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Steamboat Springs — Considering where the Steamboat Rugby Club once was, it's a little hard to believe where it is now.

After years of being the doormat for teams across the Western Slope, Steamboat's club will spend this weekend playing for its third consecutive Cowpie Classic Rugby Tournament title.

The 35th annual tournament starts at 8 a.m. Saturday, with the championship game slated for 6 p.m. Saturday.

The tournament changed from a two-day affair to one day after other clubs said the tournament would be better played and more efficient in just one day.

"It's also for the spectators," Steamboat captain and coach Michael Hurley said. "It's a pretty intense day of rugby."

Pool 1 includes Steamboat, Fort Collins, Glenwood Springs and Boulder. Pool 2 is Vail, Wyoming, Breckenridge and Denver.

The tournament also will feature the Steamboat Old Boys, Boulder Old Boys and Colorado Old Boys.

Steamboat's first game is at 10 a.m. against Fort Collins. The team then plays at 1 p.m. against Glenwood and at 3 p.m. against Boulder.

The top finishers from each pool meet in the championship game at 6 p.m. A third-place game is at 5:30 p.m. between the second-place finishers from each pool.

"Our goal is certainly to defend our title," Hurley said. "Hopefully, we're good enough to come away with another Cowpie, but the level of rugby has stepped up in Colorado."

The team from Wyoming won the Cowpie seven years in a row before Steamboat captured the crown in 2007.

With Denver and Breckenridge - which has been the class of the Mountain League so far this season - Hurley said as many as five teams have a chance to win.

Still, Steamboat should be at the forefront again. In addition to local stalwarts Shane and Kori Dooley, Erik and Bill Wernig and Mark Munga, an influx of foreign and Front Range players make Steamboat again the favorite.

"It's tough to win three in a row in any setting," Hurley said. "But that's what we want to do, and we want to make a strong push for the second half of our season."

Youth rugby participants will play at noon Saturday. Hurley encouraged people who have never seen rugby or children interested in playing to come out.

After the championship game, the Steamboat Rugby team will host the 28th annual toga party at Sunpie's Bistro on Yampa Street in downtown Steamboat.