Warriors prepare for Western Conference Semis rematch vs. LA

HERRIMAN — Fresh off Saturday’s 69-22 romp over the Dallas Jackals, the Utah Warriors turn their sights on what is certain to be a tougher test come Sunday when traveling to take on defending Major League Rugby champion Los Angeles Giltinis.

The two teams have quite the history, considering the Giltinis ended the Warriors’ season last year in a match that Warriors’ Center Tyler Fisher remembers well.

“We sort of lost it in the final minute of that conference final last year,” Fisher recalled. “For me, personally, I feel like we were the ones who should have won that game. So it stings me a bit that we didn’t get that win, so hopefully we can get over on them this weekend.”

The Warriors closed out the 2021 regular season with a thrilling 34-29 win over Los Angeles before taking a tough 17-13 loss to the same team the following weekend. The Giltinis went on to defeat Rugby ATL in the MLR Championship 31-17 for the MLR Shield.

Warriors Minute with Ashlee Byrge #ForTheNation #RiseOfRugby pic.twitter.com/4ls5mvQYC3

— Utah Warriors Rugby (@utwarriorsrugby) March 9, 2022

So far this season the Giltinis are off to a 2-2 start, defeating both the Toronto Arrows (31-16) and the New England Free Jacks (19-15) while taking losses to the Houston Sabercats (21-11) and Austin Gilgronis (22-9.)

“We’re approaching this match as if it’s any other,” Fisher said. “I’m not too sure what personnel they have compared with the team last year, but it’s definitely a rivalry game that we want to get ahead of them and get that win.”

Getting ahead has been a problem for the Warriors this season prior to last week’s home opener where they set an MLR scoring record with their 69 points. The goal is to keep last Saturday’s momentum out on the road where Utah started the season with three straight losses to the San Diego Legion (31-29), the Seattle Seawolves (20-17) and to Austin Gilgronis (24-10.)

Throughout all of it, the Warriors have remained positive and confident, as exemplified by last week’s win.

“Not having won one after losing three straight definitely helps the morale of the team, but I don’t think we went into any of the other games feeling like we were losing,” Fisher said. “But this past one was definitely a big one for us moving forward.”

For Warriors flanker Jurie Van Vuuren, he feels the team has remained confident throughout, although that confidence was certainly boosted by the win over Dallas.

“The mood in camp is definitely positive and we really needed that result, and we needed it to be big as well,” Van Vuuren said. “We always knew it was going to be a rough start coming into the season, so it was just about getting together as a team, no matter how the results were.”

Saturdays highlights are here, and they’re glorious 🤩#ForTheNation || #RiseOfRugby pic.twitter.com/KCdUqkJcsC

— Utah Warriors Rugby (@utwarriorsrugby) March 8, 2022

Like Fisher, Van Vuuren expects Los Angeles to pose a tough challenge when the two teams square off this Sunday.

“They’re always going to be a good outfit and not much different from last year” Van Vuuren observed. “They’ve got quality players, so for us it’s all about our own detail and arrive prepared as best we can.”

UTAH WARRIORS VS. LOS ANGELES GILTINIS

Date: Sunday, March 13
Time: 5:00 PM MT
Where: Los Angeles
Broadcast: FS2
Radio: ESPN 700 and ESPN 960

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