Warriors Starting Lineup & Where to Watch Tonight’s First 2019 Match

(Salt Lake City, Utah) – The Utah Warriors of Major League Rugby have announced their starting lineup for their first match of the 2019 MLR season tonight versus the Austin Elite. The roster includes eight returning players from last year’s squad, including league-leading try scorer Tonata Lauti and 2nd Team All-League forward Matt Jensen. The additional seven players are all new signees to this year’s team including Tim O’Malley of Mitre 10 play in New Zealand and James Semple who provides double-duty as both the backs coach and starting player.

“Our boys are chomping at the bit to hit the pitch and start league play. We have had a long off-season going after each other, but I believe the work will pay off tonight” said Head Coach Alf Daniels. “Austin will be a good first test, but we feel confident in our improved play at the forward position thanks to new coach Stevie Scott. Our training and speed overall seems to be ahead of this point last year. We are ready for the competition and aim to bring home a win.”

Making the road trip is new signee Maikeli Mudu from Fiji. The Warriors signed two additional players this week including Mudu and Tom Kacor. Mudu will play as a reserve against Austin and has extensive international experience.

The match will be held at the Dell Diamond in Red Rock, Texas starting at 6:00pm MST. This is the Warriors’ first match of the season and Austin is coming off of a one point loss to the Houston Sabercats last week, 21-20.

The match can be found locally on Deseret Sports News starting at 6:00 PM MST.

WARRIORS VS. AUSTIN ELITE STARTING LINEUP:

FEBRUARY 1st, 2019 @ Dell Diamond – Round Rock, Texas

FORWARDS
1. Franco Van Den Berg
2. Logan Daniels
3. Angus MacLellan
4. Saia ‘Uhila
5. Matt Jensen
6. Lance Williams
7. Ara Elkington
8. John Cullen

BACKS
9. Ian Luciano
10. James Semple
11. Fetu’u Vainikolo
12. Tim O’Malley
13. Jeremy Misailegalu
14. Tonata Lauti
15. Johnny Ika

RESERVES
16. Alex Vorster
17. Alex Tucci
18. HuluHolo Mo’ungaloa
19. Maikeli Mudu
20. Kenny Scott
21. Joe Nicholls
22. Iniki Fa’amausili
23. Josh Anderson

WHERE TO WATCH

STREAMING:

The Utah Warriors are pleased to announce their broadcast partners for the 2019 MLR season. All games will be available locally via streaming broadcast partnership with KSL.com and DeseretNews.com starting with tonight’s match at Austin.

Live.KSL.com Viewing Page and Schedule

www.deseretnews.com/sports Masthead direct connect or sports page

NATIONAL TELEVISION:

The Warriors are scheduled to be the Major League Rugby National Match of the Week on CBS Sports Network, these matches include:

April 20th at Rugby United New York

April 27th vs Austin Elite

June 1st vs Houston Sabercats

LOCAL TELEVISION:

In addition, starting on February 17th, all Warriors matches may be viewed on broadcast television conglomerate Sinclair Broadcasting, including KMYU and KJZZ.

All matches will be aired on KMYU – Channel 12 with the exception of the May 4th match versus the Glendale Raptors, which will be on KJZZ-TV locally.

NATIONAL STREAMING:

All Major League Rugby matches can be found on ESPN+

MAIKELI MUDU

Mudu comes to the Warriors from Suva, Fiji with vast international experience in the flanker and lock position. Most recently he played the 2018 season with the Dallas Harlequins. Prior to Dallas, Mudu spent the 2013-20919 seasons with the Jacks of the Fiji Nadi Rugby Union including time with the Mid-Canterbury Rugby team of New Zealand.

His experience includes the Fiji Warriors, Sunnybrook Club of Australia, the Honda Rugby Club of Japan, and the Nadi Rugby Union.

Mudu was on the 2010 and 2011 IRB Junior World Championship team as well. He is 6’4 and 267 lbs and will be a strong addition to the Warriors.

TOM KACOR

Kacor is originally from Chicago but joins the Warriors after having spent the last two seasons in Ireland playing with the UL Bohemians in Limerick. Kacor also played for the Chicago Lions 7s Club and was a Rugby Collegiate All-American Honorable Mention player at Western Michigan University.

UTAH WARRIORS & UTAH YOUTH RUGBY:

The full Warriors roster includes thirteen players that came through the sport participating in youth rugby in Utah. Earlier this year, the Utah Warriors announced their Warriors Pathway program that helps athletes progress through the sport from youth to high-performance and eventually professional play. Over the years, Utah Youth Rugby has helped launch players’ opportunities into the collegiate, Olympic and professional ranks. The Warriors and UYR are pleased to work in conjunction to grow youth rugby in Utah with the Junior Warriors, Warriors Academy and the Warriors Selects programs.

TICKETS & VENUE INFORMATION:

The Utah Warriors led the league in average home attendance last year with over 4,300 per match and the largest home MLR match of the season at over 9,000 in attendance at Rio Tinto Stadium. Tickets to the Utah Warriors Home

The Warriors play at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah.

UTAH WARRIORS COACHES & PLAYERS BY THE NUMBERS:

(39) Professional Athletes

(10) Countries Represented (USA, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Philippines, Samoa, Scotland, South Africa, Tonga, Zimbabwe)

(58) Total International Caps

(17) Players that played collegiate rugby (BYU, Utah, UVU, Davenport, St. Mary’s)

(6) Players that also played college football (BYU, Utah, Hawaii, Colorado State, SW Minnesota)

(3) Matches will be the MLR National Game of the week, including the June 1st match

(2) All-MLR Second Team Returners (Jensen & Tucci)

(1) All-MLR First Team Returner (Lauti)

Utah Warriors 2019 Schedule

Friday, February 1st at Austin (Tx) Elite 6:00 pm MST

Sunday, February 17th at San Diego Legion 3:00 pm MST

Saturday February 23rd vs. Glendale (Co) Raptors 7:00 pm MST @ ZBS

Saturday, March 2nd vs. New Orleans Gold 7:00 pm MST @ ZBS

Saturday, March 9th vs. New York United 7:00 pm MST @ ZBS

Saturday, March 23rd at Houston Sabercats 6:00 pm MST

Saturday, March 30th vs. Ontario (Canada) Arrows 2:00 pm MST @ ZBS

Friday, April 5th vs. Seattle Seawolves 7:00 pm MST @ ZBS

Saturday, April 13th at New Orleans Gold 1:30 pm MST

*Saturday, April 20th at Rugby United New York 5:30 pm MST

*Saturday, April 27th vs. Austin Elite 6:00 pm MST @ ZBS

Saturday, May 4th at Glendale (Co) Raptors 7:00 pm MST

Sunday, May 12th at Toronto (Canada) Arrows 12:00 pm MST

Saturday, May 18th vs. San Diego Legion 2:00 pm MST @ ZBS

Sunday, May 26th at Seattle Seawolves 6:00 pm MST

*Saturday, June 1st vs. Houston Sabercats 6:00 pm MST @ ZBS