The Birmingham Vulcans traveled to Chattanooga this past Saturday to take on Nooga Red in a cross-conference matrix match. Nooga red narrowly beat Birmingham last year in the True South finals, so we were prepared for a tense game of rugby! There was rain in the forecast, but it held off for us and turned out to be a perfect fall sports day. Nooga started fast with a weak side try by captain and fly half Lyall Harrison. “We had a good start,” said Coach Copper, “And we were able to really have a good forwards performance. They have put a lot of time in to improving their scrum performance, and luckily it showed today.” Nooga Rugby was able to steal several of Birmingham’s put-ins, giving us
This past Saturday, Nooga Red traveled to Knoxville to play against our long time matrix rivals, the Knoxville Possums. The SEC rugby playoffs were that same weekend, so the match was moved away from Possum Park to the beautiful Tennessee Rugby Park. It was our first time there and we were grateful to get to play in front of some of the upcoming stars of USA South Rugby. “Games between our two sides are always physical. Last year, we traveled to Possum Park and simply got out played and over powered. We felt like we needed to elevate and make up for that showing from last season,“ said Coach Copper of Nooga Rugby. “Knoxville came out strong, direct and physical today. We have come to expect
