Last week Governor Bill Ritter designated June Rugby Month in Colorado and what better way to inaugurate it than with an international rugby tournament. A crowd of approximately 2,000 filled the stands at Glendale's Infinity Park Saturday for a Churchill Cup double header.
In the first game, the England Saxons defeated the Argentina Pumas by a score of 28-20 (see story and photos at Examiner.com/Denver). In the second contest of the afternoon, the Georgia Lelos fell to a dominant Rugby Canada squad by a score of 42-10. Canada not only secured four points for the victory, but also added the bonus point to their tournament total (see story and photos at Examiner.com/Denver).
Churchill Cup action continues on Wednesday evening at Infinity Park when Rugby Canada takes on Ireland's A side, and the USA National Team makes their 2009 Churchill Cup debut against Argentina. Both teams are coming off of losses this week. The Eagles lost to the Wales National Team 48-15 Saturday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois Saturday.
Kickoff for the first match between Canada and Ireland is at 4:30 followed by the Eagles and Argentina at 7:00. Tickets for the Churchill Cup matches are available at Ticket Horse or the Infinity Park Box Office.
Collegiate
The Western Collegiate All-Stars defeated the Denver Barbarians 31-22 in a warm up prior to this week’s USA Collegiate All-Star Championships. It was the third consecutive year that the Denver Barbarians have hosted the West’s All-Stars just prior to the USA Collegiate All-Star Championships.
Infinity Park will be the venue for this year's Championship, which is scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Tier-one matches will be held on Thursday and Saturday. Territorial all-star teams will spend Friday testing their developmental players.
Last Year the West’s All-Stars lost to the Southern California Rugby Union in the Tier-one Final.
Mountain Men’s Club
The scheduled match between the Glenwood Springs Defiance and Vail was canceled. Vail will not field a team this summer, and all of their remaining games have been canceled.
High School - Rocky Mountain Challenge
All-Star teams from twelve states will travel to Colorado for the Ninth Annual Rocky Mountain Challenge at the Aurora Sports Park on June 13 & 14. The Rocky Mountain Challenge is one of five Regional Tournaments supported by USA Rugby and is a key part of the process that will ultimately lead to consideration for the National USA U-20/U-18 selection pool for international team play in 2010.
For more info: Contact Peter Locke at 303-901-7090 (colorado.rugby@gmail.com) or Jeff Calhoun at 720-924-0660.
Rugby Super League
The Denver Barbarians Rugby Football Club secured the number three seed in the Rugby Super League’s Red Conference with a 49-10 victory over Old Puget Sound Beach in Seattle Saturday. The Barbarians were coming off a disappointing loss to Belmont Shore Rugby at home last week.
Next week, the Barbarians take a break from RSL competition to face the Glendale Raptors in a friendly (non-divisional game) at Infinity Park before both teams advance to playoffs in their respective divisions. The Barbarians begin the first round of playoffs by traveling east to take on the Blue Conference's number two seed the New York Athletic Club on Saturday May 16.
Men's Division I Playoffs
In the Men’s Division I Round of 32 playoffs Saturday, the Western Rugby Football Union North Sub-region’s number one seed the Gentlemen of Aspen soundly defeated the Texas Sub-region’s number four seed Austin Huns Rugby Club 78-9 in Aspen on Saturday.
The Glendale Raptors also advanced to the next round of the Men’s Division I playoffs with a decisive 78-15 win over the Austin Blacks (see story). Both Aspen and Glendale will travel to Austin to compete in the USA Round of 16 on May 16 and 17.
The North Sub-region’s third seed and forth seed were both eliminated on Saturday. The Denver Highlanders lost to the Houston Athletic Rugby Club 24-15, and the Kansas City Blues were eliminated following a 32-31 loss to Shreveport Rugby.
Colorado Youth Rugby
In high school rugby, the Aurora Rugby Football Club Saracens eliminated the 2008 defending State Champions the Colorado Springs Grizzlies in a tie breaker (see story). The Saracens moved on to join last year’s runner-up Denver East in the final four along with the Glendale Raptors and the Chaparral Wolverines, who also advanced as a result of a tie breaker.
In the Plate Tournament, Regis Jesuit High School, Boulder, the Northside Vikings, and PAC Rugby earned spots in the final four.
