Gentlemen of Aspen defeat Vail Rugby Club to win Ski Town Classic

The Gentlemen of Aspen defeated the Vail Rugby Club 47-7 in Vail on Saturday in the championship match of the annual Ski Town Classic rugby tournament.

But the score didn’t matter as much as something else: This renowned rivalry has been renewed.

“I’m really proud. The guys never gave up. They’ve got a ton of heart,” said Chris Chantler, Vail Rugby Club president.

“This rivalry — which meant so much to all of us — is getting really ingrained in them. And a lot of them will be back next year, too, so we’re just fueling the engine.”

Prior to the late-afternoon title match, Steamboat Springs, Grand Junction, as well as Vail and Aspen’s second teams contested a round robin. There was also a pair of women’s matches.

In the final, Vail went down 14-0 early before responding with a try and conversion midway through the first half. The home team kept the ball on their end for much of the second half but couldn’t capitalize.

“I think we really stepped up as far as physicality — both on attack and defense,” coach Joe Lippert said. “The inability to convert it to points really kept us from getting momentum.”

Aspen punched home a try — but missed the conversion — to go up 19-5 at the half. 

“In both games that we played, towards the ends of the first half, the opposition got up on us a little bit,” Aspen coach Ben Mitchell said. “We were conceding penalties, turning the ball over a little bit. And we made some fixes at halftime in both games, and we all listened and put those fixes into action.”

Ten minutes into the second, Dan Schrader got loose on the sideline, eating up 40 yards before shoveling the ball to Risteard Mulcahy for another Aspen try. Less than three minutes later, Wiehan Pretorius scored off a lineout to take the life out of Vail’s comeback aspirations.

“We had an opportunity to get some momentum there early second half, and we didn’t have the poise to convert and turn pressure into points,” Lippert said. “And then them getting a score early second half kind of killed it.”

Aspen’s Clifford Kindred went right up the middle for another try late in the half to seal the win. Mitchell said he was most pleased with his players’ ability to “take instruction.”

“There’s going to be times in games where you have 5-10 minutes where you don’t play particularly well,” he said. “But then, you know, a coach says something, and you make a fix, and then the player does that, and it changes the whole game.”

Mitchell was also satisfied with the play of his front row, props, and hookers.

“They were really good today,” he said. “We completely dominated at scrum time.”

“Hats off to Aspen,” Lippert said. “They play simple rugby extremely well. They’re very, very good with their ball movement to the right spots. They do a great job supporting their ball, and they finish plays in a way we’ve struggled to do the last few weeks when we play them.”

Mitchell, who started coaching the Gentlemen of Aspen in 2019, said the main difference between the two squads on the pitch Saturday was experience.

“They’re a young side. A lot of those guys are news and haven’t played together before. We have a lot of guys who have been playing for 5-6 years, so we’ve got this cohesion,” he said. “We’re also building to something bigger.”

Mitchell said his team is re-entered into the Rocky Mountain Division II this fall.

“We’re really trying to push our standards ahead of that competition,” he said. “They’re (Vail) trying to get to that level themselves, but you know they’re starting a little bit further behind us for sure.” 

After both teams took their customary post-game group photos, Lippert remained alone in his endzone, processing the game. For the keen observer, his passion and competitiveness — and his personal investment in the 52-year rivalry — was evident.

“This is the best sport in the world. I love my players. I got to give everything I have to them,” he said. “I get to make a living teaching kids a game more or less, so I feel super blessed by that. And I always feel a deep sense of responsibility to the players who are under my coaching. … I’m really passionate about what I do, I love what I do, and I always want to give everything I have to my players.”

Chantler said when the club brought Lippert in this season, he told him it’s not always about winning.

“It’s about building the culture of the club, building a team, giving these guys an opportunity to improve, and if we win along the way — bonus. And that’s what we’re getting this year,” he said. “They’re getting better. And I’ll tell you, next weekend will be a very different game.”

Vail wraps up its Mountain League Season on Aug. 3 at home against Aspen — a team that’s beaten them three times this year. Lippert said his team needs to carry the physicality they brought this week into next weekend’s game.

“We just have to sharpen up. We need to put ourselves under more pressure at training, so hopefully, we can respond and execute under pressure in games,” he said. “It’s an execution thing. It’s not a lack of effort. And again, I think we really stepped up from a physicality perspective, but what it really comes down to is how we execute under pressure. That’s what we’re going to focus on.”