Utah hosts Seattle in Week 3

HERRIMAN — The Utah Warriors (1-1) set a lot of things right in taking a 29-15 win over the Chicago Hounds last week, and will have to be at least as good this Saturday when taking on the visiting Seattle Seawolves (2-0.)

That was the message conveyed by Warriors coach Greg Cooper following Thursday’s training session as the team prepares to take on what is always a tough Seattle side.

“We have to recapture that physicality again, and, in fact, we’ve got to be even more physical,” Cooper said. “We have to go to another level to be able to deal with (Seattle) because they’re a great team across the board.”

Indeed Utah’s forwards rallied well around the play set forth by team captain Bailey Wilson last week to finish strong in earning the win and a bonus point by virtue of scoring a try as time expired.

For Wilson, he’s worked well with Warriors forward coach Robbie Abel to set a productive culture despite welcoming several new faces to the roster this season. First-year Warrior forwards include Frank Lochore, Nic Souchon, Dylan Nel, among others, who have so far meshed well with Warrior veterans such as Wilson, Saia ‘Uhila, Franco Van Den Berg and Paul Mullen to provide solid and physical play.

“Robbie (Abel) has done a great job at building a culture,” Wilson said. “It’s a tight-knit group of boys. There’s also plenty of new faces this season that have bought in and added a lot of knowledge and experience…It’s all great to be a part of.”

“I think he’s done a fantastic job,” Cooper added about Abel. “He keeps growing as a coach and I think one of the more important things is getting respect from the players. Robbie has their respect and the players will follow him.”

As for Wilson, his play last week earned him ‘Man of the Match’ honors, and deservedly so, according to Cooper, stating, “When you’re a leader and you play like that, players follow.”

As mentioned, Wilson and his teammates will have to be at least as good this coming Saturday to come away with a win versus a typically strong Seawolves team that has won their first two games this year.

“Whenever we play them it tends to be a close and gritty match,” Wilson said. “They have a lot of great players. They’re a very talented team that can strike from anywhere.”

What Seattle presents is a physical brand of rugby that’s strong at every position, according to Cooper.

“We know that they pride themselves on their defense, so we’ve just got to keep firing our weapons,” Cooper said. “If we don’t fire our weapons, then we don’t break their wall down.”

Utah will again be without the services of Joe Mano this week and could very well have to make do again without talented options such as Mika Kruse, Spencer Jones and Sione Mahe. But although that’s a bevy of talent missing from the lineup, the attitude of those tasked to step up has been remarkable, according to Cooper.

“That’s rugby, but the great thing about this team is that we just get on with it,” Cooper said. “We haven’t talked about it and haven’t worried about it…I think our back line played really well even with some big names missing back there.”

UTAH WARRIORS VS SEATTLE SEAWOLVES

WHEN: MARCH 16, 7 P.M.

WHERE: ZIONS BANK STADIUM

BROADCAST: KMYU, TRN, KSLSPORTS.COM

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