Utah Upends Tennessee in Sweet Sixteen
Volunteers put up fierce battle before succumbing to the Utes
April 21, 2006 (West Point, NY) — Utah scored four tries in a span of 10 minutes to upend Tennessee on Friday in the first round of the USA Rugby National Championship Tournament. The Utes effectively used their size and speed advantage to capitalize on Volunteer mistakes and outscore UT 6 tries to 3. Tennessee went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the country for 80 minutes, never backed down, and proved the Volunteers were a worthy participant in the national event again in 2006.

Some impressive ball movement by the forwards resulted in a try to open the scoring by senior scrum half Brett Jones. From there, Utah used their large forwards and swift backline to score five tries over the next 40 minutes. Tennessee finally got on the board again when senior Josh Peay took a penalty tap to the white line for the 5 pointer. Just minutes later Dave Ellis got the try following a good feed by Luke Woods and some nice ball work in the backline. Utah closed the scoring with a lone try over the final 20 minutes.

The loss sends UT to the consolation bracket to take on the University of Colorado on April 22 to close out the 2006 campaign.