If you haven’t noticed yet the St. Louis Bombers have started a Weekly Newsletter. These newsletters will give a brief review of the previous week, what to expect this week, standing, and any other news related to the club. You can find the newsletter box on the homepage or select “Newsletters” under the “About the Bombers” menu.

To recap the last couple of weeks the Bombers have had some bumps along the way. After a win in Chicago the Bombers DII side had their first league match against the KC Islanders in Kansas City, but would fall 13-27 to the Islanders. The DII side faced the Lindenwood Lions the following Friday in a friendly match at LU. The Bombers struggled against a very fast LU team and loss 12-88. The DIII side had their second league match against the Belleville Rowdies and ran up the scoreboard with a 56-14 win.

October is Domestic Abusive Awareness month and the Bombers held a fundraiser and food drive for our first Ladies Day on October 11^th. The DIII side fell 5-32 in a tough match against the Royals while the DII side had a huge win 50-12 over KCRFC.

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This upcoming weekend, the Bombers have their Alumni Weekend at Lucier Park. Both sides have league matches as the DIII side faces Kohlfeld and the DII side takes on the Ramblers. There will be a large tent with BBQ, beer and half time entertainment. Kickoff is at 1pm.

Calendar

Own the Bar will be held at Colombos Bar & Tavern on October 25^th after the last home match of the fall season.  Both sides will have big league matches next Saturday.

Schedule

Make sure to “Like” the Bomber’s Facebook page stay up-to-date with day to day stuff. Also check back on Tuesday’s for the weekly newsletter.

Saturday’s D2 match against the Chicago Griffins was a little sloppy but it was good to get a win on the road.

The Griffins opened the scoring with some strong forward play finished off by a 9 pick and drive, but the Bombers hit back immediately with backs slicing through in the mid-field. Early on it looked like the backs were going to have an easy day making some great plays early; however throughout the game there were many errors that prevented the Bombers from really taking a large lead in the game. The Griffins got back to within 7 points at 19-12, but the bombers were able to close the game out and maintain the majority of possession for the last 30 minutes of the game.

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The Bomber scrum was extremely dominant and was a large factor for the victory, as they were able to win most of the opposition’s feed. The forwards attack structure was slightly better than against Palmer but still need a lot of improvement in that area. The backs showed once again that there is a lot of talent, but they are still finding themselves as a unit, and with several players having differing availabilities for the last 2 weeks, it has been difficult to find consistency and gain cohesion amongst the backs squad.

The Griffins provided a tough match, and ran hard runners wide off the ruck and through their inside backs as well as having some very sharp counterattack of Bomber errors by their outside backs, but their defense did not contain our backs in open field running and their set-piece could not match the Bombers.

Despite the sloppiness the Bombers would beat the Griffins 29-12.

Unfortunately the D3 match vs Franklin County was cancelled due to St Borgia High School denying Franklin County use of their field due to wet conditions.

This weekend the Bombers DII side has their first league match against the KC Islanders in Kansas City. The DIII side is off this week but will have another league match next weekend against the Rowdies.

Schedule

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Starting September 23^rd practice will be moved to Willmore Park in South City on Tuesdays, and to Franz Park in Dog Town on Thursdays. This is where we will practice for the remainder of the season and both start at 6:30pm. Maps to both locations can be found on the practice page.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and the Bomber Bombshells want to help raise awareness with a Ladies Day at the Bomber’s home game October 11^th. There will be food, drink, games, merchandise, and great prizes throughout the day. There will be T-shirts sold to help raise money for charities that deal with Domestic Violence. All are welcome to come out and enjoy the day with the Bombers and the Bomber Bombshells. More info to come.

BRFC WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

St. Louis had been experiencing mild temperatures for summer but sure enough as Bombers get ready for their first match against Palmer the extreme heat returns.

At the time of the match on August 23th the temperature had reached 99 F and a heat index over 105F. Because of the heat the game was broken up into four quarters with mandatory water breaks every 10-15 minutes.

The Bombers were looking good moving the ball from side to side and keeping it in Palmer’s end but struggled on the outside wings. The Bomber’s had many opportunities to score with three tries called back before Palmer scored the first try of the match. The Bombers would bounce back with a try scored by Ryan McDonald making it 5-5 at half.

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The Bombers scored early in the second half to take the lead 10-5 but Palmer would come back with two tries and conversions. With heat exhausting setting in for both teams the Bombers continued to push towards the Palmer try line with many opportunities just coming up short. Palmer would take the first match of the season 19-10.

Despite the heat it was good touch match between both teams. John Pearson received Man of the Match for the forwards and Ryan McDonald for the backs.

Schedule

The Bombers first league match is September 6^th with the DIII side facing the Hornets. The match is set for a 1pm kick off at Forest Park. We look forward to everyone coming out to cheer the Bombers onto victory!

This summer was the first time the Bombers made a push to develop a 7s program to compete with the National 7s competition. With the help of new coach Cam Wyper, (read his story here) the Bombers started to lay the groundwork for a 7s program with great potential.

The first year was tough for the Bombers but they did make it to regionals in Denver. Going forward, the key factors to be improved upon for the squad is a much more structured attacking play, with implementing a much more structural game plan rather than the typical “play-as-you-go”, as well as improved 7s style defensive coordination and communication.

The MRFU 7s was another successful year as both side were undefeated until they had to face each other.

The Bombers2 side would finish 4^th overall after losing to the Eureka Kings in the playoffs. The Bombers1 side defended their title in another down to the last try championship game against the Ramblers. The Bombers were up in the first half, but the Ramblers controlled the ball in the second half and took the lead. The last play of the match was led by a break away by Jeff Rehdar who offloaded to Joe Auger and scored the winning try taking the 19-17 victory.

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On Thursday, August 14, the Bombers held their annual awards night at the Dubliner (featuring formal attire of rugby shorts and blazers). Over drinks and appetizers, the evening celebrated and honored many Bombers, closing out a very active 15’s season and successful summer of 7’s rugby.  The following Bombers join a long list of storied players and club members committed to competitive rugby and a vibrant club atmosphere.

• Newman – Justin McKay
• Hardest Hitter – Alex Ochoa
• Mopes Award – Joe Auger
• 7’s MVP – Joe Auger
• Most Improved (coach’s award) – Bryan Hebron and Ryan McDonald
• Orville Turgeon – Ben Meyers
• President’s – Dan Ward
• White Side MVP – Colin Fitzhenry
• Black Side MVP – Mark Menne

The handout of each award was paired with a corresponding beverage to match the spirit of the award. Big thanks to Alex Ochoa and Neal Ford for organizing, the Dubliner for hosting, and everyone who made it out in support.

15s practice began a few weeks ago and are getting ready for our first match this weekend.

The Bombers practice at Steger Field at 6:30pm every Tuesday and Thursday are the only St. Louis team to have both a competitive DII and DIII team. We are always looking for new players with or without rugby experience from High School to any age. We look forward to the upcoming year of exciting rugby, eventually leading to a club-wide banquet at the end of the season. Reminder that the Bombers kick-off the season this Saturday, hosting Division I Palmer at Lucier Park at 2:00PM. The St. Louis Sabers will be matched against Palmer women’s team at noon.

Schedule