Tennessee Rebounds in Consolation Match
April 21, 2007 (State College, PA) — Tennessee rebounded from a disappointing loss to Penn State with a spirited victory over Purdue in the consolation match of the USA Rugby National Championship Tournament. This win marks the 4th time in 4 years that the Volunteers have at least won one match in the tournament having advanced to the semifinals in 2004 and having also won the consolation match in 2003 and 2005.

Head Coach Eric Vaughn's Boilermakers are well known to Tennessee having played them in the fall of 2005 and the spring of 2001. You can always count on Eric's teams to be big, strong and hard charging and this year's edition was no different.

Tennessee weathered the early onslought of forward aggression from the Boilermakes and then gradually build a lead using some inside out play from the forwards to the backline. Purdue had no quit in them on this day however and put together some good rugby to outscore the Volunteers 15-5 over the final 25 minutes. As has been the personality of this team all year, Tennessee finished the final moments of the match with a try from strong ball movement and then ended the game once again attacking the opponent's territory.

The match was the final run out for six seniors on the trip and all played well in their final performance (Murphy, James, Chapman, Chermely, Gruner, Woods).