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The top two men’s DI clubs in Colorado face off Saturday when Aspen visits Infinity Park in Glendale.
Aspen leads the West-Northern Conference with a 4-1 record, and will be looking to establish a solid lead over their chasers. Glendale is second in the league at 3-2, and more bonus points than the other two 3-2 teams, the Denver Barbarians and Kansas City Blues.
For Glendale it’s an important match because they are dealing with some significant turnover. Three members of their backline – Taylor Howden, Mike Graham, and Phil Bolston - have opted to play Super League with the Denver Barbarians.
Head coach Mark Bullock shrugs off the losses.
“They’re all good players and we’re sad to see them go, but this gives a big opportunity for some younger players to come into the side and make their mark,” Bullock said. “We still have the ageless wonder, Andre Bachelet, leading things out there.”
Meanwhile Glendale’s forward pack is maturing and solidifying. They have all sorts of power.
Meanwhile Aspen is not coming in peaking.
“We are definitely undercooked,” warned head coach Freddy Waititi.
For sure – Saturday will be the first time the Aspen squad sees grass this year, as they have been training in their horse barn during the winter months. On the bright side, several of the squad did get outside for some rugby with their 7s team at the CCS in Las Vegas.
“That was important for some of the guys to get a run-around,” said Waititi. “I think overall out fitness looks good, but we’ve had no leadup games so I am somewhat concerned.”
Leading the way for Aspen is a formidable second row pairing of Matt DOubek and Hayden Mexted. They could well tell the difference.
“Last year we lost early to Glendale but we had targeted some things to work on in that game, and what we accomplished became the basis for what we did after,” said Waititi, referring to his teams run to a national DI title. “This year, we’d like to win the game, certainly, but we are targeting some things outside of wins or losses as well.”
If Aspen wins the game they will have more than a victory's worth of points between themselves and their nearest competitors. If Glendale wins, they can overtake Aspen for 1st.
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