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Show I n r r I I 4., - "Get your hands offa me," Mucker John Sundquist seems to be grimacing... ' 1 f " I r - I T AvV 7, v -V: Vs-7 fi " ' , l (. ...but the players from Breckenboat obviously weren't intimidated. HLhhhmmHI nholos by David Hamoahire Ski Town rugby opponents bow to Gentlemen of Aspen of the rugby seen in the Ski Town Tournament intensifies each year. The rugby seen in Park City this year leaves no challenge to that statement. ; f Mucker meddlings Tournament co-directors i Tom Lauder, Brian Jameson and Frank F. Fields did yeoman duty to bring off an outstanding event. intS ;- , rh wr ' - 1 - 7 y' ! ir;- of the rugby seen in the Ski 'tl.'" I """V" " Town Tournament intensifies t,-. r-. ' "'"v -r- L x- v. each year. The rugby seen . . K V S' " i! ll in Park City this year y --r'V ' V' Mucker rn.ddll.gs tJ, , . ,! ij , ,1, . Tournament co-directors C I f 71 J -j 'liJicT Tom Lauder Brian ' A V . Jameson and Frank J X (t. . -y , Fields did yeoman duty to v3 bring off an outstanding JT ""V f'J r - - -X-A.'x 3 Kh The Muckers will pick up more v tournament rugby action the ': ' second weekend in August when Js - by Dave Mueller The llth Annual Ski Town Rugby Tournament held in Park City last weekend featured two classy rugby sides that could easily be rated with the top club sides in all of American rugby: Vail and Aspen. When the final whistle sounded late Sunday afternoon, Aspen came away with its sixth championship in this midsummer mountain rugby confrontation, 10-3. Of the five other contestants entered, only the host Park City Muckers were able to approach the standard set by the Colorado front runners. - The Muckers lost in an upset bid on Saturday to Vail, 19-12, which featured a game willingnesss on Park City's part to rise to the challenge of their finest opponent of the 1984 season. Park City continued to play good rugger on Sunday, winning their final two matches to place third, their best showing in the Ski Town in several years. En route to the Consolation Trophy the Muckers defeated Craig 32-3, Breckenboat 19-18 and Sun Valley 15-10. "Last year in Breckenridge we scored one try and only managed a tie in three games," recalled Dave Sundquist. "This year we put across 14 trys with our three-win, three-win, one-loss effort." The Muckers are now 8-3-1 at just over the half-way point of the season. But it was Aspen and Vail, two clubs who had played each other four weeks earlier (7-3, Aspen), and were strengthened by international-calibre international-calibre players from all over the world, who were destined to meet in a showdown on Sunday. Aspen marched to the final match with thorough domination of their opponents, overwhelming Sun Valley 32-8 and Breckenboat 31-0. Vail dispatched Aspen Highlands 41-0 41-0 before its tough game against Park City. The style of play of Aspen and Vail was predicated upon the strength of their outstanding individual members: Vail illustrated a wide-open wide-open precise backline attack that was truly capable of scoring from any point on the pitch; Aspen played to its rugged, often brutal and intimidating forward pack, hammering upfield until the opposition crumbled from the pressure. There were 10 South Africans of representative level with Vail. Aspen countered with two Americans and three English men, one Argentinian, and one Frenchman who have already been recognized as among the top players in their countries. On Sunday the expected 80-minute showdown did not fail to dazzle the spectators, despite the relative low-scoring low-scoring result. The game held scoreless well into the second half, each club threatening on several occasions. Brian Channels narrowly missed three long penalty goal attempts for Vail, each from better than 40 yards. Aspen put together a rending series of rucks near the Vail line, but could not get the ball in-goal. in-goal. There was talk of overtime when Channels finally connected for the first three points of the match from a penalty situation 45 yards out. Aspen's Mark Williams, the fine fly half, returned the favor only moments later, deadlocking the contest with twelve minutes remaining, 3-3. The match was forced by Aspen's forwards with seven minutes on the clock. Vail had worked a long throw and peel at the back of the lineout near mid-field. Aspen spoiled the movement and, when Vail failed to cover the loose ball, swept to the attack, nearly scoring a clean try to spinning out to their wing. Vail's saving tackle brought the ball to the floor less than a yard from the try line and Thierry Barot followed up quickly to pull the ball up and dive for the try. Williams missed his attempt to convert the goal, but with three minutes remaining, put the championship in Aspen once again with a 40-yard penalty. The tournament will return to Aspen in 1985, the first year since 1975 that the Gentlemen will host the event. When asked where he thought the tournament should be held next year, Vail's captain from Down Under, Scott Ritchey, said: "Pretoria, of course." There is no question that the pace The Muckers will pick up more tournament rugby action the second weekend in August when they travel to Steamboat for the Cow Pie Classic. Then on Labor Day they will head the opposite direction for the Tahoe Rugby Invitational in Truckee, California. Doug "Dugby" Shewmaker feeds the ball out of a ruck while teammates and opponents look over his shoulder. |