St. Louis Bombers Rugby Football Club

The Bombers captured their third consecutive Western USA championship by defeating Woodlands (Houston, TX) 28-16 in the semifinals and Austin 23-10 in the championship match played in Ft. Worth. The victory gives St. Louis the #2 seed in the country in USA Rugby's Sweet 16 playoffs in Grand Rapids, MI on May 21 & 22.

Bombers 28 Woodlands 16

The Bombers elected to play into the gusty 30 MPH winds in the first half of Saturday's semi-final against a huge Woodlands side. Woodlands expectedly dominated territory for the first 40 minutes, but could only muster 6 points from the leg of flyhalf Tiaan Brand. St. Louis answered with a Rene Monette penalty kick and a Shaun Tegethoff try from a slicing counterattack by fullback Conail Boyd and a nifty inside pass from center Brian Meyer. St. Louis led 10-6 at the break.

Two Monette penalty kicks extended the Bomber lead to 16-6 ten minutes into the second half. Wing Danny Fernandez inserted into the backline to score under the posts to increase the lead to 23-6. Woodlands answered with a try by wing Chris McDonald to cut the lead to 23-11. Bomber center Eric Hinson bulled over from five meters out after sustained pressure from the forwards to push the score to 28-11. Woodlands center Magnus Oosthuizen's gathered an awkwardly bouncing chip kick to finish the scoring at 28-16. The Bomber forwards met and exceeded the challenge from the big Woodlands pack, dominating the primary phase and setting the table for a solid victory on a blustery day. The Bomber deep three of TJ Ebner, Boyd and Fernandez turned away all attempts at getting pinned in their own end.

Bombers 23 Austin 10

St. Louis once again brought home the hardware at the expense of Austin in a hard fought championship match. Again electing to play into the wind for the first spell, St. Louis grabbed the only points of the first half off the foot of Rene Monette and led 3-0 at the break. Although points were scarce, the action was intense. Both sides produced excellent tackling, including a try saving shoestring tackle from the Austin fullback Jimmie Gardiner. But Austin was struggling in the lineout, thanks to the efforts of Bomber leapers Hayden Mexted, John McGuire and Alex McPheeters. The Bomber scrums were putting the Austin attack on their heals the entire match, as flanker Shaun Tegethoff introduced himself to Austin #8 Troy Mussey on several occasions, and midfielders Russell Gall and Brian Meyer pinned their ears back on defense.

St. Louis gained the early second half momentum as prop Scott "Bowling Ball" Lay left a trademark path of destruction and 40 meters later the Bombers were rewarded when little brother Brian Lay launched himself over the Austin line to increase the lead to 10-0. Another forward assault saw Scott Lay power over after several phases to push St. Louis in front 17-0. Austin got on the board when wing Jason Spodick snuck in the corner on the blindside to make it 17-5. But relentless Bomber pressure saw flyhalf Rene Monette calmly slot back-to-back drop goals and take the wind out of Austin's sails, as the lead grew to 23-5 with time winding down. Austin got a consolation try in the corner from wing Brian Petty as time expired, but it was not enough as the final whistle with a 23-10 St. Louis victory.

The championship solidifies the Bombers ranking as the top D-1 club in the West. The Bombers have now defeated Austin five of the last six meetings, with all six matches played in Texas. This is also the fourth WRFU championship for St. Louis in the last five years.

St. Louis made the trip with a full roster of 28, plus 11 more players who didn't dress- but contributed in many ways to the successful weekend. Bomber legend John Kyle traveled to support the squad, and must be thanked for his generosity- especially the Saturday happy-hour. Also spotted cheering on the squad were legends Robbie Robinson, John Pendergrass, Jerrie Anderson, and Cliff and Alicia Schlereth. And the rookies answered their true calling in life by entertaining the veterans with a show that ranked right up there with the best of them.