Game 2: Highlanders vs. Spring Valley (SC)

Having beaten the top seed in the first game of the day, the Highlanders had to wait until 5.30 to face Spring Valley from South Carolina, who had earlier narrowly beaten a spirited VC Gold side after extra time.

During the day much rain fell over Furman, but the pitch held up extremely well throughout the afternoon.



Any concerns about this game being dominated by forwards playing a traditional English-style game (keeping and endlessly recycling the ball through multiple phases), were dispelled after 2 minutes when Sebastian Torres capped a fluid move by touching down. Arthur Wagner converted, to make it 7:0.

As the Highlanders imposed their territorial superiority, Ian Toth was quickest to react to a fumbled  Spring Valley scrum and grounded the ball on 11 minutes. Wagner converted for the second time - 14:0.

On 15 minutes Jonathon Marshall burst through the Spring Valley line to score between to the posts, and with the third Wagner conversion the scoreboard read 21:0.

With a minute left in the half, Dallas Owens scored an impressive try from a Highlanders lineout. Half-time and the scoreboard read 26:0.

The second half saw a number of player rotations as the Highlanders large squad came into its own and within one minute of the re-start, the damp but delerious crowd was treated to a classic Highlanders try.
The ball was spun out to the wing and Chris Jacques rounded a superb move off to make it 31:0.

With 8 minutes to go Tim Torres increased the margin further to 36:0, and the Highlanders sealed an impressive performance with an additional converted penalty slotted home by Sebastian Torres. Final score: Highlanders 39: Spring Valley 0.



The Highlanders play for the title and the right to represent the South at the National tournament in Salt Lake City, tomorrow afternoon. Their opponents will be Georgia's Alpharetta Phoenix.

Photos and Notes on this game transmitted from under a big umbrella via Blackberry by Richard Jordan.