Ramblin' Jesters Young 7s Player of the Month - Ben Pinkelman
Ramblin' Jesters Young 7s Player of the Month - Ben Pinkelman
The Ramblin' Jesters touring team is now sponsoring a Young 7s Player of the Month for Goff Rugby Report, and the first award-winner is a player many will recognize.
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The Ramblin’ Jesters is an elite invitational sevens team in the grand tradition of the Barbarians and other compilation teams, operating out of London in the UK. This year they won the Rosslyn Park Floodlit 7s (beating London Irish and five-time winners Harlequins en-route to the final). The Jesters also won the Rugby Rocks Festival in London and the Copenhagen 7s in Denmark. In addition, the team also finished runner-up tp the German national team in the Nancy 7s tournament in France, and, on their first trip to the USA, took third place in the Serevi RugbyTown 7s in Glendale Colo., finishing 6-1, and losing only to the eventualy winners, Denver. The Ramblin’ Jesters are keen to grow their US activity and connections and create opportunities for players on both sides of the Atlantic to play rugby to an elite level. One demonstration of this initiative was that last week the Jesters had a squad of 13 players in Glendale, of which seve were US-based college players, all under the age of 21. Those players mixed with players from overseas for a unique playing experience. The Ramblin’ Jesters are pleased to sponsor this Goff Rugby Report USA Young Sevens Player of the Month Award. |
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Having broken into the USA 7s team while still an undergrad at Colorado State, Ben Pinkelman returned to Colorado this past weekend to lead the Denver 7s team to the Serevi RugbyTown 7s title.
The Jesters themselves were excited to promote Pinkelman as this month's winner, despite the fact he was a key figure in the Jesters not making the final.
The CSU forward has emerged from a bench-warmer for the Eagles 7s team to being a starter in the Olympics. The tall, rangy 15s loose forward has shown himself to be very tough in contact and skilled with the ball in hand. He reads the game well and has a huge work rate - something that was evident the moment he stepped on the field for Colorado State.
Jesters Coach Dave Mobbs-Smith said that it was Pinkelman’s contributions in the semifinal that halted the Jesters march towards the title.
“Ben is a brilliant all round player and not someone I enjoy seeing in the opposition’s lineup," said Mobbsy. "He is also still a very young player and has a great future ahead of him.”
For more on Ben Pinkelman, see our profile of him here.
For more on the Ramblin' Jesters, see here.
