Seattle Pulls Away from Utah Warriors with second-half spurt

Seattle, Washington — A week after their first win in Major League Rugby play, the Utah Warriors rugby club felt heartbreak again.

Seattle held the Warriors without a score for nearly a half hour in the second half to pull away for a 41-32 win Sunday at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Washington.

Utah’s Tonata Lauti scored on a short try run in the 36th minute, and Kurt Morath’s ensuing conversion kick tied the match, 20-20 in the first half.

But Seattle responded with a try less than three minutes to take a 27-20 edge into halftime.

That was as close as the Warriors (1-3) would get.

Phil Mack tapped to touch and drove in for a try, and the Seawolves added another from scrum to take a 41-20 advantage on the conversion with 20 minutes left.

Warriors center/flyhalf Pakisonasi Afu pulled one back late, taking a lineout deep into Seattle territory for a try with two minutes remaining.

Utah continues its three-game road at Houston at 4 p.m. MT May 26. The Warriors return home to Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, June 16 at 2 p.m. MT.

32 – UTAH WARRIORS Tries: Lote Tuipulotu (2), Tonata Lauti, Ara Elkington, Paki Afu. Conversions: Kurt Morath (2). Penalties: Kurt Morath.

41 – SEATTLE SEAWOLVES Tries: William Rasileka, Matthew Turner, Vili Tolutau (2), Phil Mack. Conversions: Peter Smith (3), Brock Staller (2). Penalties: Peter Smith, Brock Staller.