The Dawgs traveled down to Baton Rouge over the weekend to kick off conference play with a bout against LSU. The Dawgs narrowly beat LSU last season in Athens during alumni weekend. No match is given in the Louisiana heat and the dawgs knew that they would have to get ahead early to avoid playing from behind.
The first 20' of the match was very much a grind for the dawgs, it was for LSU as well with both teams held scoreless through 20'. A lot of good work from the forwards in the early parts of this game as they had to win an absurd number of scrums in a very small amount of time. The dawgs had a few nervy moments in the beginning but stood tall with a couple of defensive stands within our twenty-two-meter line. Shortly after the first twenty minutes elapsed, Scrappy Spotts cruised into the try zone to open up the scoring, and from here on out it was all dawgs. Right before halftime, Garrett "Dense" Odell doubled our lead with a try down the sideline, which was followed by a great conversion by captain Connor Westbrook. The Dawgs went into halftime with a 14-0 lead.
While the Dawgs felt like they were in control, the score was far too close to be comfortable, so the Dawgs knew they would have to come out flying out of halftime. And that is exactly what they did. Both Garrett Odell and Scrapy Spotts got their second try of the match, and team favorite John Rainwater scored his first of the season in the dying minutes of the match. There is still plenty of room to work and improve as the season progresses, but the dawgs are trending in the right direction. The evolution of the forwards is evident as we were consistently winning lineouts and scrums against a big and physical LSU side.
The Dawgs have a huge test under the lights in Columbia, South Carolina Friday. The match will be NCR's Friday Night Lights broadcast and a link to the stream will be sent out when we get closer to the date of the game. Huge thanks to the photographer for taking pictures this weekend. Her social media contact is @photographybylaurenwalker for more. Huge thanks to LSU as well for hosting us after the match this weekend. Be sure to follow the dawgs on Instagram and Twitter to never miss anything UGA Rugby.