Arrows hold off Warriors in Salt Lake City

The Ontario Arrows held off a second-half surge from the Utah Warriors to came away 24-20 winners at Rio Tinto Stadium on Friday evening. A dominant first half saw the Canadian team up 17-3 at the break but the injections of some key replacements and a costly yellow card to Rob Brouwer nearly saw the home team steal a come-from-behind victory.

As expected the Ontario scrum were in complete control against an inexperienced Warriors front row. All three Utah put-ins were taken against the head and the Arrows forwards looked in cruise control as they drove forward from the set piece.

An early penalty goal to Will Kelly was cancelled out by a Jared Whippy reply but there was little else to cheer for Utah fans in the opening period. Mike Sheppard crossed after multiple phases from in close and Mitch Richardson went over on a simple blindside attack from a wheeled scrum.

With their set piece in tatters and no momentum at the break the Warriors looked to their bench for inspiration. Co-captain Paul Lasike repeatedly smashed into the Arrows defensive line and eventually it would bend enough for Paki Afu to hammer his way over the line.

Brouwer’s sin-bin came in the 54th minute for a high tackle on Afu and it game the Warriors a jolt of energy. In his first game for the Warriors, Tongan international Fetu’u Vainikolo proved a constant menace on the wing and just a couple minutes after the card he ripped through three tackles down the left sideline to score a fine solo effort.

A second try game less than five minutes later. More substitutes entered the game including new US Eagles international Josh Whippy. Twin brother Jared cut through the middle and offloaded to Josh, the fullback sprinting away to score with his first touch of the ball. The conversion was not successful, however, leaving the door wide open for an Ontario comeback.

Back at full strength the Arrows went back to Plan A and took control through their forwards. A driving maul took them close and replacement prop Pat Lynott burrowed over for a vital score. Shawn Windsor’s conversion took the Warriors out of penalty range and while they had time to launch one more desperate attack, Ontario won a turnover and cleared to end the game.

Utah will have one last warm-up match before their Major League Rugby account officially opens on April 29. The Prairie Wolf Pack, from the regional Canadian Rugby Championship, will arrive on April 20 for one last tune-up at the new Zions Bank Stadium.

Ontario meanwhile will celebrate their first-ever win as a franchise after coming close against the SaberCats in Houston. They will now enjoy another historic moment, their first-ever home match against Rugby United New York in Toronto next Saturday.

 

SCORING

UTAH 20
Tries – P. Afu (46’), F. Vainikolo (58’), Jo. Whippy (62’)
Cons – Ja. Whippy 1/3 (47’)
Pens – Ja. Whippy 1/2 (11’)

ONTARIO 24
Tries – M. Sheppard (15’), M. Richardson (27’), P. Lynott (72’)
Cons – W. Kelly 2/2 (16’, 28’), S. Windsor 1/1 (73’)
Pens – W. Kelly 1/2 (5’)
Yellow cards – R. Brouwer (54’)

 

TEAMS

UTAH WARRIORS
1 Maika Hafoka, 2 Peni Pahulu, 3 Alex Tucci, 4 Matt Jensen, 5 Saia Uhila (co-capt.), 6 Kendrick Scott, 7 Wineera Elkington, 8 Lance Williams, 9 Don Pati, 10 Jared Whippy, 11 Fetu’u Vainiholo, 12 Paul Lasike (co-capt.), 13 Paki Afu, 14 AJ Tu’ineau, 15 Kisa Kalougata

Replacements: 16 Ray Forrester, 17 Angus MacLellan, 18 John Martinez, 19 Kory Olsen, 20 Joseph Nicholls, 21 Josh Whippy, 22 Havea Unufe, 23 Tonata Lauti, 24 Tana Afeaki

ONTARIO ARROWS
1 Rob Brouwer, 2 AJ Quattrin, 3 Tom Dolezel, 4 Mike Sheppard (capt.), 5 Paul Ciulini, 6 Kolby Francis, 7 Peter Milazzo, 8 Andrew Wilson, 9 Andrew Ferguson, 10 Will Kelly, 11 Josh Campbell, 12 Jamie Leveridge, 13 Mitch Richardson, 14 Johnny Sheridan, 15 Aaron McLelland

Replacements: 16 Jack McRogers, 17 Pat Lynott, 18 Mike Smith, 19 Tom van Horne, 20 Marcello Wainwright, 21 Alex Gliksten, 22 Kyle Lagasca, 23 Shawn Windsor

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Derek Summers (USAR)

 

Attendance: 4,967