Wednesday, March 11
Men's College Division 1A Colorado 17-17 Wyoming Saturday, March 14 Pacific Rugby Premiership Denver Barbarians 42-39 Old Mission Beach Athletic Glendale Raptors 51-31 Olympic Club Rugby Men's College Division 1A Colorado State 59-21 Colorado Men's Club Division 2 Boulder Rugby 29-15 Glendale Raptors D2 Denver Harlequins 24-10 Denver Highlanders Men's Club Division 3 Glendale Raptors D3 18-12 Northern Colorado Flamingos Men's Club & College Friendlies Olympic Club Rugby II 34-22 Queen City Rams Boulder Rugby d. Northside Marauders Women's Club & College Friendlies Colorado 27-15 Boulder Babes Glendale Raptors II 42-17 Denver Black Ice Sunday, March 15 Men's College Division 1A Air Force 61-19 Wyoming Colorado State 59-21 Colorado Saturday, March 7
Pacific Rugby Premiership Glendale Raptors 35-21 Denver Barbarians Women's Premier League Friendly Glendale Raptors 51-17 Twin Cities Amazons Men's College Division 1A Colorado 31-5 New Mexico Colorado State 34-5 Air Force Men's Club Division 2 Denver Barbarians D2 33-29 Glendale Raptors D2 Men's Small College (NSCRO) Frontier Conference Playoffs - Champions Cup Semi-Finals New Mexico Highlands 73-5 Western State Colorado School of Mines 31-22 Denver Men's Small College (NSCRO) Frontier Conference Playoffs - Challenge Cup Semi-Finals Northern Colorado 50-14 Colorado - Colorado Springs Red Rocks 31-10 Colorado Mesa Men's Club & College Friendlies Queen City Rams NR Denver Highlanders (scrimmage also played with Glendale) Denver Harlequins vs. Northern Colorado Flamingos Colorado Springs Grizzlies 54-5 Northside Marauders Colorado College 43-0 Colorado State - Pubelo Women's Club & College Friendlies Glendale Raptors II 29-14 Colorado State Sunday, March 8 Women's Club Division 1 Twin Cities Amazons 36-15 Denver Black Ice Men's Small College (NSCRO) Frontier Conference Playoffs - Champions Cup Final New Mexico Highlands 46-27 Colorado School of Mines Men's Small College (NSCRO) Frontier Conference Playoffs - Challenge Cup Final Northern Colorado 41-20 Red Rocks Women's Club & College Friendlies Colorado College vs. Red Rocks This weekend brings a host of high-quality rugby to the Rocky Mountains, including a rematch of the 2014 WPL Championship and the always-scintillating local derby between the Glendale Raptors and Denver Barbarians at Glendale's Infinity Park stadium.
In November 2014, the Glendale Raptors (women) defeated the reigning (2013) WPL champions, the Twin Cities Amazons, in a classic match at Life University's Championship Rugby Field in Marietta, Georgia. Down 10-8 at halftime, the Raptors stormed back with the guidance of WPL MVP Hannah Stolba to eke out a 16-15 victory that was only secure when an Amazons' conversion attempt fell short with one minute remaining. This weekend's friendly rematch will serve as the stadium opener at 1:00 PM. Following that match, the 2014 PRP Finalist Glendale Raptors men's squad will take on the historic local powerhouse Denver Barbarians at 3:00 PM. Matches between these sides are usually the best men's rugby matches each year in Colorado. This year, Glendale and Denver enter the match sitting 2nd and 6th (respectively), after each squad struggled early on the road. With momentum now behind them, and fewer trips to California remaining, each side is capable of ending the weekend in the PRP's top two with a victory. Elsewhere in the Rockies, the Men's Small College (NSCRO) Frontier Conference playoffs will take place at Infinity Park South and the University of Denver, and the premier division of men's collegiate rugby, Division 1A, resumes with high-profile matches between New Mexico and Colorado, as well as Colorado State and Air Force. Be sure to check out these matches live to support your local rugby community! Saturday, March 7 Pacific Rugby Premiership 3:00 PM - Infinity Park | Glendale Raptors vs. Denver Barbarians Women's Premier League Friendly 1:00 PM - Infinity Park | Glendale Raptors vs. Twin Cities Amazons Men's College Division 1A 1:00 PM - University Field | New Mexico vs. Colorado 1:00 PM - Colorado State Rugby Field | Colorado State vs. Air Force Men's Club Division 2 1:00 PM - Infinity Park South | Glendale Raptors D2 vs. Denver Barbarians