Rugby Super League -
The Denver Barbarians Rugby Football Club lost a close match to Belmont Shore Rugby Club Saturday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park Saturday. The 17-16 loss cost Denver a potential home playoff game, but the Barbarians still hold on to the number four spot in the Rugby Super League’s Red Division.
Next week the Barbarians will determine their own fate when they travel to Washington State to take on Old Puget Sound Beach. A victory in Seattle secures a playoff birth for Denver as the number four seed in the Red Division (story at Examiner.com).
Division I – Playoffs -
The first round of Western Rugby Football Union Men’s Division I playoffs begins Saturday.
The number one seed in the West’s North Sub-region, the Gentlemen from Aspen, hosts the Texas Sub-region’s number four seed Austin Huns Rugby Club. Due to the winter weather in the mountains, which left a couple of feet of snow on the pitch over the weekend, organizers are considering moving the first round match to Glendale's Infinity Park as part of a double header with the Glendale Raptors. An announcement is expected later this week. Aspen was idle over the weekend.
In a tune up before the playoffs, the number two seed Glendale Raptors beat the US Air Force Academy 22 -10. The Raptors open the first round of the playoffs at home against the Austin Blacks Saturday.
The Denver Highlanders, the third seed in the North Sub-region, travel to Texas to face the Houston Athletic Rugby Club. The Highlanders were also idle this weekend.
The Denver Barbarians moved one-step closer to a Rugby Super League playoff birth with a 56-13 win over the Chicago Griffins. With their victory in Chicago Saturday, Denver holds on to fourth place in the RSL Red Conference with two games remaining in the regular season.
Next week, the Barbarians (3-2) are at home against the Red Division leaders Belmont Shore Rugby Club (4-0-1). A win on Saturday will go a long way in securing a playoff birth. Denver concludes its regular season on the road against Old Puget Sound Beach Rugby Club (1-4).
Collegiate
Division I
The only team representing Colorado in the Division I Collegiate Playoffs the United States Air Force Academy Zoomies fell in the first round on Saturday to Cal Poly by the score of 61-10. The loss sent Air Force in to the Consolation Round Sunday where they defeated Minnesota 29-12.
Cal Poly went on to the next round only to loose 76-10 to the defending National Champions California Golden Bears. The Golden Bears are favored to win the Championship having taken the title for six consecutive years.
Division II
Friday, the University of Northern Colorado Bears advanced to the second round of the Division II Collegiate Playoffs by defeating the Mid-Atlantic’s number three seed St. Joseph's 58-12 in the first round. In the second round the Bears fell to Miami-Ohio by a score 50-7.
The other Men’s Division II team representing Colorado, The Colorado School of Mines, lost to South Florida 37-14 in the first round on Saturday. Mines also lost the consolation game against Humboldt St 19-13 Sunday.
Division I Men
Wintry weather this spring put pressure on Gentlemen of Aspen Rugby Football Club to complete three games in one week in order to complete their division schedule in time for playoffs. Closed mountain passes canceled two earlier games this season against the Denver Highlanders and the Kansas City Blues. Despite another spring blizzard that hit Colorado on Friday and Saturday, Aspen sneaked through the mountains in time to make their kickoff at Infinity Park only to loose to the Glendale Raptors by a score of 22-12.
The weather also forced the Denver Highlanders and the Boulder Rugby Athletic Club to relocate their Division I contest to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park when the City of Boulder closed Pleasant View Park, Boulder’s home field. The Highlanders pounded last-place Boulder 61-7.
In the second Division I rugby match in as many days for both teams, Aspen and the Highlanders faced off in a makeup game at Wyco Park Sunday afternoon. At stake for both clubs was a number one playoff seed and home-field advantage (see story).
Aspen's 56-5 win over the Highlanders and the bonus point secured Aspen as the Western Rugby Football Union’s number one seed in the Northern Sub-region. Glendale secured the North's number two seed. Aspen and Glendale will host the Texas Sub-region's forth and third seed in first round.
The Highlanders take the number three seed. Both the Highlanders and number four Kansas City must travel to Texas for the first round against the number two seed and one seed in WRFU Texas Sub-Region.
No word has been given by the Western Rugby Football Union regarding the makeup game between Aspen and Kansas City. Aspen’s win on Sunday makes the decision by the WRFU irrelevant to the playoff standings.
