The 43rd Annual Denver 7s Tournament, held on July 24, 2010, at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, CO, featured 40 teams playing in five divisions.  The winners in the Men’s Qualifier (West RFU Club 7s Super Regional) play for the Michael Sneath Memorial Cup as well as a spot in the USA Rugby Men’s National Club Championship in San Francisco August 13-15, 2010 and the USA 7s sponsored Club Championship Series in Las Vegas, February 10-13, 2011.  

The tournament was comprised of eight Men’s qualifier teams, eight Men’s collegiate teams, four Women’s teams, twelve Men’s social teams and eight Boy’s High School/Under 19 teams.  This was the third West RFU 7s Super Regional Qualifier and teams were seeded based on the finish in the previous qualifiers in Dallas and Kansas City.  The remaining teams were seeded based on perceived talent.  The stage was set for top quality 7s rugby.  The three pitches were full size, flat and fast with clear sunny weather and temperatures in the high 80s. 

In Pool One, the Denver Barbarians A team finished undefeated with three wins, followed by the Gentlemen of Aspen with two wins one loss, Albuquerque Aardvarks with one win, two losses and Kansas Rogues no wins and three losses.

In Pool two, the Gentlemen of Aspen finished undefeated with three wins, followed by San Francisco’s Olympic Club with one win, two losses, Kansas City Blues with one win, two losses and the Barbarians B side with one win and two losses.  Olympic Club was deemed second in the pool followed by Kansas City Blues and the Barbos B side, based on point differentials.  The third and fourth finishing teams in each pool played their opposites for the lower placing. 

Men’s WRFU Qualifier: Denver Barbarians A, Dallas Harlequins, Kansas City Blues, Gentlemen of Aspen, Kansas City Rogues, Olympic Club (San Francisco), Denver Barbarians B, Albuquerque Aardvarks. 

Qualifier Division Results: 

1st Place Denver Barbarians 

2nd Place Gentlemen of Aspen 

3rd Place Olympic Club 

MVP: The Denver Barbarian Forwards 

The Men’s Collegiate division was played as two pools of four teams: University of Colorado, University of Nebraska, Air Force Academy, New Mexico Tech Pygmies, Southeast Utah University, Colorado School of Mines, Benedictine College - Kansas Black Monks and Western State College. 

Collegiate Division Results: 

1st Place University of Colorado

2nd Place University of Nebraska

Most Valuable Player: Chris Martin – University of Colorado 

The Women’s division was played as a four team round robin: Pacific Coast Rugby Football Union 1, West Rugby Football Union, Pacific Coast Rugby Football Union 2, and the Glendale Women’s team. 

Women’s Division Results: 

First Place - West Rugby Football Union

Second Place - Pacific Coast Rugby Football Union 1

The Men’s Social division was played as four pools of three teams: Glendale, Highlanders, Boulder, Colorado Springs A, Denver Harlequins, Olympic Club B, Ft. Collins, Queen City, Well Hungarians, Colorado Springs B, Broomfield Tigers Alumni and the Clovis New Mexico Nomads. 

Social Division Results: 

First Place - The Well Hungarians 

Second Place - Olympic Club B 

Most Valuable Player: Eric DeKruif – Well Hungarians 

The Boys High School/Under 19 division was played as two pools of four teams: Colorado Springs, East High School, Chaparral, Aurora, Broomfield, SWARM, Douglas County, and Grand Junction. 

High School/Under19s Division Results: 

1st Place East High School 

2nd Place Colorado Springs U19 

Most Valuable Player: Sean Kilfoyle – East HS 

7s Rugby will become an Olympic sport in 2016 when Rio de Janeiro hosts the event.  This marks the return of rugby to the Olympics since the sport was included in the 1900 – 1924 competitions.  The U.S. beat France 17 – 3 in the final of the 1924 event.