D2 Men's Small College (NSCRO) Frontier Conference Playoffs - Champions Cup Semi-Finals 3:00 PM - Infinity Park South | New Mexico Highlands vs. Western State 4:30 PM - Infinity Park South | Denver vs. Colorado School of Mines Men's Small College (NSCRO) Frontier Conference Playoffs - Challenge Cup Semi-Finals 6:00 PM - University of Denver Rugby Field | Colorado - Colorado Springs vs. Northern Colorado 7:30 PM - University of Denver Rugby Field | Colorado Mesa vs. Red Rocks Men's Club & College Friendlies 9:00 AM - Infinity Park South | Queen City Rams vs. Denver Highlanders 3:30 PM - Parkfield Lake Park | Denver Harlequins vs. Northern Colorado Flamingos 4:30 PM - Williams Field | Northside Marauders vs. Colorado Springs Grizzlies 7:00 PM - Washburn Stadium | Colorado College vs. Colorado State - Pubelo Women's Club & College Friendlies 11:00 AM - Infinity Park South | Glendale Raptors II vs. Colorado State Sunday, March 8 Women's Club Division 1 1:00 PM - Dick's Sporting Goods Park #8 | Denver Black Ice vs. Chicago North Shore Men's Small College (NSCRO) Frontier Conference Playoffs - Champions Cup Final 10:00 AM - University of Denver Rugby Field | TBD vs. TBD Men's Small College (NSCRO) Frontier Conference Playoffs - Challenge Cup Final 12:00 PM - University of Denver Rugby Field| TBD vs. TBD Women's Club & College Friendlies 1:00 PM - Red Rocks Rugby Field | Colorado College vs. Red Rocks Men's Pacific Rugby Premiership
San Francisco Golden Gate 27-31 Glendale Raptors Santa Monica Dolphins 45-13 Denver Barbarians Men's Club vs. Men's Collegiate Colorado State University 22-19 Boulder Rugby Denver Barbarians D2 40-19 University of Colorado Red Rocks College 16-75 Queen City Rams Men's Collegiate University of Denver 28-5 University of Colorado B Boys' High School Aurora Saracens 30-5 Boulder Rugby Ridgeview Rugby 15-20 Titans Rugby The University of Colorado takes flight for California today to begin a busy weekend in which the Buffaloes will play Santa Clara Saturday Jan. 31 and Stanford the very next day.
Colorado is coming off a disappointing fall campaign after giving up a combined 110 points to Air Force and Colorado State in losing efforts, and only managing a tie while playing on home soil against Wyoming. The Buff’s lone win came against New Mexico, a team that has struggled during its returned venture to the West Conference competition. The rough start to its 2014-15 season makes Colorado hungry for a big win, but its opponent Saturday will take the pitch with a belly growling for a victory as well. Santa Clara was embarrassed at home last week when Arizona trounced the Broncos 55-5. The 50-point loss can be partially chalked up to a combination of factors: Santa Clara is not yet clicking as a unit this early in the season, and Arizona, now ranked No. 9 in D1A, just might be a whole lot better than most people perceived at the beginning of the season. Either way, the Broncos will be eager to erase the memory of its defeat against Arizona with a quality performance that leads to a win over the Buffs. For Colorado, a sweep of the South Bay Area schools would not only boost its record, but also its confidence prior to diving into the second half of its West Conference schedule. Stanford could present the heavier task as compared to Santa Clara this weekend. The Cardinal gave Santa Clara everything it could handle before falling 22-19 in the match’s closing minutes. The fact that the Buffalos take on Stanford less than 24 hours after going a full 80 minutes against Santa Clara will make the second leg of the trip a difficult chore. Several of key players who were held out of action in the fall but were starters for Colorado in 2013-14 when they won the West are set to return to the first XV. This will surely give the boys in black and gold a boost, as they will need a to handle this weekend’s opposition with ease if they want to show they can avenge losses to Air Force and Colorado State in March. There may not be many D1A matchups this weekend involving two teams at or near the top of their conference’s standings, but there are plenty of teams that currently sit in the middle of the pack and need wins to get into a conference championship conversation.
