Warriors have plenty of work to do as team enters bye week

HERRIMAN — The Utah Warriors 3-game homestand came to a disappointing end on Friday with a 40-25 loss at the hands of the San Diego Legion.

After incurring two tough losses to start the homestand to the Toronto Arrows and Houston Sabercats, things didn’t get better on Friday for Utah despite playing in front its home crowd.

“Three home losses is never great to take, as a team,” said Warriors center Tyler Fisher. “We always want to put on a show, but unfortunately we’ve come away with losses in those three games, but the season’s not over and the boys — we never go into a game without the thought that we’re going to give it everything we got.”

😔#ForTheNation pic.twitter.com/4Q7ckGqHYZ

— Utah Warriors Rugby (@utwarriorsrugby) April 2, 2022

Fisher provided perhaps the brightest play for the Warriors on Friday, providing two tries in his first game back after serving a two-game suspension. His first try came toward the end of the first half to cut the Legion’s lead to 24-11 at the break as Utah appeared poised to make a comeback bid at home.

But those hopes were complicated severely just one minute into the second half as San Diego again broke a long run on the edge which eventually crossed the try line and extended the lead to 31-11.

“We came out with a strong mindset that yeah, we were going to get it together,” Fisher said. “Unfortunately they got that early try, so that was very disappointing. It just took them further away from us on the scoreboard.”

Defensive breakdowns at inopportune times again played a big role, along with too many missed tackles on top of too many execution errors on the offensive end, for the Warriors.

The match started out relatively well for Utah, however, with two early penalty kicks from Caleb Makene accounting for an early 6-3 lead. But three straight tries converted by San Diego in a span of just over 10 minutes of play really set the home team back at 24-6.

“We were definitely in it at the start, and felt we definitely could have had them there,” Fisher said. “But a few executions within their (territory) didn’t come away with points, and cost us in the back end of the game.”

Also setting the Warriors back perhaps was a rash of injuries headlined with Paul Lasike being announced as a no-go just minutes before the start of the game. Others missing in action included wing Mika Kruse and lock Jamie Lane, both of whom have played big roles for the Warriors this season.

Roster Update – Calvin Whiting will start at 12 tonight vs San Diego with Tomasi Tonga on the bench, wearing 22. #ForTheNation

— Utah Warriors Rugby (@utwarriorsrugby) April 2, 2022

But injuries wasn’t an excuse Warriors assistant coach Robbie Abel took in postgame interviews.

“There were a few guys missing from the regular side, but we have a lot of talent coming through that we’ll try and develop,” Abel said. “We have full faith in the boys going forward and anyone who puts on a jersey.”

Fisher’s second try of the evening came in the game’s 74th minute, cutting the lead to 37-25 before San Diego extended its lead to 40-25 a few minutes thereafter.

The Warriors will next head to a bye week before heading back out the road to take on Old Glory DC on April 15.

Brandon Gurney is the Utah Warriors Team Reporter. With nearly two decades of experience covering BYU Football in print and on radio, Gurney brings a wealth of experience to the Utah Warriors beat. You can read all of Gurney’s stories on the Utah Warriors throughout the 2022 Season at WarriorsRugby.com