
Warriors face Giltinis in MLR Western Conference Championship
LOS ANGELES, CA — The Utah Warriors travel to Los Angeles, California to take on the LA Giltinis this Sunday, July 25, in the Major League Rugby Western Conference Championship with a spot in the MLR Championship at stake.
The Giltinis, who finished the MLR Regular Season with a 12-4 record, the top record in Major League Rugby, are led by MLR’s leading conversion scorer Matt Giteau and MLR leading try-scorer DTH van der Merwe. The Giltinis split the season series vs. Utah, with Sunday’s match being the second consecutive week the Warriors and Giltinis will face off, coming off of a 34-29 Warrior victory last Saturday.
“It’s really difficult to play the same opponents multiple weeks in a row,” said Utah Warriors Head Coach Shawn Pittman. “They know what we’re trying to accomplish and what combinations are going to be difficult for them to defend. We tried to play our cards close to the chest as much as possible last week and not give away anything for this matchup so we should still be able to execute our game plan at a high level despite back-to-back matches against this same Giltinis squad.”
Despite back-to-back matches against the same opponent, Pittman believes the Warriors will see a very different Giltinis on the field this Sunday.
“LA’s team will Have about 9 changes on their game day roster this weekend,” said Pittman. “But, despite facing a different Giltinis squad, we feel the narrow field and the physical battle and challenge we represent will make things difficult for them.”
Utah finished the regular season in third-place in the Major League Rugby Standings and in second-place in the Western Conference with a 10-6 record and 57 table points. The Warriors also finished with the second highest point total in the MLR with 506 points scored, just behind the powerful LA attack.
“LA is a good defensive outfit who have a high tackle percentage on a narrow field,” said Warriors Assistant Coach Shaun Davies. “In order to break them, we’re going to have to go through the phases and be patient with ball-in-hand. If we’re able to hold onto the ball in the right areas of the field, we’ll put ourselves in a position to take advantage of LA and keep the pressure on them.”
Davies hopes that the Warriors can buck a recent trend of slow starts for the Warriors, and put together a complete 80-minutes of high-end play. Something he believes will be crucial in order to take down the league’s top regular season team.
“It’s going to take a full team effort this weekend,” said Davies. “We’ve often leaned on the Guerrilla squad to do a job at the end of the game and we know they’re able to do that. But with a team like LA, we can’t rely on the bench to win the game. We’re going to need a strong start and full 80 minute performance from the boys.”
Sunday’s match will kick off at 4:00 PM Mountain Time and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. Fans can also catch the action on ESPN 700 and ESPN 960 AM. The winner of Sunday’s match will face the winner of Rugby United New York and Rugby ATL in the Major League Rugby Championship on Sunday, August 1.
UTAH WARRIORS VS. LA GILTINIS (MLR WESTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP)
Date: Sunday, July 25
Time: 4:00 PM MDT
Where: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Broadcast: CBS Sports Network
Radio: ESPN 700 and ESPN 960
Recent Posts
Warriors take down Toronto 47-19 at home
HERRIMAN, Utah — Respect isn’t just given, it has to be earned,
Warriors coaches talk preparation for Toronto match
HERRIMAN — Things are much different for Utah Warriors Assistant Coach Robbie
Warriors fall to NOLA Gold on the road
NEW ORLEANS — A lack of overall aggression and too many missed
Hodgson talks coming to Utah and facing NOLA
HERRIMAN, Utah — Much like most foreign national players, Joel Hodgson grew
W Nation: Ep 81 | Out of the Bye Week, Into New Orleans
On this week's episode of W Nation, Jarom Jordan and Banksy recap
News Tags
Archives
- March 2023 (9)
- February 2023 (8)
- January 2023 (4)
- December 2022 (3)
- November 2022 (5)
- October 2022 (6)
- September 2022 (7)
- August 2022 (8)
- July 2022 (7)
- June 2022 (2)
- May 2022 (10)
- April 2022 (13)
- March 2022 (16)
- February 2022 (13)
- January 2022 (11)
- December 2021 (2)
- November 2021 (5)
- October 2021 (4)
- September 2021 (3)
- August 2021 (9)
- July 2021 (18)
- June 2021 (30)
- May 2021 (23)
- April 2021 (15)
- March 2021 (13)
- February 2021 (3)
- January 2021 (2)
- December 2020 (3)
- November 2020 (12)
- October 2020 (13)
- September 2020 (5)
- August 2020 (8)
- July 2020 (1)
- June 2020 (4)
- April 2020 (3)
- March 2020 (7)
- February 2020 (13)
- January 2020 (3)
- December 2019 (3)
- November 2019 (7)
- October 2019 (8)
- September 2019 (1)
- August 2019 (1)
- July 2019 (1)
- June 2019 (3)
- May 2019 (10)
- April 2019 (12)
- March 2019 (5)
- February 2019 (6)
- January 2019 (4)
- December 2018 (3)
- September 2018 (1)
- August 2018 (1)
- June 2018 (3)
- May 2018 (8)
- April 2018 (5)
- March 2018 (6)
- February 2018 (6)
- January 2018 (3)
- December 2017 (8)
- November 2017 (5)
- October 2017 (2)
- August 2017 (2)
- July 2017 (1)