Category: Mens Events

Little Rock Ozark Tournament

Last weekend the Bombers attended the 39th annual Ozark Tournament in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Bombers sent three teams down for the weekend tournament; Bomber’s Academy (High School), Bombers active side, and the Bombers Old Boys.

On Saturday the Academy side played against Penn State in the opening match. The Academy side struggled to get the offense going and fell behind two tries as Penn State controlled the ball. A big break came when Jordan Sebacher found an opening and out ran the defense to get the Bombers on the board. Defense played tough but the Academy side fell to Penn State 22-10. The Academy faced OSU for their second game of the day and came out hard. OSU was leading 17-14 for the first half, but the Academy side was able to get a try in before half to take the lead 19-17. You’ve probably heard any coach say “…you need to switch it on”, I’m not sure if that’s what John Watson told his team but the Academy side did flip a switch. The intensity and speed really picked up as the Academy team beat OSU 41-17 and will face Memphis on Sunday. Being one of the youngest team in the tournament, the Academy side played against a very good Memphis college team in the championship game. Despite their best efforts the Bomber’s Academy side fell to Memphis 37-5. All the kids played very tough and very good rugby during the tournament and the Bomber’s club looks forward to these kids playing at a higher level.

The Bombers Old Boys faced Dallas in their first match of the tournament. It looked like the Old Boys have been practicing for weeks as they beat Dallas 58-14. There were a lot of big hits and huge runs that gave the Old Boys their victory. The Bombers Old Boys would play the Olde Grey Slime in the championship match and it was much of the same from the first game. The Old Boys controlled the ball and would beat the Olde Grey Slime 38-7 to take the Old Boy Championship.

The Bombers active side had 6 props starting, making it one of the biggest packs in the tournament. The Bombers would face against two teams they’ve already played against earlier in the season. The Bombers first match was against Memphis, which was the season opener for the DII side. The pack controlled the scrums and line outs as the first try was off a maul driven in. The Bombers beat Memphis 48-0 and will face Tulsa in the second match of the day. Tulsa is always a tough team and despite beating them earlier in the season the Bombers cannot take them lightly. The pack was key in the game as the Bombers drove back every scrum and controlled the ball on offense. The Bombers would beat Tulsa 39-7 to go onto the championship game against the Gryphons on Sunday.

The Gryphons were looking for a victory as they came out fast and hard as they were first to score. The Bombers were struggling to get the offense going in the first half, but the defense kept the Gryphons out of the try zone. In the second half the Bombers offense controlled the ball for almost the whole half and put up 33 unanswered points! Mark Menne was able to pick apart the defense and Zach Hawkins (who is not a small man) got “Man of the Weekend” for his 60 meter run & try, out running the defense!  The Bombers would go on to win the Ozark Championship beating the Gryphons 33-12.

Photos from the tournament can be found here.

The Bombers would like to thank Little Rock Rugby for hosting another great tournament and we look forward to next year. We would also like to thank everyone that came down, Academy, active, and Old Boys and hope we have more for next year.

Don’t forget we will be having an end of the season party this Saturday, November 17th, at Colombos starting at 7PM. We are still having the Bomber’s Food drive and if you can please bring a canned food to Colombos this weekend to help out the needy.

St. Louis Bombers Team Photo November 2012

Bombers vs. Tulsa

The St. Louis Bombers DII side has closed out the fall season with a huge victory against Tulsa on Saturday with the final score of 48-18. This win has brought the league record to 3-1 and with bonus points the Bombers take the lead by one point over Omaha and Tulsa in the West-Central. You can read an article from Rugby Magazine about the upcoming game here.

The game opened up slow with both teams going to penalty kicks, 6-3 in the Bombers favor before the first try was scored by Bomber Mark Menne. Dan Kloeckner, a key lock and jumper, fell to a knee injury in the first half and Mike Kellett, a DeSmet High School senior, came in to fill Dan’s position. The Bombers continued with strong defense and even stronger offense as tries were scored by John Pearson, Matt Skarin, and by both the McDonald brothers, Sean and Ryan.

“The game vs. Tulsa on Saturday was a great win for club. The guys have been working very hard throughout the season and many of the elements that we have been working on came together to produce an outstanding result against quality competition.” said Coach Ben Meyers. The Bombers offence controlled the majority of the game and the defense kept Tulsa out of the try zone until late in the second half. Ben continued… “The best feature of the game was the way in which every player showed great urgency to chase, ruck, and support.”

