WARRIORS WIN! Dominant Second Half Leads Utah Over Austin For Second Time
(Salt Lake City, Utah) – The Utah Warriors posted their second win of the season with a 35-19 victory over the Austin Elite. Both wins this season have come against the Elite who drop to (0-11) while the Warriors move to (2-8-1) on the season.
The Warriors started out fast with their first try in the 02′ of play and the second try at the 26′ mark and went into halftime with a 14-12 lead. After making adjustments at the break, the Warriors dominated the second half scoring 21 points and kept the Elite to 7 total points. Try scoring for the Warriors included Fets Vainikolo (02′, 77′) James Semple (26′), Ara Elkington (40′) and Les Soloai (65′). Tim O’Malley provided 10 points in the score, going 5 for 5 on conversions.
“This is real reward for the players, they have worked hard for this. We’ve come up short so many times and it was good to get a win in a dominating fashion” said Head Coach Alf Daniels after the match. “We made adjustments at halftime to address our ball possession and defense. Overall I was pleased with how we built out our phases and overall offense. We were quicker on our forms, which was noticeable. I am really proud of the boys and the effort tonight.”
The home crowd added to the win, Fets Vainikolo said, “We are focused on the game when we are on the pitch, but for sure we can hear and feel the support of our fans, and we appreciate their loyalty.” Vainikolo was named the Rockwell Man of the Match with 2 trys in the game.
Total attendance for the match was 3,104.
The Warriors next match is Saturday, May 4th against the Glendale Raptors at Infinity Park. The match starts at 7:00 PM MST and can be seen on ESPN+ and Facebook Watch.
WARRIORS SIGN THOMSON & RAVOUVOU:
The Warriors announced at halftime that they have signed international rugby legends, Adam Thomson and Pat Ravouvou. Thomson played for the famed New Zealand All Blacks from 2008-2012 and was on the 2011 World Cup Team. He plays the number 6 position (Flanker).
Ravouvou comes to the Warriors from the Fijian Sevens team, and most currently played professionally for the Western Sydney (Aus) Rams. He played on the 2016 National Championship (Aus) team.
The first Warriors match for both players will be announced in the coming days.
WARRIORS SUMMER CAMP:
The Utah Warriors will be hosting a youth summer camp June 27-29 at the Zions Bank Academy. The camp is for youth ages 8 to 18 and will cover all levels of play and experience. The camp will offer residential, day, and youth one-day options. For more information on the Warriors Rugby Summer Camp, visit www.warriorsrugby.com/summercamps
MATCH STATS
| Utah Warriors | Stats | Austin Elite Rugby |
| 5 | Tries | 3 |
| 5/5 | Conversions | 2/3 |
| 0/0 | Penalty Goals | 0/0 |
| 0/0 | Drop Goals | 0/0 |
| 16 | Active Minutes | 16 |
| 50% | Possession (%) | 50% |
| 52% | Territory (%) | 48% |
| 6 | Lineouts Won | 13 |
| 3 | Lineouts Lost | 3 |
| 5 | Scrums Won | 9 |
| 3 | Scrums Lost | 0 |
| 0 | Tackles Made | 0 |
| 0 | Tackles Missed | 0 |
| 0 | Total Passes | 0 |
| 0 | Runs (m) | 0 |
| 0 | Line Breaks | 0 |
| 14 | Penalties Conceded | 5 |
| 5 | Knock On | 9 |
| 0 | Turnover Conceded | 0 |
| 0 | Yellow Card | 0 |
| 0 | Red Card | 0 |
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