Rugby returns to Glendale for three days of bone-crushing action

“Really good quality rugby” comes to Infinity Park for major tournament, women’s matches and other contests

By Colton Strickler

If you’re picking up something from Target or the Home Depot in Glendale during the third week of August, you’re bound to run into droves of rugby players wandering around the city. 

They are in town for the annual RugbyTown 7s tournament. This year marks the 14th season that the City of Glendale will host what has transformed into one of the premier sevens rugby events in the United States. 

Rugby sevens is a fast-paced version of the fifteens variety of rugby union that is most commonly played in the United States. Each team fields seven players per side, and the outcome is determined over the course of two seven-minute halves with a two-minute halftime. Matches are played on a standard rugby pitch, measuring 100 meters long and 70 meters wide. It’s like playing three-on-three basketball on a football field. Athletes have to be in top physical condition to compete at the highest level.

While the format of the RugbyTown 7s has changed slightly over the years, the nuts and bolts remain the same: 16 teams from all over the world compete for a $10,000 grand prize on the third weekend of August at Infinity Park, and the five branches of the United States military compete for the Armed Forces title.

The life of a rugby player is a complicated one. To play elite men’s sevens in the United States, you need to be a drifter, independently wealthy or have a full-time job that allows you to miss significant time in the summer. Regardless of the path you choose, you have to be a weekend warrior. You need to be able to show up to work with a broken finger or a black eye come Monday morning.

A man who is no stranger to this life is Tim Stanfill. He’s a RugbyTown 7s regular who knows what it’s like to be a man who plays rugby as his job and a man who plays rugby with a job. He’s played in every RugbyTown 7s tournament except one, and has transitioned from playing rugby year-round to competing in only the largest tournaments as he settles into his career as a sports medicine chiropractor. 

“I'm full-time in my career, so that's the main focus, which is why I don't play year-round anymore,” Stanfill says. “I just play in the invitational tournaments, international stuff, and then club sevens. I think it's actually been a lot better for me, only playing a couple of months out of the year, because now it gives my body time to recover. When you are playing rugby year-round, you never get time to recover, so everything is always broken.”

The RugbyTown 7s is a meat grinder. It’s different from other sevens tournaments because it’s decided by 57 matches that span the course of three days rather than the traditional two. It’s as much a war of attrition as it is skill and tactics. It’s a tough three days of rugby, but perhaps the toughest day of all is the first day back at work after the tournament. Oftentimes, Stanfill should be the one climbing up onto the training table for treatment instead of his patients.

“The last couple of RugbyTowns have not been too kind to my body,” Stanfill says. “It's answering all the questions of why I'm bruised and or limping or bleeding or, you know, why is my finger broken? Why can't I put any pressure on my wrist?

“When you've been playing rugby as long as I have, you know you're not really getting paid for it. That's just the nature of it. You go beat up your body, go back to work, and you've got to just tough it out and suck it up. Nobody's going to do it for you.”

It’s not an unfamiliar sight to see Stanfill’s team competing for the $10,000 grand prize and the RugbyTown 7s Cup title come Sunday afternoon. His Ramblin’ Jesters took the whole thing in 2022, but he’s been a part of teams that have finished as a runner-up in several cup finals over the years.

Because the RugbyTown 7s has earned a worldwide reputation for being such a great tournament, some of the best sevens players in the world have come to test their mettle. Teams making up the field feature Olympic gold medalists, some of the HSBC Sevens Circuit’s greatest players, and everyone in between.

“You just never know what team's going to show up,” Stanfill says. “That's the exciting thing about it. I think this really helps kind of shed light on who the next stars are for the U.S. You're going to get to see some big names from international teams, and you're just going to get to watch really good quality rugby, which is hard to find here in America.”

The 2026 RugbyTown 7s will take place at Infinity Park August 21-23. Visit RugbyTownUSA.com for more information.

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Photo by Colton Strickler

More rugby rocking the Rocky Mountains

If you’re looking to watch some high-quality rugby this summer, Colorado is a good place to be. 

From a dominant professional Women’s Elite Rugby team in the Denver Onyx to some of the most competitive tournaments in the country, Colorado has it all. 

The Denver Onyx, the 2025 Women’s Elite Rugby champions, complete their second season of play this weekend. The last chance to see the Onyx in person in Denver is July 12 at Infinity Park in Glendale. Learn more about the team here.

If you are looking for a reason to make the trek to Aspen in September, you can watch some fantastic rugby at the Aspen Ruggerfest. There are few pitches in the world more beautiful than Wagner Park, right in the middle of downtown Aspen. With a schedule featuring a women’s division, several old boys divisions, and a highly-competitive men’s open, there is a little something for everyone.

Colton Strickler is a proud Colorado native. He has covered the Colorado State Rams men’s basketball and football programs, the Denver Broncos, and was Major League Rugby’s lead writer before contributing to Thirst Colorado. He likes to spend his free time watching football, trying new restaurants, and working on his newsletter, The Cowboy Collar.