The St. Louis U. High rugby team has started practice for its season and the roster shows promise with a challenging schedule this year. Due to the shortened season last year, the games were numbered for the varsity and JV teams with a total of five games between them. However, with spring season regulations the Jr. Bills are looking forward to their season. 

This year the Jr. Bills rugby team has several returning veterans to lead the team. Seniors Connor Gunn, John Budd, Blake Collins, Jackson Liebrock, Graham Johnson and Bryce McCool are leading the team as captains followed by an array of other players.

“The veterans have come to practice with their experience and leadership skills and have only gotten better since our shortened season last year,” said Gunn. “We’ve also got some exciting underclassmen talent who have embraced the game and impressed at practice.

The Jr. Bills are looking forward to competing against Chaminade this year. Additionally, Germantown and Aquinas will be tough match-ups, but the players are confident in their ability to compete. Finally, due to a split between MESHA and Club sport forced the Jr. Blues to leave SLUH’s competition. Lindbergh will be the match to watch with them being SLUH’s biggest competition in the league.

“We are always looking forward to playing Chaminade because they like to talk trash and that gives us motivation to push harder,” said senior Nick Storer. “Lindbergh has always had a history of having a tough team and their coaches know the sport, but SLUH’s coaches have prepared us to overcome them, they are just another obstacle for us.”

Spring sports are still at the mercy of Covid restrictions and rugby is no exception. 

“We test for Covid every two weeks and before we get our tests back, we have alternate practices with no contact that mainly consist of our catch/pass work and defensive structure,” said Gunn. “The majority of practice has remained the same, the only differences are the fact that we have to have alternating practices after testing and wearing masks while we practice.”

While the first game has been canceled due to Covid-19 concerns, the team expects to be back on the field after spring break.

“Even though we’re only a few weeks into practice, I’m very confident in the team’s form,” said Gunn. “We feel pretty prepared for what we’re up against and I’m fairly confident in our form and ability to play.”