The Denver 7s team won the Serevi RugbyTown 7s this past weekend, just getting by the Ramblin' Jesters in the semis and Glendale in the final.

Many of the teams at the tournament were bolstered by college talent, and Denver was no exception, with New Mexico Highlands star Kevon Williams and former Colorado State All American (and 7s Eagle) Ben Pinkelman, and another NMHU product, Eric Sykes, leading the way. Pinkelman, especially was exceptional, while Denver also boasted plenty of older experience.

But the Jesters did very well, also, losing 19-12 to Denver in the semi and then beating Tiger Rugby 31-21 to take 3rd.

The Jesters is a global touring team that has played in a variety of high-level tournaments. This RugbyTown team included seven US collegiate players. Niall Barry (UCLA) captained the team while his younger brother, Cian, also UCLA, also suited up. Former Greenwich HS product Joe Kelly (Penn State) joined All American Zach Bonte (UCLA) and Kutztown speedster Vetekina Malafu. Another capped 7s player, Seth Halliman (Central Washington) came in when former HS All American Mike Reid went down with an injury. 

All of those players, young as they were (and the rest of the squad was young, too) performed very well.

"The Jesters play in some of the most prestigious invitational sevens’ tournaments in Europe and further afield, and compete against the likes of Samurai, Harlequins and London Irish. We didn’t know what to expect in Glendale but in truth we probably thought it would be a step down from the norm. It certainly wasn't!" said Jesters team director David Barry. "We were hugely impressed with the quality of sevens rugby on display in Glendale and have no doubt that many of the teams that made the cup quarterfinal rounds could compete and indeed win some of the prestigious European tournaments."

Barry lauded the level of play in the USA and said the tournament itself impressed, as well.

"The tournament itself was without doubt the most well run tournament we have ever been to. The city of Glendale deserves huge credit for its commitment to the game and for the vision and organizational skills of the Mayor and his team.  The 'Rugbytown' tag is well deserved. If they’ll have us, we’ll be back!"

Also in the tournament, the US Army won their pool and the military championship with a 55-5 victory over the Air Force. The Army was edged by Tiger in the quarters 14-12 and went on to lose the Plate Final to the British Army. 

Scores for Denver:

Denver 33 Atlantis 19

Denver 28 Atavus 21

Denver 28 Rugby Utah 12

Denver 17 British Army 26

QFs: Denver 14 SoCal 10

SFs: Denver 19 Jesters 12

Final: Denver 31 Raptors 24

Scores for Glendale Raptors:

Raptors 24 Bermuda 7

Raptors 15 Royal Air Force 5

Raptors 19 SoCal 19

Raptors 29 Black Dragon 7

QFs: Raptors 26 British Army 5

SFs: Raptors 17 Tiger Rugby 5

Final: Raptors 24 Denver 31

Scores for Ramblin' Jesters

Jesters 36 Stars 7

Jesters 33 Negro y Azul 19

Jesters 24 Tiger Rugby 12

Jesters 31 Rogues 10

QFs: Jesters 45 US Air Force 0

 SFs: Jesters 12 Denver 19

3rd/4th: Jesters 31 Tiger Rugby 21