Big Ten Universities Undefeated Michigan hosts Michigan State Friday night. The Wolverines have looked sharp out of the gates and are surely the favorites, but you cannot count out Sparty in a rivalry match. Minnesota has to be feeling good about its 2-0 start, but Saturday’s match against Ohio State should be its toughest test yet. The Buckeyes need a win to get their season back on track, while a Gopher victory will garner the attention of the rest of the Big Ten Universities teams. Rugby East It was relatively known heading into the season that the three newcomers to Rugby East would struggle against the four teams that previously occupied the conference. Up to this point, nothing has happened on the pitch to lead anyone to believe anything different. So, Buffalo and Iona should really be up against it when they play Penn State and Army, respectively. The one match out of the East that could stay close for a full 80 minutes is St. Bonaventure’s visit to Wheeling Jesuit. After playing Army tough, the Bonnies were blown out by Penn State, 81-5. If St. Bonaventure can compete at the level it did against West Point then it could pull off the upset against Jesuit. Kutztown is the type of program that does not like to take a weekend off, and they have shown that by scheduling tough nonconference opponents outside of its Rugby East schedule. This week the Golden Bears have Maryland, one of the better teams out of the Atlantic Coast Rugby League and home to the Cima brothers – AIG Men’s Collegiate All-American Matias and MJAA and BHSAA star Ben. Red River No D1A game has more intrigue this week than Texas versus Oklahoma. Not only does the match represent one of the best rivalries in all of college sports, but the Longhorns and Sooners look to be the top two sides out of the Red River this fall. Check out D1A’s full preview of the Red River Rivalry. Texas Tech gets its first chance to hit someone in an opposing color when Baylor comes to town Saturday. After a solid 15s season last spring, Baylor has been a minor disappointment in the early going this fall. It is not that the Bears’ 0-2 record is something to hang their heads about – both losses came against quality sides in Oklahoma and Texas – but it’s the fashion in which they have dropped those games. Baylor has been outscored 105-25 in its first two Red River matches. Still, this game is anyone’s to win. West Air Force looks to be the class of the West so far, so Colorado will have to up its game in order to give the Zoomies a challenge. Of course, Air Force must have been flying high after an emotional victory over Navy last Friday, so if there is any letdown on their end, the Buffs could capitalize at home. Wyoming was disappointed to settle for a tie last week against the Buffaloes. A win against Colorado State should alleviate that disappointment, and the Cowboys have a good shot on Saturday as the Ram will be without stud flanker Ben Pinkelman who is in Canada representing the Eagles Select XV in Canada at the 2014 Americas Rugby Championship. D1A Independent squad Arizona will field a developmental side to play the West’s New Mexico. Several key players for the Wildcats will be in California competing at the West Coast 7s and a spot in USA Rugby’s 2015 College 7s National Championship. The match could be a tight one, as New Mexico is young and inexperienced, while Arizona will be suiting up a side made up almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores. Mid-South Nobody out of the Mid-South is afraid of a challenge. That is why Davenport is playing former conference foe Arkansas State and Lindenwood is playing Life’s Elite Training Group – a side combining the senior club team and undergrad team. Davenport will no doubt play with a spirited intensity, especially because it is a Friday night homecoming match, but it may not be enough to pull off the upset against the Red Wolves. Arkansas State impressed in a lopsided win over Glendale a few weeks back, plus Davenport will be without All-American prop Angus MacLellan who, like Pinkelman, is playing with the Eagles Selects. Lindenwood has already beat three quality senior club sides, including Glendale, but Life’s Elite Training Group should present them the most problems. The Lions can matchup athletically with any team in the country – college or club – but coaches Tui Osborne and Dan Payne will have their side technically prepared in ways few coaches can. The West was one of two D1A conferences to expand this season with the addition of New Mexico into the fold. Another key difference this season for the West is the split in their conference schedule between the fall and spring semesters. In recent history, the West has played the entirety of its league competition in the spring, whereas this season each team will play head-to-head once in both the fall and spring.
