Georgia Youth Rugby Association (GYRA) Crowns Phoenix Rugby Club as 2013 State Champions

ATLANTA - May 3, 2013 - PRLog -- It was a beautiful day at North Park for a championship match with Phoenix pitted against the brand new club Lambert High School.

The first half followed form with the Phoenix cruising to a dominating lead of 54-0, scoring no less than 8 tries in the process. Phoenix played some entertaining rugby characterized by great unselfish off-loading of the ball enabling the receivers to gain big yardage and/or score.  Michael Lee led the scoring with 3 tries, followed by Marcel Opperman who opened the scoring for the day. Both Kyle Lattanzi & Darius Deloache delivered with Darius rounding out the scoring for the first half. The forwards who had secured a high share of possession were not to be overlooked with Tyler Simpson & Nicco Bein crossing the line in that order. Opperman did the honors with conversions missing only one out of 8 conversions.  

The second half proved to be a different tale. Phoenix lost some form with too many dropped passes in the backline. Allied with stronger opposition from the Lambert team, this half proved to be a more competitive match. Unlike the previous week Lambert had tightened up their lineout and won a greater percentage of their breakdowns. Lambert must be given credit for depriving Phoenix of the larger of possession and they contained the second half to 10 points. The final score ran out at 64-0. Scrums went in Lambert’s favor due to uncontested scrums after the official tried one contested scrum. Michael Lee was voted man of the match and went home with the prized yellow jersey

About GYRA

The Georgia Youth Rugby Association is a non-profit group dedicated to promoting the value of participation in rugby for the challenge of competition, the joy of victory, the reality of defeat, the importance of commitment, and the spirit of community and teamwork.  We, along with all of our member teams, work in partnership with the USA Rugby Association and adhere to their participation guidelines as well as their mission of achieving and maintaining the highest levels of quality in all aspects of rugby.  Learn more at http://georgiayouthrugby.org.