With 15 minutes left in the match, DI Mason Dixon rivals North Carolina and Virginia were within two points of each other. One might have sided with UVA to pull ahead in the final quarter considering the team had a much more successful fall record. But it was the Tar Heels in its first conference match of the season that surged with three tries and a 29-10 win.

North Carolina scored early, thanks to line-breaker extraordinaire All American Naya Tapper. Cam Gunn hit the first of her two conversions for the 7-0 lead.

“We expected Naya Tapper to be their main striker, and we targeted her,” UVA coach Nancy Kechner said.

Kechner strengthened the back line defense with All American Bri Kim, who moved from scrumhalf to outside center, a slot typically filled by the tough, but absent, Peyton Larus. But the UVA forwards struggled to flow with the less vocal – but hard-working – replacement scrumhalf, Cecile Maurelli, and after 15 minutes Kim moved back to #9. That left a very young back line to defend a determined UNC attack.

UVA had a finisher of its own: sophomore wing Joy Jefferson, who scored the first of her two tries, 7-5, to lift her team’s spirits. Also a sophomore wing, UNC’s Tavoiya Whitworth celebrated her return from injury with a brace of tries as well, getting her first right before the break, 12-5.

“Look out for her in the future,” Tapper said of teammate Whitworth. “She has lots of speed and good footwork. She is also very strong and willing to work.”

Jefferson opened up the second half with a try to make it 12-10, a score that held until approximately minute 65. Both sides fought to create mismatches around the field.

“UVA pressured us with their flat defense,” Tapper explained the scoring drought. “They also pressed really hard, which made it hard for us to make passes we always make so efficiently. We were able to adjust though and used speed and power to get around and through holes.”

“We missed tackles at an alarming rate, and that created opportunities,” Kechner said of the final stretch. “UNC has some very large forwards, and we hadn’t tackled anything that large yet.”

UNC had more than size on its side; the players all sported textbook positioning in the rucks, and UVA’s counter-rucking game fizzled. Paired with an inexperienced back line, UVA finally broke.

Tapper, Whitworth and Brittany Lademann scored tries in the final quarter and sealed a 29-10 win.

“I think the team was a little up-tight in the beginning,” Tapper reflected. “One thing that helped us overcome this tension was advice our coach gave us before the game. He told us to relax throughout the game and understand that what is done during the game is done. You have to let it go and move on to the next thing. I think a lot of us took this advice into account after UVA scored on us a couple times. We were able to relax and just play fun rugby. When we realized this, the game was over.”

“It was a really good loss from which to learn, and we played well for making as many errors as we did,” Kechner said. “We’ll fix what’s wrong, refine our game plan, and install some new wrinkles. And now the players have a new hunger for rugby.”

The game marks the end of UVA’s league matches, finishing 3-1 in the Mason Dixon South division. UNC has three more matrix matches before the conference quarterfinals on March 21. If the Tar Heels beat East Carolina (Feb 14), North Carolina State (Feb 21) and Virginia Tech (Feb 28), then it will take the top South seed into the post-season.