Last season witnessed the West send three teams – Colorado, Colorado State and Wyoming – into the D1A Playoffs, with Colorado reaching its second consecutive National Quarterfinal. This year, there is no reason to believe the West does not have the talent to match last year’s number of three playoff teams. Air Force Academy Longtime Air Force Head Coach Joe Muehlbauer was proud of his Zoomies’ effort last season, but he knows Air Force lost too many winnable matches. This season, Muehlbauer believes he has the pieces in place to overturn the misfortunes of last year and get back to the playoffs. For the Cadets of Colorado Springs, they’ll need to replace All-American Jack Bristol before they can even think about improving on last season’s results. Luckily, it looks as though number eight Garrett Jameson is ready to take on the leadership role that Bristol carried so firmly. Jameson is a rugged defender and excellent ball carrier to match. Teams familiar with Air Force know a physically-punishing 80 minutes can be expected, and this season will be no different with props Taylor Cooksey and James Hanley leading the tight five. Both Cooksey and Hanley run upwards of six-foot-four and 260 pounds and enjoy contact at the breakdown. A common misconception around the Air Force program is that they lack the speed and athleticism of some other D1A teams – they don’t. This season, Victor Woo has taken over the scrum half duties. Woo has been a mainstay on Air Force’s sevens side, but is now ready to make an impact for the first XV. Adding to Air Force’s speed and athleticism is Zach White’s return from injury. The full back has been chomping at the bit to get back on the pitch, and already made his presence felt with two tries in Air Force’s 61-14 win over New Mexico. Always looking to push the limits of its players, Air Force has scheduled some very stiff competition around its West Conference matches including matches against Army, Navy, and San Diego State. Even with monumental rivals Army and Navy looming, the Zoomies’ coaching staff knows there will not be any pushovers out of the West. “I think the West has really improved,” said Muehlbauer. “I think we’ve improved, but so has Colorado State. Wyoming and Colorado are always tough, and New Mexico will be all right once they get their feet underneath them. I think we have an extremely difficult conference out here.” University of Colorado The reigning West champions used a high-powered offense to take them all the way to Marietta, Ga., where the Buffs fell to Life University in the National Quarterfinals. However, Colorado was a senior-laden team last season and lost key backline players and All-Americans Sean Kilfoyle and Brian Waneless. The new-look Buffs are much younger, and will rely on their muscle in the pack rather than a long list of dynamic backs that bolstered last year’s roster. “After our first week we know we have a lot of work to do to get back to where we were last season,” admitted Head Coach Jim Snyder. “There are a lot of good teams in our conference, so it will be a challenge to navigate through this fall schedule.” The “first week” that Snyder is referring to included an embarrassing 57-0 loss to Colorado State. The Buffs were missing a number of starters, but the scoreline suggests Colorado has more to do than simply get healthy to be competitive. Helping the Buffalos get back to being a West contender will be hooker Gavin Moscone and back-rower Connor Kissler, each of whom are coming off of stellar freshman seasons. After the graduation of several steady backline players and early injuries keeping halfbacks Jay Brown and Rhys Watkins off of the pitch, there has been a massive shift in the backline. After contributing from the wings last season, Jake Shomer, Piere Poupeau, and Cory Ketai move inside to fly half, center, and scrum half, respectively. Snyder is also counting on newcomers to the Boulder campus Zach Niro and Kip Nilson to make immediate impacts. Niro is a flanker with an extremely high work rate, while Nilson is a dangerous backline runner who participated in the high-school Stars and Stripes Camp over the summer. Colorado State University Qualifying for the D1A Playoffs has become the norm for Colorado State, but the Rams believe they have the players and structures in place to raise expectations in Fort Collins, Colo., and get beyond the opening round of the playoffs. “To be honest, we feel we can go a lot further than that,” said Colorado State Backs Coach Ryan Walker. “But no one is getting too far ahead of themselves, and we are taking it one game at a time.” With the return of Junior All-American and rising start Ben Pinkleman, one can’t blame