In a much-anticipated re-match of the 2013 State Final, the Junior Gents Rugby team convincingly beat a tough Fort Collins outfit by 40 points to 5.
It says a lot about how well prepared the Junior Gents were that they were able to score almost immediately, with a try by Jake Gentry, the talented Fly-Half from Glenwood Springs.
Coach Fred Waititi was covering the absent Head Coach Gary Williams and his touch was evident as the Juniors spread the ball wide time and time again to open up the battling Fort Collins side with breaks from Oswaldo Olmedo (BHS Senior) and Luke Prosence (GHS Junior).
The Junior Gents continued to make good use of the ball going forward and scored through skipper Matt Williams and Jake Gentry for his second. Robert Hiles continued his prolific kicking form and not only converted the scores but also then helped himself to try after very good work from Aspen Senior Matthew Ferguson. Fort Collins pulled one back to make the score 21 to 5 at the break but this was the Junior Gents’ afternoon to shine in front of a large crowd at the Junior Gents’ home field at Willits Rugby Field.
All of the replacements were used and Jamie Harris made his debut on the wing alongside Thunder Frease.
The final score of 40 to 5 did not reflect how much Fort Collins were in the game but they could not contain the strong running and quick thinking of Williams at scrum half who ended up with 3 tries on the day. Hiles kicked 5 out of 6 conversions.
Next week is the last home game before the play-offs start on April 26th.
The Juniors will play the Denver Harlequins 1:00pm at Willits Rugby Field in Basalt on April 19th.