BARBARIANS JUMP BACK IN RUGBY SUPER LEAGUE RACE

By Ken Matthews

(Commerce City, Colorado, April 11, 2009). The Denver Barbarians spotted the Chicago Lions a 6-point lead on two Eddie Bluemel penalty goals in the first 7 minutes of the match, and then clamped down a tight, unrelenting defense to take a 28-6 win at magnificent Dick's Sporting Goods Park on Saturday.

Tries by Mike Mangan, Jody Kramer, and David Laidlaw saw the Barbarians fail to get a league bonus point, but brought Chicago crashing down from the ranks of unbeaten teams. Both teams are at 2-2 in the brutal Red (Western) Conference, though Chicago leads Denver by 1 league point as a result of not allowing the Barbarians their fourth try Saturday.

Unfortunately, Referee Mitch Damm's whistle was the predominate impression left after the inaugural match at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. A dedicated crowd, braving some blustery conditions and cold weather, were ready for a quick, hard-hitting match. Based on the season, to date, the Barbarians and Lions seemed capable of producing some running rugby. The two teams seemed to never adjust to Damm's style. The game, with so much promise to share the beauty of rugby to an expanded audience, became a stop and start affair flawed by a red card to Denver's open side flanker Justin Stencel and four yellow cards (2 for Denver and 2 for Chicago).

None of the cards were for foul play. Stencel's red card (actually his second yellow that converted to a red) was for offside inside the Barbarian 22-meter line at 61 minutes, after being yellow carded earlier. Denver scrumhalf Sam Gilliam was sent to the bin for 10 minutes for an intentional knock on, when he dived, attempting to intercept a Lion backline pass. Stencel's other yellow card and the two Chicago yellow cards to lock Dustin Hugen (41 minutes) and blind side flanker Brian Ferrell (65 minutes) came at the contest at the tackle, where Damm's seemingly endless whistle killed any chance for the teams to create any continuity.

Denver's suffocating defense seems more remarkable, given they did not have Stencel, a defensive dynamo, for 29 minutes of the match's second half. Additionally, all Barbarian cards came in the second half, when Chicago had a strong wind at their back and managed to keep Denver pinned for long stretches of the second period. Gilliam and Stencel were both out at the same time, giving the Lions a 15 - 13 man advantage. The Barbarians tackled well, set up quickly, launched their defense aggressively, and scrambled effectively on the occasions that Chicago found gaps.

Chicago kicked off the match into a stiff south wind. The tone of the match was foretold on the opening kick-off. Denver's #8 Nic Johnson returned the kick off to the tackle and the Barbarians were immediately penalized at an uncontested ruck from just outside of their own 22-meter line. Lions' flyhalf Eddie Bluemel's penalty kick was true. At 45 seconds into the match, Lions 3, Barbarians 0.

Bluemel converted another intermediate penalty kick at 8 minutes. Lions 6, Barbarians 0.

Maximo De Acheval converted a penalty goal at 10 minutes for Denver to break onto the scoreboard. Lions 6, Barbarians 3.

At 23 minutes, from a 5-meter lineout, Denver threw long and worked a beautiful move at the back of the lineout that put lock Mike Mangan over the line. De Acheval converted. Barbarians 10, Lions 6.

De Acheval slotted a penalty goal at 33 minutes. Barbarians 13, Lions 6.

Following the restart after De Acheval's penalty goal, the Lions had an attack going and the ball in their backline. Denver wing Jody Kramer stepped in front of a looping skip pass and intercepted inside the Denver 10-meter line. Kramer managed to outrace the Lions cover defense to finish off a 65-meter try. De Acheval's conversion failed. Barbarians 18, Lions 6.

De Acheval punished the Lions on another penalty goal at the halftime whistle. Barbarians 21, Lions 6 at half.

The Lions inherited a very strong wind for the second half and used it to gain territorial advantage for nearly the entire second half. The yellow card cavalcade began with Chicago's lock Dustin Hugen was binned just minutes into the second half.