Man of the match went to Matt Skarin with his big runs, tries, and control of the game. MVP for the backs goes to Sean McDonald, not only for his offense and try, but his defense kept Tulsa’s big runs out of the try zone. MVP for the forwards goes to the whole Forward pack. Meyers added, “Our forwards dominated the rucks and mauls, and ran consistently well all game, while the backs showed great skills and athletic ability and constantly supported each other….” You can check out photos and videos from the match here.

The Bombers look forward to having the same intensity and drive for the spring season and to get back to the Sweet 16s and a National Championship!

We will be having an end of the season party at Colombo’s Bar & Tavern on November 17th starting at 7:00PM. We are still having our food drive for the “Feed My People” organization and will be donating the food the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Please bring any canned non-perishable food to Colombos on the 17th to help out.

Keep checking the Bomber’s website and Facebook page for any updates or upcoming events. Enjoy the off season; it was a great fall season!!

R.I.P. Gracie

Earlier this month the Bombers lost one of own. Jon “Gracie” Grace was found dead in his bed October 25th. He was a friend & teammate to all and will be greatly missed. A short video interview with Gracie can be found on the Bombers Facebook page.

Information for the Visitation and Funeral are found below. Please come and show your respect one last time to Jon and his family.

Jon “Gracie” Grace’s funeral arrangements:

It will be held at Bopp Funeral Chapel, 10610 Manchester Rd, Kirkwood MO, 63122.

Visitation Memorial on Thursday Nov 1st from 4pm to 8pm.
Memorial Service on Friday Nov 2nd at 11am.


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Bombers First Food Drive

Come on out and watch the Bombers DIII side take on a strong Franklin County Team this Saturday at Lucier Park. This Saturday is our last DIII game of the fall, so come on out and root on the White side as they try to earn a Fall record of 4-1. Franklin County appears to be a tough team again this year and it figures to be a good match for the White side. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 with a Weather is forecasted for a high of 53 on Saturday with no rain. But it’s Wednesday in St. Louis, so we all know the forecast will have to change at least 3 times before Saturday. If you need a map to the pitch, you can find it here: http://tinyurl.com/cybpgh3

This Saturday also marks the start of our first Annual Bombers Canned Food Drive. It is our way of giving thanks back to our community for all of the support they’ve given us over the year as we approach the Thanksgiving Holliday. We will be collecting any non-perishable foods you may bring or donations and give it all to a local food pantry. We ask that you keep the spirit of the holiday in mind and bring a canned food with you to the pitch on Saturday. If you cannot make it this Saturday, have no fear. We will continue collecting cans at our last home match of the season next weekend, and again at our end-of-season party on November 17th at Colombo’s.

We look forward to seeing you this Saturday as the Bombers DIII side finishes out its fall campaign and as the Bombers family continues a tradition of giving back to the community with the start of a canned food drive.

Bombers DII vs. Ramblers

After the Bombers DIII side just got their victory against the Royals, the Bombers DII side was getting ready to face-off against the Ramblers in the second match the day.   The players were ready, the crowd was ready, and the weather was perfect as Bombers kicked off to start the game.

Both the Bombers and Ramblers struggled to get the ball into each other’s try zone and keep from knocking the ball forward. The score went back and forth and the Ramblers took the lead in the second half with a try and penalty kick. With 10 minutes left in the game the Bombers got a big break from Jeff Rehder to Mark Menne when Mark broke free and ran a 50 meter try in and gave the Bombers a one point lead with his conversion. The Ramblers were deep in the Bombers zone, but the Bombers defense was able to keep the Ramblers out of the try zone and moved the ball back into the Ramblers zone. Less than 5 minutes left in the game the Bombers played hard crash ball from forward to forward pushing the ball closer to try line. In one final crash Dave Klug powered through two Ramblers and was able to extend his arm out far enough to get the ball past the try line. The whistle was blown after the conversion was made by Mark Menne and the Bombers beat the Ramblers 31-23.

The Bombers would like to thank the Old Boys, our sponsors, and all those who came out to the games on Saturday. A special thanks to Brian Saak who celebrated his 30th birthday on Saturday and taking one for the team with a kick to the face. You can check out all the photos from the game here.

Keep checking our Facebook, Twitter, and website for updates and upcoming events.