Ruggerfest Victory

Chris Chitava
Chris Chitava

This year marked the 65th Annual St. Louis Gateway Ruggerfest and had been two years since the Bombers had entered a side.

Ruggerfest featured teams from across the country with Men’s A/B, Women’s A/B, College, and High School teams; needless to say there was a lot of rugby to be played.

The Bombers would open up against the Gents of Dubuque for the first match of the tournament. The tournament allowed for open subs which allowed everyone playing time. The Bombers started off quick with two tries but Dubuque would come right back with a try. The Bombers would defeat Dubuque 41-10 and would face Fox Valley in the second match of the day.

Ash to Tyler - Jump
Ash to Tyler showing his ups

Much like the first game the Bombers were off to a strong start controlling the ball and setting the D-line. Fox Valley was a tough team and would be the closet game the Bombers had the whole tournament, but Fox Valley would fall 22-7 to the Bombers.

Sunday was the final day for the tournament and each team would have one or two games. Lincoln Park, from Chicago IL, was the first match and whoever won would go onto playing in the Championship game for the Men’s A side. The Bombers got off to the quickest start ever and never let up. Dave Klug kept reminding players after every try what the game plan was, “same plan guys…”. The Bombers would defeat Lincoln Park 36-10 and would face KU Jayhawks for the Championship.

The KU Jayhawks were last year’s Ruggerfest champs and looking for a repeat, but the Bombers had different plans. The championship game was a physical match and people hurting from three previous games of rugby wasn’t making it easy. The Bombers dominated the scrums and line outs and would go on to defeat the Jayhawks 31-13 making the Bombers the 2013 Ruggerfest Men’s A Division Champion.

Photos – Day 1

Photos – Day 2

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Ruggerfest Trophy – Great Job Gents!

Man the match would not go to one person but the whole Bomber squad because it was a team effort from everyone. It was a great effort from both the veterans and new players to the club.

We’re less than three weeks from Westerns in Omaha as we work our way to the National Championship. The season is not over and we need everyone to come to practice and be ready to go!

This week the Bombers A side will face the Ramblers in the last League match of the season in Forest Park. There may be a friendly B side game following the first game, just check back for updates.

*UPDATE* The match against the Ramblers has moved up from 1PM to NOON. It’s still at Forest Park and there will be another match following the first game.

Don’t forget to register your team for the Bomber’s Trivia Night. It’s on April 20th and less than two weeks away. This is a great time for everyone and you can really help out the club with new equipment.