In what could only be described as blustery conditions, the Denver Barbarians fell short of an epic comeback against local rivals the American Raptors. The two teams were excited to play a local game on the same pitch where they train. Infinity park turf has seen hundreds of high paced rugby matches, and the duel on April 23rd kept the crowd on their feet throughout the day. It was a tale of two halves as the Raptors got the front foot early through D’Cota Dixon. He ran straight through Luka Pavlakis to get over the line and give the Raptors a 7-0 lead.

Your Denver Barbarians struck back in a patient, well constructed rolling maul. The collective effort got Jason Christensen over the line. Liam Wynne added 2 and the match was tied at 7 a piece. But just like that the game changed. The Raptors began to get the front foot and pushed the Green and White back into their own half. A try in the 19th minute, another in the 22nd minute, made the score 17-7 in favor of the Raptors. What happened next showed any new rugby fans how the bounce of the ball swing a games momentum. Alex Wormer, the Denver Barbarians sensational open-side flanker, picked the ball from the base of the ruck and began galloping downfield, looking where his next decision would take him.

Wormer’s wide pass (pictured above) just missed the hands of its target. Given the nature of Wormer’s break (gallop) the Green & White defense was staggered and disjointed. Raptor winger D’Cota Dixon scooped up the loose ball and turned on the jets. The result was 5 more pts for the Raptors. They held a 22-7 lead at halftime.

As expected, Eric Sykes was a force to be reckoned with on both sides of the ball throughout the day. He let em’ know that he came to play. A few great photos of Sykes can be seen above.

Christian Rubio was the first Barbo off the bench replacing Max Murphy at the 45th minute. Rubio’s physicality played a role in the Barbos 2nd half performance. They got their scoring going through Conor O’Brien (pictured below). The Wynne conversion brought the game back to 22-14.

The Raptors scored a converted try and extended the lead to 29-14. This was the point in the match where the men in Green & White knew they were running out of time on this game. Something had to be done in order to stay with an extremely physical side. They turned to moxie and spark as they began to retain the ball for longer periods of time. The payoff came through a Mike Lawrenson try under the sticks.

Another fast break try dotted down by Saskatoon Saskatchewan native Brian Rice was converted by Wynne and the Barbos were within 1 point, down 28-29 and nipping on the Raptors heels (claws?). But all good things must come to an end at some point … and on this blustery late April afternoon, the comeback was no more. A late try from Jake Geppner brought the final score to 34-28 in favor of the American Raptors. It was a fantastic test for the Barbos as they prepare for club playoffs in the coming weeks. The Barbos always look to compete at the highest level, and the Raptors delivered on a great match.

We will continue to update you across our social media channels and website as we begin our playoff campaign in St. Louis, MO on Saturday 5/7/22. Match times and locations can be found on our website HERE.

To donate to the club and help us with the expenses associated with playoffs, then please head to our GoFundMe which is HERE.

Lastly, be sure to check out our highlight video from the season so far below…