The Barbarians managed to have some possession, but could not clear their end due to the stout wind blowing from the south. At 54 minutes, the Barbarians used a series of forward attacks on the left side of the pitch to march into Lions territory and to suck in Chicago defenders. Once the ball was sent to the Denver backs, the Barbarians had a huge overload to the right. Inside center, David Laidlaw split the defense outside of the Lions 22-meter line, off-footed the Chicago cover defense, and touched down near the right post. De Acheval finished the scoring for the day with his conversion. Barbarians 28, Lions 6.

The remainder of the match saw the Lions in Denver's half most of the time, with Referee Damm's whistle, red card, and yellow cards dominating the last 30 minutes of the match.

Dick's Sporting Goods Park (DSGP) was an incredible setting for the rugby tripleheader. A crowd estimated at 1,000 braved some difficult Rocky Mountain spring conditions and were treated to a professional venue, staff, and accommodations. The Barbarians contracted DSGP's professional television staff for JumboTron production, including instant replay. Barbarian faithful occupied a luxurious double suite on the third level for a unique view of the match. A post-match reception of all participating teams was also held in the suite. The Lions named outside center Lucas Thiem their most-valuable player, while the Barbarians selected Nic Johnson.

In preliminary matches, the Boulder Rugby Club defeated the Barbarians' Division II side 41-36 in a wide-open affair. Defending national high school champion Highland Rugby defeated Denver East 57-6 in a fine display of attacking rugby. Both matches were real crowd-pleasers.

DENVER BARBARIANS: 1 Dai Maddocks, 2 Tim Russo (captain), 3 Chris Moreno, 4 Adam Drury (John Vander Giessen at half), 5 Mike Mangan, 6 Travis Meininger, 7 Justin Stencel, 8 Nic Johnson, 9 Sam Gilliam (Kramer to #9 when Gilliam yellow carded), 10 Dan Bludeau (David Yavala at 20 minutes, Yavala to fullback and De Acheval to flyhalf), 11 Jody Kramer (Ian Todd at 75 minutes), 12 David Laidlaw, 13 Peter Barclay (Dan Murphy at 55 minutes, Haapapuro to center, Murphy to wing), 14 Ben Haapapuro, 15 Maximo De Acheval, 16 Mark Trumble, 17 Andrew Post, 18 John Vander Giessen, 19 Garrett Peterson, 20 Ian Todd, 21 David Yavala, 22 Dan Murphy

Head Coach: David Hodges
Asst. Coach: Guy Mumford
Asst. Coach: Rob Dawe
Team manager: Dr. Bob Arnold

Red card: Justin Stencel (at 62 minutes)
Yellow cards: Justin Stencel (at 43 minutes), Sam Gilliam (at 45 minutes)

Scoring: 28

Tries: Mangan, Kramer, Laidlaw
Conversions: De Acheval 2
Penalties: De Acheval 3

CHICAGO LIONS: 1 Jon Vitale (captain), 2 Phil Abraham (Jim Pelton at 55 minutes), 3 Chris Slaby (Nate Ellis at 55 minutes), 4 Dustin Hugen (Eric Niggas at 63 minutes), 5 Matt Degutes, 6 Brian Ferrell (Eddie Long at 75 minutes), 7 Tom Dolan, 8 Matt Kelly, 9 Dave Selimos, 10 Jeremy Nash, 11 Eddie Bluemel, 12 Ben Purcell, 13 Lucas Thiem, 14 Josh Cocking, 15 Mark Roberts, 16 Jim Pelton, 17 Nate Ellis, 18 Eddie Long, 19 Eric Niggas, 20 Matt Ross, 21 Adam Jones, 22 Jeff Nogaj.

Head Coach: Marty Wiggins
Asst. Coach: Chris McClellan
Team manager: Paul Fleming

Yellow cards: Dustin Hugen (at 42 minutes), Brian Ferrell (at 66 minutes)

Scoring: 6

Penalties: Bluemel 2

Referee: Mitch Damm, Houston, TX
Asst. Referee: Tim Luscombe, Eastern Rockies Rugby Football Union
Asst. Referee: Larry Johnson, Eastern Rockies Rugby Football Union