The St. Louis Bombers were challenged by Bomber’s Old Boy/Mope Charlie Milton. The Bombers accepted and are also making a donation to the ALS Association.
The Bombers have challenged the St. Louis Royals, Ramblers, and the Hornet to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
Click Here to find out more information about the ALS Association.
St. Louis Bombers are excited to join Tiger Rugby as an affiliate rugby club. Tiger Rugby’s progressive approach to growing rugby in the United States aligns extremely well with the Bombers’ commitment to competing at the highest level possible and spreading rugby throughout the St. Louis community. Additionally, we’re excited for the opportunity to have access to Tiger Rugby’s tremendous rugby knowledge and training resources.
By Ben Meyers
The St Louis Bombers 7s Rugby program is in full swing as the team travels to the Denver Regional Qualifying Tournament this weekend, under the guidance of new 7s coach Cam Wyper. The Bombers are excited to have Cam on board for this season as he brings a great deal of experience to the club, particularly in 7s. Cam, who is currently an assistant coach at Lindenwood University, has previously represented Scotland’s national 7s team and has also been part of development programs with both NSW Waratahs and ACT Brumbies in Australia where Cam is from.
This season marks the first time in several years that the Bombers have taken a serious approach to the 7s season, with plans to compete at all 3 regional qualifying tournaments. It is part of a longer term plan for the club, which, among several other initiatives, is currently putting player development programs in place at both the men’s and high school levels so that the club can develop to a Division 1 standard. The new 7s program is expected to build a good platform to lead into the clubs development programs for the 15s season.
While Cam has selected a squad that will be trained to compete at higher level 7s tournaments, the club caters to all experience and interest levels, having a 2nd side that also trains and plays in the local MRFU summer 7s series and enters into competitive and social tournaments around the Midwest.
Cam’s initial intentions for the squad is to gain a good understanding of the concept of 7s, and the different style of play and mentality that is required as opposed to the 15s game. The focus for this season will be building upon that, with a long term goal over the coming seasons of developing into a high level 7s team that can get to the national championships round. While it is still very early days for the program, Cam has commented on the very good base level of skill within the squad and the high level of enthusiasm from all involved which has been a very good platform to build upon.
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. Of course the first year of this program is not without it’s challenges. While the current squad is capable, keeping the players fit and injury free will be important as depth in players that can compete at the qualifying level is still growing, and players are still learning the different structure and work ethic of 7s rugby. The club is fortunate to have some of Lindenwood University’s players on board to help boost the squad and maintain depth. Travel costs and consistent player availability is also a typical challenge for most teams around St Louis and the Midwest.
The squad has had one last hit-out last night in the MRFU summer series at Forest Park before heading out to Denver. Good luck to the players and the club looks forward to this program developing over the coming seasons.
The 2013-2014 season came to an end early May when the Bombers traveled up to Colorado to take on Glendale in the DII playoffs.
The Bombers faced Glendale last year in Omaha for Westerns and both teams were looking for a rematch.
Glendale came out strong with two quick tries, but the Bombers were quick to respond with a line-out drive to put the Bombers on the board. The Bombers struggled on defense to contain as Glendale was quick to move the ball from the Bombers forward pack out to the wings.
Exhaustion and heat became to settle in, but deamination was still in the hearts of the Bombers as they started to mount a couple back to back tries in the second half closing the gap to ten points.
In the remaining minutes of the match, Glendale put two more tries in sealing the win and beating the Bombers 51-34. The loss was tough as it meant the end of the season but the Bombers showed their support for a fellow rugger Kevin Ogar with the “OgarStrong” t-shirts. Kevin Ogar suffered an injury at a cross-fit competition paralyzing him from the waist down and since many of the current players are friends of Ogar, the Bombers wanted to help his cause. You can find more information about his cause on his website, kevinogar.com
The Bombers DII finished the season off 6-6 overall, 6-2 in league play while the Bombers DIII side finished 6-5 overall and 5-5 in league play.
It was a great season for both sides, but ended too early despite having a strong first half of the season.
The Bombers will continue to improve and work hard as we get ready for next season. 15s may be done for now but 7s are starting up and the first match in Forest Park is June 5th. Practice as all ready started and the Bombers look to have a couple competitive sides as Cam Wyper takes the head coaching position for 7s.
The Bombers are always looking for talented people of any age who want to play the best rugby in St. Louis.
Make sure you “Like” our Facebook page to stay up to date on events and games. The 7s schedule should be posted soon but feel free to join us at practice on Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30pm at Steger.
Back on weekend of April 12th, the Bombers had a full day of rugby for both sides.
The DII side traveled up to Davenport to take on Palmer in a friendly match. The Bombers played very tough and were only down 10-12 at half. The second half was a struggle as a 30+ mph wind kept the ball deep in the Bombers zone and Palmer took full advantage. Despite losing 37-25, the Bombers looked strong with just some mental mistakes that can easily be fixed before playoffs.
With the DII side in Davenport, the DIII side represented the Bombers, and defending champs, in the 66th Annual Ruggerfest.
Some of the Old Boys came out to take part in the first couple of games and helping the Bombers take the first two games on Saturday beating Springfield and Wichita. After a weather delay on Sunday, the Bombers would face the DIII champion Royals in the first semi-final game of the day. Having a full and healthy DIII side gave the Bombers a big victory over the Royals 32-0 and moving onto the Championship.
The Championship match would be the St. Louis Bombers vs. the Arkansas Gryphons. The Gryphons were first to score as the Bombers looked a little worn down from earlier, but would keep battling on. The Gryphons looked to be control but was turned around after Jim Morrison hit a 45 meter penalty kick, yes there was a good wind behind him. The Bombers were finally composed and were able to beat the Gryphons 24-13 and take the Championship two years in a row.
The DII Playoffs are only a week away and Bombers continue to practice hard, but are also focus on the future of the club. This weekend the Bombers will be having a field clean up, can food drive, and an “Own the Bar”. The plan is to clean-up Lucier Park and get it ready for next season with new grass, trash pick-up, and benches. Clean up starts at 9:30am on Saturday and will managed by Jim Morrison, followed by a BBQ at the field at 11:30am. The Bombers hope not to only improve the field, but improve the relationship with the surrounding neighborhood.
On Saturday night, starting at 5pm, the Bombers will be hosting an “Own the Bar Night” at Colmobo’s Café and Tavern off of Manchester and Mitchell. Bring out your friends for boozing, parents for dinner, etc. because Columbo’s is donating 50% of all tabs between 5pm and 1am. Spend $30 on dinner and drinks, club gets $15. It adds up fast. There will also be a silent auction with sporting tickets, gift cards, and bottle of booze.
Everyone is invited to the field clean up and especially the Own the Bar, so bring all your friends and family out on Saturday.
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