Boulder Lions Tame Tigers Rugby, 27-15

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 treated to the introduction of a few new players to the team.  King Medlin of Holy Family, Matt Woolem of Pomona, and Bobby Stomski of Standley Lake HS made everyone notice their debuts for Tigers RFC.  The B side was outscored 12-0 in the first half, then tightened up a 0-0 second half to end the day.  Thomas Guilinger proved to be a force in the set pieces at second row and in loose play supporting the rucks and mauls.  Oliver Smith, Rob Nees, Ricardo Cid,  Ryan Rockwood and Danny Fiorino were instrumental in stabilizing a sluggish Tigers start.  Gradually, the urgency was more apparent as the control of the ball, and pressure from the full back highlighted the match for the Tigers in the final 5 minutes.