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Griffins Over Bombers in RSL Week 1
March 15, 2008 - Chicago, IL
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The Chicago Griffins handed the St. Louis Bombers their first loss of the season in Week 1 of Rugby Super league action. Chicago adapted to the windy, cold and soggy conditions and patiently put in four tries to take home the victory.
Chicago took advantage of playing with the wind at their backs in the first half by wisely hoofing the ball into the corners and making the Bombers battle out of their own end. Griffins center Brendan Brown opened the scoring from a nice offload from flyhalf Ryan Westaway after sustained pressure on the Bomber line. Chicago lock, and ex-Bomber, Matt Koch scored a similar try at the 17 minute mark from #8 Jon Tenconi's offload to put the Griffins up 14-0 with Murray Roeske's conversions.
Chicago took advantage of a sloppy Bomber lineout to once again camp out deep in St. Louis territory, and were rewarded when wing Pat Marek crashed over for another converted try. The Bombers launched repeated attacks in the Chicago end, but were thwarted several times by the Griffins. St. Louis got on the scoreboard when fullback Conail Boyd slotted a penalty kick to bring the halftime score to 21-3 in Chicago's favor.
St. Louis returned the favor with the wind at their backs in the second spell, pinning Chicago deep with the foot and then applying pressure. The Griffins resorted to a few illegal tactics to snuff the constant Bomber attack, resulting in two yellow cards over the course of 25 minutes. But the Griffins defense was stout and they weathered the storm. Chicago got the bonus point when captain Roeske scored his team's fourth try on the day at the 58 minute mark to go up 28-3. Bomber center TJ Ebner finished off a Simon Moate break at 71 minutes to close the gap to 28-8. But the damage had been done and Chicago claimed a well deserved 28-8 victory.
Bomber White 12 Griffins 0
The Bomber White side put in a dominating performance to take home a 12-0 victory over the Griffins B side and remain undefeated on the season. The Bomber forward pack was solid in set play and imposed their will upon their opponents in open play.
Hooker and captain Pat Hess led by example, scoring his team's first try. Justin Mastroianni's conversion gave the Bombers a 7-0 lead playing into the wind. The second half saw the Bombers use the wind wisely and sustained pressure reluted in a Kyle Manley try to seal the 12-0 victory.
Locks Jason Isaacson and Kingpin Gunnell put in strong performances on a day built for forwards. Props Vinnie Wroughton and Canaan Craig were strong up front, and the loose forward trio of Matt Viox, Jim Hoffmann and Sam Stahnke were into everything. Fullback Kevin Tucker directed his team's defense and played smart rugby. Centers Joe Mertz and Andrew Bell ran straight and hard to put the ball behind the Griffins defense on most occassions. Scrumhalf Scott Wozniak and flyhalf Justin Mastroianni did an excellent job distributing the ball and controlling play from the nerve center.
Chicago took advantage of playing with the wind at their backs in the first half by wisely hoofing the ball into the corners and making the Bombers battle out of their own end. Griffins center Brendan Brown opened the scoring from a nice offload from flyhalf Ryan Westaway after sustained pressure on the Bomber line. Chicago lock, and ex-Bomber, Matt Koch scored a similar try at the 17 minute mark from #8 Jon Tenconi's offload to put the Griffins up 14-0 with Murray Roeske's conversions.
Chicago took advantage of a sloppy Bomber lineout to once again camp out deep in St. Louis territory, and were rewarded when wing Pat Marek crashed over for another converted try. The Bombers launched repeated attacks in the Chicago end, but were thwarted several times by the Griffins. St. Louis got on the scoreboard when fullback Conail Boyd slotted a penalty kick to bring the halftime score to 21-3 in Chicago's favor.
St. Louis returned the favor with the wind at their backs in the second spell, pinning Chicago deep with the foot and then applying pressure. The Griffins resorted to a few illegal tactics to snuff the constant Bomber attack, resulting in two yellow cards over the course of 25 minutes. But the Griffins defense was stout and they weathered the storm. Chicago got the bonus point when captain Roeske scored his team's fourth try on the day at the 58 minute mark to go up 28-3. Bomber center TJ Ebner finished off a Simon Moate break at 71 minutes to close the gap to 28-8. But the damage had been done and Chicago claimed a well deserved 28-8 victory.
Bomber White 12 Griffins 0
The Bomber White side put in a dominating performance to take home a 12-0 victory over the Griffins B side and remain undefeated on the season. The Bomber forward pack was solid in set play and imposed their will upon their opponents in open play.
Hooker and captain Pat Hess led by example, scoring his team's first try. Justin Mastroianni's conversion gave the Bombers a 7-0 lead playing into the wind. The second half saw the Bombers use the wind wisely and sustained pressure reluted in a Kyle Manley try to seal the 12-0 victory.
Locks Jason Isaacson and Kingpin Gunnell put in strong performances on a day built for forwards. Props Vinnie Wroughton and Canaan Craig were strong up front, and the loose forward trio of Matt Viox, Jim Hoffmann and Sam Stahnke were into everything. Fullback Kevin Tucker directed his team's defense and played smart rugby. Centers Joe Mertz and Andrew Bell ran straight and hard to put the ball behind the Griffins defense on most occassions. Scrumhalf Scott Wozniak and flyhalf Justin Mastroianni did an excellent job distributing the ball and controlling play from the nerve center.