Only once in the long history of Aspen’s Ruggerfest has a team won more than four straight tournaments. Should the Gentlemen of Aspen Rugby Club claim victory again this weekend, it would put this group into lone second place on that all-time streak list.

“It’s a big achievement. We’ve worked hard the last five years to get to where we are, and we just look to keep going,” longtime Gent standout Darren Barth said on Thursday as the venue was being prepared at Wagner Park. “The competition is going to be really fierce this weekend. Make the watching even better for the spectators.”

The Gents have hosted Ruggerfest since the first tournament in 1968 — won by the Kansas City Blues over the Denver Barbarians — about the same time the club itself was formed. The 2024 tournament, which the Gents won with a late defensive stand over the Barbarians, was their fourth straight, matching a streak the Gents had from 2006-09.

A five-peat this year would put them behind only the Gents of a few decades past, with that squad winning a record seven straight from 1996-2002. This was also a stretch where Aspen won the bulk of its nine national championships.

Overall, the Gents have won 25 of the 56 possible Ruggerfest titles in their history. To reach No. 26, Aspen will have to best eight other teams in the men’s open division this weekend. It’s the most the open division has seen since before the pandemic, according to Barth.

“Of course we talk about it,” current Gents’ player Rex Christensen, a 2011 Aspen High School graduate, said of the five-peat dreams. “There is a lot of history here with the club and USA Rugby. It’s a good weekend, great weather. We are really excited.”

Prior to last year, the Gents would usually have a long break between their summer mountain league campaign and Ruggerfest. But with Aspen again competing at the Division II level through the Rocky Mountain Rugby Union — with the end goal being another national championship — today’s Gents haven’t seen much of a break since the spring.

Aspen has hosted RMR contests each of the prior two weekends, winning both against Haggis and the Denver Waterdogs to reach 2-0 in the six-game season. Game 3 will be Oct. 4 against, of all teams, the Barbarians in Aspen.

Since 2019, the Gents have been led by player and coach Ben Mitchell.

“Going to Ruggerfest, we’ve had a lot of game minutes. Normally we’d have a month break before Ruggerfest, so it’s kind of nice rolling straight from rugby right into rugby,” Barth said. “The body doesn’t like it as much, but in terms of cohesion and definitely getting game fitness, it definitely helps a lot. As a lot of rugby people know, it’s hard to train for rugby fitness without actually playing rugby.”

Normally, games would have begun on Thursday with the Old Boys, but there weren’t enough teams available this year for a 55s or older division. Meaning play will officially begin on Friday morning with the men’s 40s and men’s 50s divisions, played at both Wagner Park in downtown Aspen, and at Rio Grande Park.

The Gents have a men’s 50s team — they will open play against the Orbs at 9:30 a.m. Friday at Wagner — and a 40s side, which opens against Gypsy at 10:15 a.m. Friday at Rio Grande Park.

The men’s open division and the ladies’ open division, of which Aspen also has a team this year, will begin Saturday, with finals for all divisions to be played Sunday. The men’s open division final will be the finale on Sunday afternoon at Wagner Park.

Tentatively, the Gents’ first open division game will be Saturday at 9:30 a.m. against Denver University at Wagner Park. Aspen is also scheduled to play New Mexico RFC at noon, also at Wagner. Games after that will be determined based off the early results.

Other men’s open division teams include the Texas Selects, Gypsy Rugby, the Serpientes, USA Rugby South, and Rugby Expo Academy. The Barbarians are also back.

“It will be very sweet to win it with this competition,” Christensen said. “We’ve been playing rugby since basically April at this point. More rugby gets your body prepared for more rugby.”

For the latest updates, as game times and matchups can change during the day, visit aspen-ruggerfest.com. Also follow the Gents on social media, notably Instagram via the handles @gentlemen_of_aspen_rfc and @aspen_ruggerfest.

General spectating is free. Food, drink — there are beer gardens — and Ruggerfest merchandise vendors can be found around Wagner Park.

acolbert@aspentimes.com