St. Louis Bombers Rugby Football Club

The Bomber White side went undefeated in pool play at the annual St. Louis Ruggerfest, before falling to Tulsa 40-20 in the title match of the premier division.

The Whites defeated John Brown 20-7 in their first pool match. Flanker Zach Giljum's "what the heck are you doing- uh, err, great kick" dropkick opened the scoring. A try to Giljum and a John Ruzicka conversion gave the Bombers a 10-0 halftime lead. Fullback Alastair Aitchison's slicing run produced another Bomber try and a 17-0 lead. A John Brown intercept try closed the score to 17-7, but Ruzicka closed out the match with a penalty kick to end the match. Hooker Tim Chambliss stood out with his lineout throwing and tackling. Flankers Dave Domian and Zach Giljum tackled and supported well.

The Whites dispatched the St. Louis Hornets 14-7 in their second pool match. Wing Jim Crutchfield and flanker Jim Hoffmann scored converted first half tries to give the squad a 14-0 lead. The Hornets were awarded a penalty try late in the match to make it interesting, but the Whites held on at the end. #8 Andy Entwistle was the toughest man to tackle all day. Back row mates Dave Domian and Zach Giljum were tackling machines, as was center Tom Nardin. Prop Andy Adank turned in another strong performance.

The Whites next made easy work of Scott A.F.B. by blanking them 34-0. Wing Jim Moyer scored his first-ever try and deep-three mates Leon Scott and Eric Stecher also touched down. Lock Josh Rainey, center Nico Nita and flanker Zach Giljum also grabbed tries in this lop-sided affair. Lock Corey Gunnell, #8 Andy Entwistle and prop Andy Adank set the tone of the match with their hard work around the park.

The Whites fell to Tulsa 40-20 in Sunday's title match. The first half was all Tulsa as the Whites could not catch a break. Whatever could go wrong- did go wrong for the youthful Bomber side. Simple mistakes crept into the white side's game and Tulsa capitalized with two tries and four penalty kicks to take a 26-0 halftime lead. The Bombers turned the momentum around in the second half and crept back to 26-20 on the back of tries from Leon Scott and replacement center T.J. Ebner and two Zach Giljum penalty kicks. But Tulsa closed out the match with two late tries to earn the Ruggerfest crown. Bomber scrumhalf Scott Giljum played well all weekend after missing a month due to injury.

Several Bomber legends were spotted on the sidelines showing their support: Cliff Schlereth, Jim Boggeman, Harley Meyer, Vic Miller, Earl Langhorst, Lenny Gall, John Kyle, Terry Swap, Dean Hiller, Ron Skiljan Sr. & Jr., Mark Sasser, Lee Koenig, Sterling Hayden and many more. Falcon legend Dave Anderson was also spotted swapping stories with his old Bomber rivals.