Colorado State for thinking big this season. Pinkleman took a hiatus from college last spring to play for the Denver Barbarians and has already asserted himself onto Men’s Eagles Head Coach Mike Tolkin’s radar. Now back with the Rams, Pinkleman is one of the best players in college rugby and will be patrolling the park from his openside flanker position. Joining Pinkleman in the back row is Evan Giest at number eight. Giest is a big body, and along with Pinkleman will be making things difficult for opposing teams at the breakdown. Although Colorado State lost All-American prop Stephen Karas to graduation, the Rams return three front-rowers who all possess valuable playing time for Colorado State’s first XV in Jaron Beerlire, Jackson Brockway, and Eric Hamilton. In the backs, Joe Sullivan has been a consistent performer since transferring from Arkansas State, and Luke Engelhaupt is a danger-man in the 13 jersey. The back three for the Rams is young but talented, with freshmen Liam Wynne and Jack Connor already making themselves quite comfortable running with the first XV. Last week Colorado State made noise by blowing out Colorado, 57-0. The two bitter rivals are known for competing against one another in nail-biting fashion, making the decisive shutout so shocking. The result may have, in part, something to do with the Rams hosting an elite camp with the help of Canterbury Rugby Football Union and led by Super Rugby’s Crusaders Assistant Coach Tabai Matson. “The players loved it,” proclaimed Walker. “Our entire A-side attended the camp and a few of our B-side players attended as well. I think it was really eye-opening for the guys. A lot of them have intentions of taking their rugby to the next level, so for them to be coached by a guy who currently coaches 13 All Blacks and one of the best professional sides in the world was a great learning experience.” Colorado State is excited about the prospect of continuing and expanded the elite camp for both players and coaches as a yearly tradition. But for the here and now, the Rams have their sights on a West Championship. University of New Mexico The players on the New Mexico rugby team made their intentions loud and clear last year that they wanted back in the West Conference and to play at the highest level of college rugby. Now, after strengthening their numbers and doing everything asked of them administratively, they’ve earned the right to play in one of the better conferences in the country. “The players worked their tails off to do everything on and off the field to get back into the West Conference and into D1A,” said Lobos Head Coach Michael Hardy. Still, it remains uncertain how New Mexico will perform now that they are back in the West. “The expectation right now is to play competitive games,” said Hardy. “These teams we are playing are some of the top-rated teams in the nation. So, to be competitive with them is our goal until we can build on our numbers and skill level.” Giving the Lobos an opportunity to stay competitive this fall will be explosive winger Dasante Browne and inside center Joe Krigbaum. Hardy has also received early contributions from a number freshman who just wrapped up stellar high school careers. University of Wyoming Coming off of a season that earned the Cowboys a place in D1A’s Playoffs, there is reason for optimism in Laramie, Wyo. Sure, Wyoming is not much more experienced than last year’s team after graduating some key forwards and scrum half Alex Knowles, but the team does return players who have won tough matches in their careers and are a bit more athletic this season. “Overall we are incredibly inexperienced, but really excited to play,” said Head Coach David Finoff. The experience begins with captain Derek Aggerman, who takes over the ‘C’ while the Cowboys await the return of last year’s captain Ben Pacheco who is still recovering from a ruptured patellar tendon. Wyoming will also need a group of sophomores to progress rather rapidly in halfback Connor Rezzonico and props Michael Lewis and Sam Jacobs. Behind Lewis and Jacobs is second-rower Scott Ericsson, while Jose Campos and Timothy Mendoza must be disruptive loose-forwards for the Cowboys. Bobby Watkins, who has spent time in the centers, is slotted as one of Wyoming’s wingers. He has the athleticism and reps under his belt to make big plays. Coach Finoff is also excited about what his transfer from Canada, Jonathan Arndt, can do to help the team. Laramie is never an easy place to play for opposing teams, so if the Cowboys can steal a couple of matches on the road they will have as good a shot as any to win the West. Predicted Finish:
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