RECAP OF 52ND ANNUAL ASPEN RUGGERFEST
As the hours counted down towards the 52nd annual Aspen Ruggerfest, the Denver Barbarians headed towards the mountains via cars, trains and RV’s with dreams of Sunday mug glory. The end result wasn’t what the team wanted, but the weekend wasn’t without many moments of bravery, focus and physical battery. The action started early Saturday morning on Rio Grande field, where the morning dew and freshly mowed grass gave off the sights, sounds and smells of pure Colorado rugby.
The Barbarians faced off against a formidable North America Lions developmental side for a 9am kick off. The Barbos had scrimmaged the team the previous weekend, as the NA Lions have spent the last month training at Glendale’s facilities under the tutelage of former Eagle Paul Emerick and World Rugby coach Kiernan Browner. To call the NA Lions side a “developmental” team was quite the understatement. This young team, with ages ranging from 18-24 holds many future Eagles and some great Canadian players. Looking back, the Barbos realized they started too slow in this early morning showdown. While the Barbos played strong defense at times, the NA Lions’ structure and tenaciousness was too much. The Barbos were overcome with drops and mistakes in the set piece and fell 24-3 in their first pool game.
The 11am kick off against Boulder provided an opportunity for the Barbos to face off against the team that sent them packing from the playoffs last spring. Boulder defeated the Barbos TWICE last year, in the fall and spring, and the Green & White knew there was more than Ruggerfest pride in this match. The Barbos forward pack turned their lineout around after a sloppy first game, and started the game with two push over maul tries, the scoring coming from the hands of hard runner Jason “Tubbs” Christiansen. Tubbs has been a key piece of the Barbos pack for the last 3 years, as he looks to increase his leadership role in his 4th season as he looks to lead the Barbos back to the 2018 National Championship form. The Barbos then got the ball flying through the hands of the backs. Some crisp passing put Dante Brown under the posts and the rout was on. As the subs rolled through (yes, it’s hard to breath at 8,000 feet above sea level!), Boulder was able to put some tries in, but it wasn’t enough as the Barbos stamped out a convincing win 31-17.
This led to a “win or go home” final pool game against the Dark N Stormy Misfits. Anchored by a handful of active professional Major League Rugby players, the Misfits appeared to be the favorite simply by side by side size comparison. This massive team got the scoring started with an early try, but the Barbos recovered and began to put in an unbelievable defensive effort. The Misfits’ attack continued to come, yet the Barbos pack and backline were tenacious in their tackling forcing six first half knock-ons. The team also ran down what appeared to be sure thing tries, and kept the game within striking distance at halftime.
After a remarkable passage of play from club president & lighting rod Logan Collins (who graciously returned to the playing field for this historic tournament), it was team leader, mentor and the try man himself, Danny Bell, who caught an offload and scored near the posts. Team captain Charles Ajarrista converted the try and the Barbos held tight at 10-7 for the majority of the game. A serious injury to a Misfits player caused a 20 minute game delay as he was stretchered off, and the Barbos seemed to lose their defensive momentum. The Misfits punched in two tries, one of which was run in by a 6’6” 320lb ex-Fijian national player (talk about size!). Final whistle saw the Barbos fall 22-7, but the team realized after the game how well they played on defense against a group of professional players.
On Sunday, the Barbos had current players Juan “Chilli” Bialy and “Uncle” Johnny Warner suit up for Time Rugby and Rob Moreno suiting up for the Misfits in the O35 final. The Misfits were victorious, but everyone won this Sunday thanks to beautiful weather and a somber moment of respect for the late Jerry Hatum who passed in June. Jerry was an Aspen old boy and at one point the club president for Aspen. The Barbos have a great history playing against Aspen and the club joined the fans (attendance estimates were ~2000) in remembrance.
Below …. Brendan Shea chases down the world’s fastest rugby player Taku Ngwenya and saves a try.
