Wednesday, April 6th was a battle royale between the reigning Rugby Colorado State Champions, Colorado Springs Jr. Grizzlies and Tigers Rugby Football Club, of Broomfield and Arvada. Coached by John Patterson, the Jr Grizzlies are made up of primarily of Pine Creek HS students. Warren Wood converted a Peter Loving try, set up by Alec Walters’ pop kick through the Jr. Grizzly defense. The Tigers battled well and missed a penalty goal at the 15th minute to close the 5-0 Colorado Springs lead, but it drifted wide right. The pace was controllable for a while, but the Tigers were assaulted by 15 tries and 4 conversions in the 83-7 final.
A memorable flag ceremony included the Tigers Rugby Football club leading the singing of the national anthem. The club’s flag (unfurled for the first time at this match) was received last week from Don Gerber, serving in Iraq. This particular flag was flown for us on a combat reconnaissance mission by Task Force ODIN, onboard an Army C-12 aircraft in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on Memorial Day, May 31, 2010. Tigers and Grizzlies paid a fitting tribute to the fathers of Colorado Springs players, 5 Tigers Rugby Alumni players, and Internet rugby fans serving in the armed forces – in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world.
John Paterson, of New Zealand, coaches the Jr. Grizzlies. Colorado Springs performed the Haka, a traditional dance form of the Māori of New Zealand.
Ironically, the Tigers took an enduring spirit through the length of the match. In spite of the score the club’s pride swelled, picking up momentum out of the good will, hard play and lessons gained in the loss. The boys from Broomfield seek to improve their playoff seed in matches against Chaparral (next Wednesday, 4/13) at HOME, and at SWARM (4/20). The Rugby Colorado State Championship Tournament begins Saturday, April 30th.
