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South Conf. Leaders Look to Delayed Showdown

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South Conf. Leaders Look to Delayed Showdown

Johnathan Diaz powers ahead for UNCW.

Showdown denied could well be showdown accentuated in the Southern Rugby Conference.

An early tilt between UNC-Wilmington and Coastal Carolina was postponed than to the threat of Tropical Storm Hermine, and the rematch ran afoul of Hurricane Matthew. And while the fact that both of those dates ended up bright and sunny gives little solace to either postponed team, the other fact is that the delayed game, now scheduled for Tuesday, October 25, will be one everyone will be looking at.

UNCW and Coastal are both 4-0. Both have won their games fairly convincingly. Wilmington has, perhaps, won with a little more emphasis, averaging almost 53 points per game score, and allowing less than ten.

“We’re feeling good,” said UNCW Coach Jeremiah Tominack. “This team is very resilient. We’ve had a bunch of injuries, and we’ve needed the young players to come in and fill in, and they have.”

Not one of those young players, Tom McCrimmon, has been huge. Profiled on GRR last season, McCrimmon has gone from strength to strength. A summer in Australia certainly helped him, and he leads the team with seven tries. Working with McCrimmon is lock Johnathan Diaz, who has four tries.

“It’s really the whole forward pack,” said Dominick. “We have been getting a lot of maul tries - maybe two or three a game - and the forwards are just playing really smart rugby and playing as a unit. We get in position to score a try and they are patient and stay calm and work hard.”

Tominack said much of this has to do with preparation and approach.

“We really look at it as week-to-week; what do we have to do this week,” he said. “And when we practice we do everything at 100% in everything we do. We want to execute as best we can every time.”

This weekend, UNC-W faces East Carolina, while Coastal Carolina hosts UNC-Pembroke. Those games should be wins for the division leaders, and will set them up for an almighty clash on Tuesday.

Also in the Southern, Furman visits Appalachian State in a must-win for the Paladins if they want to stay in 1st in the West. UNC-Charlotte takes on Western Carolina.