COMMERCE CITY — Rugby is a most interesting sport to the unfamiliar viewer. Part out-of-timeouts football lateral play, part place-kicking contest, part demolition derby, rugby’s first major international tournament in Colorado, the Churchill Cup, concluded Sunday.
The championship match was taken with relative ease by Ireland A, which beat the Eng- land Saxons 49-22 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. It was the first Churchill Cup title for Ireland, coached by a man with a great rugby name — Declan Kidney.
“When scoring opportunities came our way, we took them,” Kidney said. “There’s not that much difference between the sides. Today was just our day. It’s great that it happened.”
Rugby is not a big-money sport in the United States, but it isn’t even in Europe, where the sport was born. The typical European professional player makes from $40,000 to $50,000 per year, although a few make much more. None of that seems to matter to the players, who form a chain of arms- over-the-shoulder solidarity before a match.
“It’s hard for me to pinpoint why we feel that way, but it’s just a thoroughly enjoyable sport,” Ireland fullback Felix Jones said. “Rugby squads are very tightly knit.”
Said Kidney: “There are very few guys running around with enough money to sustain their livelihoods later on. But what the money does is allow guys to dedicate part of their lives to chasing a dream, maybe representing their country.”
Perhaps the biggest play of the match was Jones’ up-and- under recovery of the second-half kickoff, leading to an Ireland try by Sean Cronin and a 27-12 lead.
“I think that caught them on the hop a little bit, and it made the job tougher coming back for them,” Kidney said.
Said Jones: “It was a great chase by our lads. Our kick chase was something we definitely worked on all week. There’s always an extra cherry there for us when we play Eng- land. To win the Churchill Cup final against them, it’s a great day for us.”
Easily the most electrifying sequence of the match, however, was Johne Murphy’s second-half try, which pushed Ireland’s lead to 37-17. Jones contested an England pop-kick on the fly, then split the Saxons’ defense before initiating a multiphase try, capped by Murphy’s dive past the Saxons’ end-line.
“It was a great team try,” Kidney said. “It symbolized how our time in Denver went. We were in unison as a team throughout.”
Ireland’s Fergus McFadden was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
In consolation matches, Argentina beat Canada 44-29 to finish third, while the USA Eagles beat Georgia 31-13.
For the first time in Churchill Cup history, all nine matches were played in the same general location. The tournament will return to Colorado next year.
Adrian Dater: 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com
