Close games by both sides on Saturday paired with some beautiful weather made for a great day of rugby. The first match of the day was with the D2 side. The pigs struggled to find their stride early on, ending the first half with a 24 point deficit. However they not only closed that gap in the second half, but were up by 7 points with 10 minutes left in the match thanks to a solid defensive effort, crisp back line play and three tries by man of the match Jole Miller. Metropolis was able to score two times in the second half bringing the score to 38-34. The Pigs made one last offensive push as time ran out and the game unfortunately came to a close as the result of a penalty while within Metro’s 22. Overall a great second half effort by the Pigs.

The D4 team took the field afterwards for another 80 minutes of rugby. Lots of new players got reps in and the Bombers came out on top with a score of 36-29.

We’ll keep this momentum moving forward as the Pigs travel to Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday, April 23rd to take on Des Moines RFC.

The St. Paul Jazz Pigs lost to the Bremer County Bucks, 18-24, but still maintain their #3 spot in the Division II West Standings. They have several tough matches ahead against the Chicago Blaze, Wisconsin, and both their cross-town rivals the East Side Banshees and Metropolis.

The St. Paul Jazz Pigs headed down to Waverly, IA to take on the Bremer County Bucks. The Pigs were looking for some payback after the Bucks forfeited what should have been their first match in MN. However, the day ended in disappointment after flat play from the Pigs (and some questionable calls) allowed the Bucks to score two quick tries with less than 5 minutes remaining in the match. The Pigs tried to rally back, but couldn’t string together enough good ball movement to score again. The Pigs lost with a final score of 18-24.

The Bomber posted another win, due to a forfeit from the Rochester Rogues.

The St. Paul Pigs took a hard beating from the South Side Irish, but the Bombers laid out a devastating shut-out. Match reports

The St. Paul Jazz Pigs traveled to Chicago, IL for the second time this season to take on the South Side Irish. The Pigs were looking for another big win to push them even higher in the standings, but as usual, luck was not on their side. Continuing on with the theme this year, South Side got off to quick start, scoring quickly and easily off of broken plays. Rather than gathering themselves and attacking back, as we’ve seen them do in every other game this season, the Pigs seemed slow and almost willing to adapt and react. Eventually, the Pigs did change some things around, and put together some truly smart looking rugby. It was a case of too little too late, though, and they suffered a very tough loss. Final score 24-68, SS Irish. The only highlights were that the Pigs did manage to secure a bonus point for scoring 4 tries, and that every other team in their group suffered shut-outs, so there was no real loss in standings.

On a positive note, the Bombers took on the Minneapolis Mayhem at Lexington-Diffley, and absolutely crushed them. From what little I heard of the game, there was excellent rugby played by the Bombers. Which really showed how the team is coming together as a unit, and learning how to play with each other. Final score was something like 110 or 120 – 0, Bombers win.