Rugby did it again. Despite losing half of their starting lineup from last year, the 2026 St. Louis U. High rugby team valiantly achieved victory in the Missouri Youth Rugby State Championship Tournament, successfully taking down their rivals, the St. Louis Rugby Academy Jets, to become State Champions. Despite the odds from the start being stacked against them with a new head coach and a title to defend, months of practice starting back in November paid off for the Jr. Bills in gritty fashion on a wet day in Columbia, Mo.

Even though the Jr. Bills were the #1 seed into the State Tournament, going 4-0 in league play, they still had to play two games to secure the cup: first Eureka in the Semi-Finals and then the Jets in the Finals. 

Eureka   

The Jr. Bills’ first game was a rematch against Eureka. SLUH knew they had to make a statement after barely edging over Eureka in league play. With having to play two games in one day, the matches were shortened down to 20-minute halves, and with wet grass the previous night, the conditions didn’t seem in the Bills’ favor from the start. However, the Jr. Bills came in hot as after junior Patrick Stein kicked off, the Jr. Bills defense pushed forward and after strong tackles by junior Jay Green, Eureka knocked the ball on which gave a scrum to SLUH. After winning the scrum the Jr. Bills swung the ball out wide and Stein broke through two defenders before reaching across the goal line and scoring the first try of the match. 

This score from Stein was noted by players and coaches as “one of the best” tries they had ever seen. After scoring early, the Jr. Bills remained on offense, but bad passes and knock ons on the wings kept them from finding the try zone, and the Jr. Bills needed to adjust. 

“Adjusting to having guys closer to the ball and limiting the passing helped us succeed,” said junior Liam Gunn. “Opting for gaining meters with the forwards rather than passing the ball wide helped us to start to avoid turnovers.” 

Both teams traded possessions inside Eureka’s half for multiple minutes before a Eureka player knocked the ball on which led to a scrum for SLUH. The Jr. Bills got the ball back and immediately went back on attack, and after a strong run by senior Harrison Hudson, the Jr. Bills added on another try. With a conversion from senior Will Orlando, the Jr. Bills were up 12 to nothing. 

The first half finished off stagnant, and after a quick regroup and a motivational speech by senior Reed Townsend, the Jr. Bills took the field looking to put the game away. Not long into the second half the Jr. Bills’ offense persisted and junior Liam Gunn found his way into the try zone giving the Jr. Bills a 17-0 lead.

Eureka added on a late try which kept the game competitive at 17-7. The Jr. Bills stayed on defense for the remainder of the game and after strong tackles by seniors Deuce Kesterson and Jackson Blaskie the Jr. Bills prevailed with the final score of 17 to 7, and quickly rested and prepared for the state final against the Jets.

 

Jets

With only a short break between games, the Jr. Bills rematched the Jets in the Championship final. With little room for error with the shortened time, the game was a dogfight for the Jr. Bills from the start. After kickoff, a successful offensive effort by the Jets put the Jr. Bills on their backfoot within only a minute or two from the start. Yet, a hard launch from senior Connor Kane secured the ball in the Jr. Bills' hands and a kick from Orlando put the Jr. Bills back in the Jets 22. However, knock-ons and penalties from both sides lead to a lot of back and forth play for the majority of the first half.

Both teams soon adapted to the situation and the Jets started to kick on almost every possession, but seniors Evan Russell and Blaskie were able to successfully counter the kick game and keep the ball in the Jr. Bills’ hands. After retaining the ball and getting wide possession, in dramatic fashion, senior Sam Riggan broke through the defense on the wing, ramming through multiple defenders in a 60-meter run to put the Jr. Bills on top. This run gave the Jr. Bills the momentum they were looking for and will go down as one of, if not the greatest score, in SLUH Rugby history.

“As the first receiver I got a running start and I saw a large gap in the Jets' defensive line,” said Riggan. “I caught the ball at full speed and broke a couple of tackles, the last defender got a handful of my jersey, but it was a relief to slide into the try zone.”

