University of Colorado Rugby Football Club

Number of Visitors:

5120

Buffs to play at Dick's Sporting Goods Park

Denver Barbarians Rugby Club and Dick’s Sporting Goods Park will co-host that venue’s inaugural rugby event this Saturday, April 4, 2009. Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is a state-of-the-art, multiple use sports and entertainment stadium and the centerpiece of a $131 million, 24-field, fully lighted field soccer, rugby, and lacrosse complex completed in 2007. Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is the home of the Colorado Rapids, a Major League Soccer franchise. The Rapids and Dick’s Sporting Goods Park fall within the Kroenke Sports Enterprise sports empire, which owns the Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Avalanche (NHL), Colorado Crush (furloughed area football league), and Colorado Mammoth (National Lacrosse League). Stan Kroenke, owner and governor of KSE, also owns a 20% interest in England’s storied Arsenal Football Club. The Barbarians and the Lions will kick off their Rugby Super League match at 4 pm Saturday. A 12:30 pm Colorado Youth Rugby match between Denver East High School and Chaparral High School and a 2 pm match between the Barbarians Division II and University of Colorado will precede this match. All tickets are general admission for all matches at $10, $12.50 (Barbarian Ticket and Pink Pack), and $15 (Barbarian Ticket, Dog, and Drink Pack) and can be purchased at the following outlets: · Dick’s Sporting Goods Park box office · Dick’s Sporting Goods retail stores · www.tickethorse.com For press credentials, contact kmatthews@denverbarbarians.com. Stadium Facts The newest jewel of Denver’s sports & entertainment landscape is the world’s largest and most state of the art professional stadium & fields complex, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is comprised of the 18,000-seat home stadium of the Colorado Rapids and its surrounding 24-field, fully lit soccer complex. Constructed and operated by Kroenke Sports Enterprises, the Rocky Mountain Region’s leading sports & entertainment company, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park cost $131 million to build, which included construction of the stadium, the 24-field complex, and infrastructure improvements leading to the complex, such as road widening. Dick’s Sporting Goods Park’s 917-acre site is a public-private partnership between Kroenke Sports Enterprises and Commerce City. The site also hosts the brand new city offices of Commerce City, lots for retail outlets, offices for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and a new visitors’ and educational center for the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge, among other entities. Stadium amenities include a total of 20 loge-style luxury suites, a unique open concourse design that allows for 360-degree sightlines to the field, and a world-class 120 x 80 yard FIFA regulation size grass field with an innovative underground heating and draining system. The stadium also features cutting edge technology, including the largest video scoreboard and the most LED boards for a stadium its size anywhere, as well as the only fully-integrated digital electrical signage system in the world. Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is located nine miles northeast of downtown Denver and only fifteen miles from Denver International Airport near the intersection of Interstate 70 and Quebec Street. The stadium opened its doors for the first time to the public on April 7, 2007 when it hosted Major League Soccer’s season opener as the Colorado Rapids defeated DC United at 1:30 p.m. (MT) in front of a national audience live on ABC. Barbarians and Lions Highlight Inaugural Rugby Event March 31, 2009, Commerce City, Colorado By Ken Matthews

San Diego Invitational

BYU, Utah, and Navy have all scored first-up wins at the San Diego Invitational Thursday in Del Mar, CA. In the early game, the Cougars beat Texas A&M 36-15. It was a competitive game, although BYU simply had too many ball players who were able to outgun the Aggies. Two late tries sealed the deal for BYU, who led 26-7 at the break. BYU head coach David Smyth was complimentary of the Aggies and pleased his team was able to pull out a win. "All credit to Texas A&M," he said. "They are a very tough team and they really came after us tooth and nail. We had a number of chances to put the game away early but we didn't take them. But I'm pleased we were able to come out of this game with a win against a good team. We'll learn from this and be ready to go tomorrow." Later, Utah had to come from behind to beat Cal Poly 26-15. CPSLO’s backs in particular were a little lethargic and rolled over in the second half after the Mustangs had built a 7-0 halftime lead. The Utes were outplayed in the scrums, but overall were more polished and dangerous. Scrumhalf Mike Wunderli was one of Utah’s best on the day. Playing through an injury, Wunderli got things going for his side. Utah try-scorers included AJ Tuineau, Scott Cowley, Pat Jones, and Zach Taylor. Cowley was 3-for-4 on conversions. “They pressured us all day and were very good at causing us to make mistakes,” Utah head coach Blake Burdette told ARN. “We didn't focus on securing the ball and need to go back and look at that. Again we showed some guts in the second half.” In the final match of the day, Navy downed Colorado 23-10. The Midshipmen led narrowly 8-5 at the half and were then able to restrict the Buffaloes to a solitary try in the second period while increasing their tally by another 15 points. All teams will be back at it again on Friday.