The LSU Rugby Club placed third in the Southeastern Conference Rugby Sevens championship tournament Saturday in Knoxville, Tenn., overcoming Arkansas, 21-19.
Tennessee sent the Tigers to the consolation game after beating them in the semi-finals, 36-0. The hosts defeated Florida in the finals, 26-14, to win the tournament.
The Razorbacks led LSU for the majority of the game until junior flanker and club president Paul Rogers scored a try to win at the last second.
Junior flyback Allen Alongi said there is “a good chance,” the club could be going to the inaugural USA Sevens national championship in December with a top-three finish.
“If we win a bid to the national tournament in December, we owe it to that play,” Alongi said of Rogers’s last-ditch effort.
The Tigers entered the quarterfinals undefeated in pool play.
Rogers also orchestrated the first comeback of the day to win against South Carolina, 17-12, scoring late after being down two tries most of the game. Auburn almost made their own rally, tying the game with two tries after being down 17-5, but junior scrum half Jarrett Gartin put the nail in the War Eagles’ coffin in the closing minutes, 22-17.
LSU met Mississippi State in the quarterfinals, playing them for the second time this season. The Bulldogs made the trip to Hammond three weeks ago to play an exhibition game against the Tigers, losing 35-7.
While Alongi said MSU played much better defensively, they simply couldn’t stack up to LSU, who won 12-5.
“Our athleticism came through [against MSU],” Alongi said. “We just out-athleted them.”
LSU then met Tennessee in the semi-finals. The Tigers fell to the Volunteers last season in the finals, and history would repeat itself.
“They were just much stronger,” Alongi said. “They had everything going for them.”
Alongi attributed too many turnovers to the 36-0 LSU loss.
LSU’s junior varsity team fared better, beating Alabama 19-12 in the finals to take the JV trophy.
 
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