Utah Warriors Kick Off Inaugural MLR Season at San Diego Legion

Salt Lake City, UT—The Utah Warriors head to San Diego, CA on Sunday for their inaugural Major League Rugby opener.

The Warriors will face the San Diego Legion at the University of San Diego Torero Stadium with kick off slated for 5 pm MT.

The MLR season started last week for the Legion who fell to the home team Seattle Seawolves 39-23. Three penalty tries awarded to the Seawolves led to a confident Seattle victory.

Despite the loss, San Diego is looking for the home crowd and six line-up changes from last week’s fixture to give them the edge against the Warriors.

The Legion will be led by USA Eagles captain and scrum-half Nate Augspurger and boast no less than six USA Eagles in their starting fifteen with two others coming off the bench.

The Warriors will be captained by former NFL fullback Paul Lasike in the centers with new additions Kurt Morath, Tonga’s All-Time Leading Points Scorer and recent Glasgow Warriors addition David Tameilau looking to provide impact in the Warriors first MLR game.

The Warriors will be without USA Eagle and former BYU All-American Josh Whippy who suffered a season-ending injury last week against the Prairie Wolfpack.

“Josh is a big loss for this team,” said Warriors head coach Alf Daniels, “But the team will rally and we’re looking forward to seeing this team have its first crack in Major League Rugby season play. San Diego will be tough at home and this will be a very stiff challenge right out of the gate. But we’re excited and looking forward to the challenge.”

The Warriors and Legion will face off for the first time on Sunday, April 29th at 5pm MT. The game will be broadcast locally on AT&T Sports Net, webcast on ESPN+ and internationally on the MLR Facebook Live Page. Check your local listings for channel and programming details.

Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.sdlegion.com/tickets with prices starting at $23 for a Family Ticket.

For more information and updates on the Utah Warriors as they face the San Diego Legion follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. All Warriors news, merchandise and tickets can be found at www.warriorsrugby.com.

Team for the Utah Warriors vs. San Diego Legion (Sunday, April 29, 2018)

1. Alex Tucci
2. Lote Tuipulotu
3. Angus MacClellan
4. Matt Jensen
5. Kory Olsen
6. Kenny Scott
7. Lance Williams
8. Saia Uhila
9. Joseph Nicholls
10. Kurt Morath
11. Fetu Vainikolo
12. Paul Lasike ©
13. Jared Whippy
14. Josh Anderson
15. Tonata Lauti
16. Alex Vorster
17. Maika Hafoka
18. John Martinez
19. Tevita Tameilau
20. AJ Tuineau
21. Ben Nicholls
22. Pakisonasi Afu
23. Dan Pati
Venue: Torero Stadium, University of San Diego

Kick-off: 5 pm MT