Rugby is growing in leaps and bounds in the northern Denver metropolitan area.  Over 500 HS boys joined coaches, referees and family gathered for the Colorado Youth Rugby Spring Fling Tournament at Northwest Open Spaces athletic fields in Northglenn on Saturday, March 13^th.  Ruggers and rugger huggers alike relished the first spring-like day of the 2010 season. 

The 10:00 start was perfect for a full day of non-league matches for Tigers Rugby, though the initial 41-5 loss to a nationally ranked Denver East HS was a tough breakfast.  Always moving forward, Tigers Rugby faced the reigning State runner-up, Aurora Saracens, made up of a friendly and diverse group including a number of Polynesian players.  The Tigers were outscored, but not outplayed in the first match against the Aurora A-side 12-5.  The Tigers’ B-side displayed an inspiring and organized attack and upended the Saracens B-side, 17-15.  Immediately following, Tigers Rugby’s B-side played the Fort Collins A-side, and showed the depth of improvement as a club, in a narrow 7-5 loss to the Division II A-side with predominantly Freshman and Sophomore Tigers.  The rested Tigers A side then took advantage of a tired Fort Collins side to practice a number of positional shifts.  Valuable success in the execution of the Tigers attack was seen in a 45-0 victory .  Throughout the day we saw the following players score points for Tigers Rugby: Albert Whitemore, Jared Riemer, Andrew Hutchinson, Bobby Stomski, Peter Loving, Braden Thunell, Christian …

Tigers Rugby lost a heat breaker Wednesday night (3/10/2010) to a sharp and strategic Regis Jesuit High School by a score of 20-7.  Arguably one to the closest matches ever played between these two clubs was going well for the Tigers early. Nick Allen capitalized on a territorial advantage gained by an Anthony Puglise kick and gradually drove his team to the goal line.  The wind was an advantage to the Tigers in the fist half, allowing deep penetration at least three occasions.   Forwards played a solid, aggressive match in the loose play early on.  Uncontested rucks in each half cost the Tigers what turned out to be valuable time , as Regis Jesuit demonstrated a better organized attack. 

Albert Whitemore missed a kick in the first half, but put the Tigers ahead with a conversion kick after the first try to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead.  Before the end of the first half, Regis placed the ball well with kicking deep into the Tigers end, where a maul was pushed forward, then rolled right to let Regis back in the match with a halftime score of 7-7.

The second half was a well-played match that was eventually decided by Tigers Rugby penalties.  Two successful penalty kicks brought the score to 13-7 and made it difficult for the Tigers to wrestle the Bishop’s Cup out of the hands of the Red Raiders.  A late Regis Jesuit try sealed the deal for their 7^th straight Colorado Catholic …

Tigers Rugby Football Club enjoyed a wonderful day on the best pitch in the nation Saturday (3/6/2010), but fell to a tough and opportunistic Boulder Lions RFC, 27-15.  The Tigers B side also dropped a 12-0 decision.  Both teams showed better organization in their second periods.  The sunny blue skies and the mountain backdrops were a great way to spend a day, win or lose.  Boulder Lions are a rapidly improving Division II club  that had never beaten a Tigers Rugby A-side in our seven year history.  Three cheers go out to Boulder Coaches John Barkmeier, and Jim Bruce for their supportive development of a program with consistently enormous potential.  Tigers and Boulder have enjoyed a long divisional rivalry which was well bolstered with this meeting.

Albert Whitemore and Warren Wood took the helm  with  a variety of back line and back row combinations.  Boulder put up 12 points in the first half and were equal to the Tigers with 15 apiece in the second.  Albert Whitemore scored first for the Tigers to make it 22-5, and with 8 minutes remaining, the Tigers went on a 10 point tear.  With a minute left, down 22-15,  the Tigers wasted a possesion in the midfield, and gave up a long Boulder try to end the match at 27-15.  Man of the Match was Alec Walters.  Albert Whitemore, Patrick O’Connor, and Warren Wood collected tries for the Tigers in the second half.

The B side was …

Tigers Rugby Football Club stepped into uncharted territory with a 29-7 victory of Cherry Creek HS Rugby Club. A perennial powerhouse, the Bruins were upstaged by the aggressive Tigers Rugby lineout defense, ball movement by their backs, tight five, back row and scrum half play. Albert Whitemore took a game ball home as “Man of the Match” for his effort in playing advantages repeatedly, and putting intense pressure on the Cherry Creek playmakers. The Tigers improved their Division I league record to 2-0. The overall club record progressed to 4-3-1.

Monday, March 1, 2010
Tigers Freshmen and Sophomores joined forces with Northside Vikings for the season. Alec Walters led the Tigers/Viking alliance in to battle against Regis Jesuit first, failing in a late comeback attempt, by a score of 20-12. Against East HS, the Tigers showed significant control and rapidly improving ball movement, pressuring the Angels with more than the 17-5 score implies. Nick Dorwart, Walker Prieb, Michael Figundo, Robert Kaniecki, Charlie Ellwood, Danny Fiorino, Luke Rockwood, Braden Thunell, Ryan Rockwood, and Mitchell Thunell combined with 5 Northside underclassmen to learn the game together through the spring. Schemes and patterns were becoming increasingly apparent to the last play of each match.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Tigers Rugby’s pack was up to the challenge on this night, beating Cherry Creek 29-7. Winning 75% of the …