June 17, 2016
Denver Stampede Host Ohio Aviators With First Place on the Line
Doug Coil
The Denver Stampede has a new home for the rest of the season. They will play at Ciber Field, at the University of Denver. The address is 2240 E. Buchtell Blvd. Denver, Co. 80210.
This Sunday at 6pm MT they play at home against the Ohio Aviators. Tickets may be obtained by clicking on http://bit.ly/23aZyy4 The match is also being streamed on prorugby.org
The Stampede enter this match undefeated with a 6-0 record and are in first place in the standing with 27 points. The Ohio Aviators are in second place with a 4-3 record and have 22 points.
The Aviators have a high scoring offense that they hope will continue this Sunday. They also are quick to breakdowns on defense. It would take a bonus point win, while holding the Stampede offense to a low scoring match, so that they don’t gain any points in the standings.
Ohio met Denver in the inaugural PRO Rugby match in April. They lost in overtime 16-13, however their miscues lost the match, as they missed four sure tries.
For the second week, they will miss Angus MacLellan and Kyle Baillie, who are playing for the Eagles and Canada, respectively. They also will miss Matt Highston, who broke his jaw early in last week’s match.
The Aviator forwards played well last week winning 55-31 against the San Diego Breakers. Wings, Spike Davis and Alex Elkins punished the defense in scoring tries for the Aviators.
The Aviators have made three changes in their starting XV from last week’s win against the Breakers, all in the backs. Shaun Davies who returned from Eagles camp, returns at scrumhalf. The hard hitting Roland Suniula is at outside center and Zac Mizell is at Fullback.
Denver played two weeks ago in San Diego and took home a narrow 24-23 win over the Breakers. They are an exciting team that does what is necessary to win.
They will be challenged this week by the Aviators. They also need to make adjustments as they lose their starting props, Chris Baumann and Ben Tarr, as well as their Center, Chad London to the Eagles, who play against Italy on Saturday.
The Stampede have made four changes to their starting XV, including their entire front row. Zach Fenoglio, who leads the League in Lineout throw accuracy, returns at Hooker. Nick Wallace, who has been capped for the Eagles at prop, shifts from Hooker to prop. Soane Leger will be the other prop. The other change has Martin Knoetze who has had highlight tries at wing, at outside center.
This match will be a quality match, one that should not be missed.
Denver Stampede: 1 Nick Wallace 2 Zach Fenoglio 3 Soane Leger 4 Christian Wiessing 5 Casey Rock 6 Logan Collins 7 Peter Dahl 8 Pedrei Wannenburg (C) 9 Mose Timateo 10 Will Magie 11 Timana Tahu 12 Ata Malifa 13 Martin Knoetze 14 Mike Garrity 15 Max de Achaval 16 Hanco Germishuys 17 Luke White 18 Jake Turnbull 19 Brodie Orth 20 Lynton Mare 21 Bobby Impson 22 Dustin Croy 23 Michael Al-Jiboori Coaches: Head Coach – Sean O’Leary, Assistant Coaches: Peter Borlase, David Williams Manager: Kieran Browner
Ohio Aviators: 1 Jamie Mackintosh 2 Dylan Fawsitt 3 Demecus Beach 4 Pierce Dargan 5 Ryan McTiernan 6 Filippo Ferrarini 7 Sebastián Kalm 8 Riekert Hattingh 9 Shaun Davies 10 Taylor Howden 11 Alex Elkins 12 Dominic Waldouck 13 Roland Suniula 14 Aaron “Spike” Davis 15 Zac Mizell 16 Peter Malcolm 17 Dominic Pezzutti 18 Derrek Van Klein 19 Chad Joseph 20 Allan Hanson 21 Robbie Shaw 22 Chris Kinkel 23 Ahmad Harajly Coaches: Head Coach-Paule Barford Assistant Coaches: Paul Holmes, Eamonn Hogan Manager: Tom Rooney
