CLEMSON, S.C. - The Davenport men's rugby team improved to 4-1-1 this fall with a 45-29 victory at Clemson University on Saturday. The weather was beautiful in South Carolina for a day of free-flowing rugby. It was Clemson who scored first with a nice short-side scrum play. Davenport was a little shell-shocked by the play and were down 7 - 0 within the first few minutes of the game.

Enrique Carmona hit back in the sixth minute, finishing a crisp backline play to score in the corner and even things up. Mat De Villiers converted to make it 7 - 7. Davenport scored two back-to-back tries in the ensuing four minutes. Carmona scored his second and Ralph Tirivanhu finished off after some great lead up play by the Panthers backline and a Josh McAdam offload. De Villiers converted the Tirivanhu try to up the score to 19 - 7.

The Tigers found some life and scored again midway through the first half with some bullocking run by their sizable forward pack. McAdam had a good day with ball in hand and powered over the tryline in the 23rd minute. De Villiers converted to make it 26 -12. The score remained the same until halftime. It was a high-scoring affair in the second half with both teams scoring three tries apiece.

Tirivanhu scored his second for the day, Carmona scored his third in a very strong display and Josiah Mupeso scored on the back of a nice turnover from Austin Hessling. De Villiers converted 5-of-7 goals on the day and DU went on to win the match by a final of 45-29.