With the momentum on their sides the Jr. Bills started to play smarter, using their forwards to bring holes in the Jets defense to give the backs the space to score. Juniors Alex Reh and Connor Brown on multiple occasions pummeled through the Jets’ lines. In one particular moment Alex Reh left a defender completely in the dust, dodging out of his way and sending him flying five meters on the wet grass.  

Despite the Jr. Bills’ best efforts, they were only up five at the end of the half, but after adjusting their offensive and defensive strategies to capitalize on the slow Jets movements, the Jr. Bills headed into the second half with a new mindset.

Using their rapid offensive structure to get the ball out quickly, senior Will Orlando was able on multiple occasions to get the ball out wide to junior Will Rainey, who helped the Jr. Bills gain valuable yards to keep the Jets on their back. Then after a Jets high tackle, and a successful Jr. Bills lineout with a throw-in by Gunn, and efforts by forwards senior Luke Seamends and juniors Christian Blonde, Brown was able to truck several Jets defenders to score. Then with an impressive conversion from the sideline by Orlando, the Jr. Bills were up 12-0. However, despite the game being in their favor, the Jr. Bills started to encounter staunt Jets’ opposition. 

Hard defensive launches from the Jets and penalties from the Jr. Bills gave the Jets the ball in the Jr. Bills’ 22, and the Jets were able to score making it 12-5. Then, with only 10 minutes left, the Jr. Bills turned up their intensity, playing with all they had to keep the Jets’ onslaught away. Substitutes like senior Ben Faris brought new energy into the game and hard defensive efforts by juniors Matthew Conte and Rainey helped to curb the Jets' wing attack to prevent any major line breaks.

The game got down to the needle in the last 5 minutes with the Jets being awarded a penalty within 10 meters of the Bills’ score line. However, it was not to last as the Jr. Bills launched hard on the restart, leading to a Jets forward pass and a scrum for the Jr. Bills. Now with only a minute or two left in the game and the ball back in the Jr. Bills’ hand, the Jr. Bills held on with all their might. Opting for short phases to run the clock, Gunn and Hudson kept on running secure pods to bite down the time. As the time clicked down, so did the desperate tackles by the Jets. Once the clock hit zero, in heroic fashion, Orlando kicked the ball out of bounds, sealing the game and putting the state Championship Cup back in the Jr. Bills’ hands for the second year straight.

“Winning back-to-back titles this year showed us that the standard our new coaching staff created proved we could handle being the team everyone wants to beat," said forwards captain Alex Reh. "Unlike the past few years, this season we really made it a big deal to show up to practice every day and treat rugby like a true competitive sport, not just a club sport.”

The Jr. Bills finished the season with a 12-5-1 record and consistently ranked top 50 in the nation. Against opponents nationally ranked in the top 50 the Jr. Bills went 6-3-1. The Jr. Bills' leading scorers on the year were Rainey with 109 points (12 tries, 23 conversions, and one penalty kick), followed by Stein with 45 points (9 tries), followed closely by Riggan with 40 points (8 tries). Next was Reh with 36 points (5 tries, 3 conversions), and Green with 35 points (7 tries). As of the last rankings the Jr. Bills sit at 45th according to Goff Rugby Report, but Rugby Riot ranks the Jr. Bills in 30th. 

One cannot also go without mentioning the senior class. During their sophomore year the future seemed uncertain with only 3 players in their class. However their recruitment efforts worked out in the end with more than 20 seniors suiting up this year. 

“I feel like the guys in our class this year, especially Sam Riggan and Connor Kane, have stepped up a lot, by starting for their first years,” said Orlando. “Not only them, but in general the rest of the seniors also have continued to lead with energy and experience that I felt helped us massively at state.” 

Before the season at the Rugby Retreat the goal set by all players in the team was to “be one of the greatest teams in SLUH Rugby history,” and with all their achievements it is hard to not consider this team one of the greatest.