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One more into the fray! Only two Major League Rugby sides have yet to take the field and the Utah Warriors will change that on Friday evening as they welcome the Glendale Raptors to Salt Lake City for a high-profile preseason contest that will be streamed live on YouTube.
Construction is still in the final stages at Zions Bank Stadium so the Warriors have arranged for this match – and next week’s against the Ontario Arrows – to take place at the magnificent Rio Tinto Stadium, the home grounds of Major League Soccer side Real Salt Lake. With a capacity of 20,000 plus and considerable buzz around the city there are high hopes for a landmark attendance.
Utah’s lineup features four Eagles and a number of names unrevealed officially until now. Angus MacLellan, Matt Jensen, Paul Lasike, and Josh Whippy were all part of the Americas Rugby Championship while Jackson Kaka was in the USA Select XV squad during the Americas Pacific Challenge last October.
Tonga ‘A’ rep Lote Tu’ipulotu and Saia Uhila, a USA Islanders select, are formidable ball carriers up front. There is no sign of countrymen Paki Afu and Fetu’u Vainiholo just yet. Uhila will share the captaincy with Lasike for this match.
Alex Tucci continues his conversion to the front row, starting at loosehead prop, and veteran Kory Olsen fills in at lock with John Cullen potentially out for the season with a knee injury. BYU openside Ara Elkington brings a bit of guile to a phyiscally imposing forward pack.
It’s no surprise that Brigham Young has a strong influence throughout the side. Jared Whippy joins brother Josh in the team and will play flyhalf with Zimbabwean Ben Nicholls tapped as a scrumhalf. His own brother Joseph is also part of the squad but not on the match-day roster.
Tana Afeaki lines up outside Lasike in the midfield having played fullback for the USA Islanders side against Saracens in Bermuda last year. Josh Anderson is another BYU regular on the right wing with Utes All-American select Tonata Lauti on the left.
Glendale have played many matches together but this is only their second in 2018. Head coach Dave Williams has made only three changes to the run-on side that cruised past the New Orleans Gold on March 10.
Blake Rogers gets a chance to start at loosehead prop after impressing as a replacement against NOLA. Former Eagles flanker Peter Dahl replaces Grigor Kerdikoshvili at No8, and impressive teenager Mika Kruse will play outside center in the absence of Chad London.
Otherwise the Raptors line up as expected, with a number of familiar names to USA fans. 2015 World Cup hooker Zach Fenoglio and flanker John Quill are joined by 2018 ARC reps Ben Landry, Shaun Davies, Will Magie, and Bryce Campbell.
This match takes a step up in terms of professionalism (late team-naming aside) with two high-powered teams going head-to-head at a first class venue. Expect big hits and plenty of attacking ambition as the Warriors look to open their MLR account with a bang. Glendale aim to set a marker and maintain their favorites tag ahead of the regular season opener in just three weeks’ time.
Kickoff is set for 7pm local time, 6pm Pacific, 9pm Eastern.
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Alex Tucci, 2 Lote Tu’ipulotu, 3 Angus MacLellan, 4 Matt Jensen, 5 Kory Olsen, 6 Jackson Kaka, 7 Ara Elkington, 8 Saia Uhila (co-capt.), 9 Ben Nicholls, 10 Jared Whippy, 11 Tonata Lauti, 12 Paul Lasike (co-capt.), 13 Tana Afeaki, 14 Josh Anderson, 15 Josh Whippy
Replacements: 16 Ray Forrester, 17 Maika Hafoka, 18 Wineera Elkington, 19 Lance Williams, 20 Kendrick Scott, 21 Don Pati, 22 AJ Tu’ineau, 23 Iniki Fa’amausili
GLENDALE RAPTORS
1 Blake Rogers, 2 Zach Fenoglio, 3 Kelepi Fifita, 4 Casey Rock, 5 Ben Landry, 6 Connor Cook, 7 John Quill, 8 Peter Dahl, 9 Shaun Davies (capt.), 10 Will Magie, 11 John Ryberg, 12 Bryce Campbell, 13 Mika Kruse, 14 Harley Davidson, 15 Maximo de Achaval
Replacements: 16 James Del Bozque, 17 Luke White, 18 Nick Kwasniewski, 19 Grigor Kerdikoshvili, 20 Brian Wanless, 21 Jake Christmann, 22 Ata Malifa, 23 Nick Johnson
Date: Friday, March 30
Venue: Rio Tinto Stadium, Salt Lake City
Kickoff: 19:00 local (18:00 Pacific, 21:00 Eastern)
Broadcasts: Utah Warriors TV
