Last week Governor Bill Ritter designated June Rugby Month in Colorado and what better way to inaugurate it than with an international rugby tournament. A crowd of approximately 2,000 filled the stands at Glendale's Infinity Park Saturday for a Churchill Cup double header.

In the first game, the England Saxons defeated the Argentina Pumas by a score of 28-20 (see story and photos at Examiner.com/Denver). In the second contest of the afternoon, the Georgia Lelos fell to a dominant Rugby Canada squad by a score of 42-10. Canada not only secured four points for the victory, but also added the bonus point to their tournament total (see story and photos at Examiner.com/Denver).

Churchill Cup action continues on Wednesday evening at Infinity Park when Rugby Canada takes on Ireland's A side, and the USA National Team makes their 2009 Churchill Cup debut against Argentina. Both teams are coming off of losses this week. The Eagles lost to the Wales National Team 48-15 Saturday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois Saturday.

Kickoff for the first match between Canada and Ireland is at 4:30 followed by the Eagles and Argentina at 7:00. Tickets for the Churchill Cup matches are available at Ticket Horse or the Infinity Park Box Office.

Collegiate
The Western Collegiate All-Stars defeated the Denver Barbarians 31-22 in a warm up prior to this week’s USA Collegiate All-Star Championships. It was the third consecutive year that the Denver Barbarians have hosted the West’s All-Stars just prior to the USA Collegiate All-Star Championships.

Infinity Park will be the venue for this year's Championship, which is scheduled for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Tier-one matches will be held on Thursday and Saturday. Territorial all-star teams will spend Friday testing their developmental players.

Last Year the West’s All-Stars lost to the Southern California Rugby Union in the Tier-one Final.

Mountain Men’s Club
The scheduled match between the Glenwood Springs Defiance and Vail was canceled. Vail will not field a team this summer, and all of their remaining games have been canceled.

High School - Rocky Mountain Challenge
All-Star teams from twelve states will travel to Colorado for the Ninth Annual Rocky Mountain Challenge at the Aurora Sports Park on June 13 & 14. The Rocky Mountain Challenge is one of five Regional Tournaments supported by USA Rugby and is a key part of the process that will ultimately lead to consideration for the National USA U-20/U-18 selection pool for international team play in 2010.

For more info: Contact Peter Locke at 303-901-7090 (colorado.rugby@gmail.com) or Jeff Calhoun at 720-924-0660.