The Denver Stampede were an American rugby union team that played in the short lived

PRO Rugby Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retire ...

competition. The Stampede was one of the five teams that began play in PRO Rugby's 2016 inaugural season. The team played its home matches at the University of Denver's CIBER Field. The team was led by head coach Sean O'Leary and captain

Pedrie Wannenburg Pedrie Johannes Wannenburg (2 January 1981 – 22 April 2022) was a South African rugby union player. He last coached for Austin Elite Rugby in North American Major League Rugby. He played for Austin in 2018, Denver Stampede in the now defunct ...

History

Reports began circulating as early as November 2015 that Denver would host a PRO Rugby team when the competition's inaugural season kicked off in April 2016. PRO Rugby officially announced on February 26, 2016 that Denver would be the competition's fifth team. Denver's first officially announced player signing was South African international

. Denver hosted Ohio in the first ever PRO Rugby match on April 17, 2016, winning 16–13 at Infinity Park on a late penalty kick from flyhalf

Will Magie William Magie (born 23 February 1992) is an English-born American former rugby union player who last played fly-half for the Austin Gilgronis in Major League Rugby. He previously played for London Scottish F.C. in the RFU Championship. Early c ...

. PRO Rugby revealed the team's nickname — the Denver Stampede — on June 6, 2016, a reference to Colorado's western theme; this name beat two other final candidates: the Peak (also a mountain western theme) and the Vipers. On December 20, 2016 all PRO Rugby players received notice their contracts will be terminated in 30 days if progress is not made towards resolving disputes between the league and USA Rugby. Infinity Park 4 by 3 ver 2

Stadia

Infinity Park Infinity Park is a stadium in the Denver enclave of Glendale, Colorado, and was formerly the unofficial home venue of the United States national rugby union team. The stadium has a seating capacity of 5,000 people. It opened in 2007, at a cost of ...

(April – May 2016) * CIBER Field (June – July 2016) Denver began its inaugural 2016 season playing at Infinity Park. Denver moved to CIBER Field, however, during the 2016 season; this move allowed PRO Rugby to live steam all matches on prorugby.org, and had superior financial considerations.

Current players and staff

Current roster

The squad for the 2016 PRO Rugby season:

Current coaches

Season summaries

Leading players

Head coaches

References

{{Colorado Sports Rugby union teams in Colorado Defunct sports teams in Colorado Sports teams in Denver Rugby clubs established in 2016 2016 establishments in Colorado Rugby union clubs disestablished in 2017 2017 disestablishments in Colorado PRO Rugby teams