | 3 | 2 | 0 | 95 | 98 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| East Carolina | 1 | 3 | 0 | 135 | 116 | 49 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
| North Carolina | 1 | 3 | 0 | 97 | 98 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| UNC Pembroke | 1 | 3 | 0 | 39 | 156 | -110 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Coll. of Charleston | 0 | 5 | 0 | 53 | 263 | -122 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| West Division | W | L | T | PF | PA | PD | BT | BL | Pts |
| Furman | 6 | 0 | 0 | 335 | 32 | 275 | 5 | 0 | 29 |
| Charlotte | 5 | 1 | 0 | 443 | 37 | 259 | 5 | 0 | 25 |
| Appalachian State | 4 | 2 | 0 | 148 | 107 | 95 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| Elon | 3 | 3 | 0 | 223 | 185 | -5 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| Wake Forest | 2 | 4 | 0 | 98 | 235 | -161 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| Western Carolina | 1 | 5 | 0 | 59 | 335 | -143 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| UNC Greensboro | 0 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 389 | -320 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
