A Four-tunate Stop: Late Defensive Stand Gives Aspen Gents Their Fourth Straight Ruggerfest Title
Finding motivation to grind out a few of the most intense and difficult minutes in recent Ruggerfest history was easy for the Gentlemen of Aspen Rugby Club.
After all, this tournament is their legacy, and they know what keeping that trophy at home means to the community.
“We spoke about it before the game, how it means more to us. This is our home tournament, playing on arguably the best rugby pitch in the country,” Gents coach and player Ben Mitchell said. “A lot of guys are invested in the organization and the tournament, so when we do step out on the field at Ruggerfest, it means a lot. When you get into those tough minutes, especially at the end in a close game, you just find that little bit extra, and that’s what they did today.”
Playing shorthanded most of the game due to penalties, the Gents found a way to beat the Denver Barbarians, 36-32, on Sunday in the men’s open division final of Ruggerfest 56 at Wagner Park in downtown Aspen. The game was only decided in the final seconds thanks to a defensive stand by the Gents, who secured their fourth straight Ruggerfest crown in front of the home crowd.
“It was emotional at the end there, especially in a tight game like that,” Mitchell said. “It was an unbelievable effort by the guys. It was nip-and-tuck there toward the end. We were defending our goal line for the last couple of minutes, but when we got that last turnover here under the post, it was an unbelievable feeling.”
This is the third time in the tournament’s history, which dates to 1968, that the Gents have won at least four straight years at Ruggerfest. Their record is seven straight, from 1996 to 2002. They also won four straight from 2006 to 2009.
Simon Dogbe, Aspen’s longest tenured player, has now been part of two four-peats with the Gents and believes the club has some of the same energy it did back in the 2000s when it was last winning national championships.
“It just gets better and better,” Dogbe said. “I only came on in the second half, but the guys who played the full game, 90% of the game was a man down. And they put it in. I was so proud of them. And then when our subs came on, we just had to try and lift it. Luckily, we did.”
It was a close affair late into the first half before a couple of quick tries in the final minutes gave Aspen a 29-15 halftime lead. Hoping to build on that momentum, the Gents actually found themselves in a heavyweight fight out of the break, as midway through the period the Barbarians took the lead at 32-29 and seemed to have everything in their favor.
The Gents retook the lead thanks to a try with just under five minutes remaining, and it took a dramatic goal-line stand by the defense that literally went to the final whistle to secure victory.
“We spoke at halftime how if we keep that momentum going at the start of the second half, this game is going to go well for us. And that didn’t happen,” Mitchell said. “We had one big attacking set with about 10 minutes to go, but apart from that, we were on the back foot for the whole second half. They obviously got a couple of scores and got some momentum, but we managed to keep them out when it mattered.”
For winning, the Gents get to keep the Sherlock Cup, named after the club’s late co-founder, Steve Sherlock, who passed away in July at age 92.
In most years, this would mark the end of the season for the Gents. But with their return this fall to DII rugby via the Rocky Mountain Rugby Premiership, the club is chasing even more, much like it did throughout the 1990s and 2000s, where it claims nine national championships over that time.
Dogbe credits the coaches and the team’s overall commitment to being here for the club’s recent rise.
“The coaches have honestly put us through the paces. I haven’t run this hard in a long time. And it helps having numbers at practice, too,” he said, even giving a nod to the Junior Gents high school team, which recently won a state championship and will often practice against the main squad. “Us playing in the league actually helped us a little bit this year because we had more games before Ruggerfest to get more cohesiveness together. And that also helps as we got a good squad living here year-round now.”
This was Aspen’s 25th Ruggerfest championship, dating to the first in 1971. The Barbarians were an old nemesis of Aspen’s, claiming eight Ruggerfest titles of their own. Between 1997 and 2009, the Gents and Barbarians met in the Ruggerfest final 10 times, Aspen winning eight of them. Denver beat the Gents in the 2003 final, snapping Aspen’s seven-tournament win streak, and again in 2005.
“I’m too young to remember those days. But the vibe around the club is unbelievable right now,” said Mitchell, who plays in Major League Rugby and only took over as the club’s head coach in 2019. “To do the four-peat, it’s only been done twice before in the club’s history. It’s really special for the guys who have done all four.”
With Ruggerfest done, the Gents now dive back into RMR play. Aspen, 2-0 so far this fall in the DII league, will play this coming Saturday at Haggis RFC in Utah, the third of eight games on the fall RMR calendar.
Mitchell said the Gents have earned a day off from practice, but they’ll be back at it on Thursday.
“We’ll probably take Tuesday off. There will be some sore heads tomorrow morning,” he said. “We’ve got another six games of that coming up, so it’s going to be tough to rally the troops this week and get back on track, but it’s special times for the club.”
The Sister Wives rolled to the women’s open division title, winning 36-0 over the Old Breed.
By: I The Aspen Times I September 23, 2024