San Diego earn bonus point road win over Utah

A dominant performance from San Diego saw them exit Zions Bank Stadium with a 40-25 win over the Utah Warriors on Friday night. Joe Pietersen contributed 20 points with the boot to lead the way as the Legion pushed into top spot in the Western Conference.

It was evenly matched in the opening minutes as Caleb Makene and Pietersen exchanged penalty goals. San Diego were up for it on defense with back-to-back double tackles on Puna Vuli and Tuvere Vugakoto sending the Warriors backwards at a rate of knots.

The Legion regained possession and Tevita Tameilau danced and fended past several would-be tacklers to earn a penalty shot for Pietersen, but this time the maestro was off-key. Utah fought back only for Rohan O’Regan to win a turnover at the breakdown, but the Legion couldn’t clear their lines and Makene would soon knock over his second three-pointer.

Momentum swung heavily towards the visitors after the hydration break. Matías Freyre worked a give-and-go with Bjorn Basson to make ground down the right side. Soon after Tameilau blasted over on a hard line off a ruck, with Pietersen adding the extras.

Basson would then score twice in a span of four minutes. Nate Augspurger hit Thomas Morani at first receiver, who then fired a flat ball to Basson for a straight sprint to the line. Next it was a huge line break from a galloping Ben Grant, and when it was recycled quick hands to Basson did the trick. Both were converted by Pietersen to make it 24-6.

Disaster hit the Legion when Augspurger was carried off with what looked to be a serious knee injury. He was replaced by Jason Higgins. The Warriors won possession and after going through several phases, Tyler Fisher spun out of two tackles to score but Makene sliced the conversion.

Ryan Matyas replaced Morani at halftime, with the latter struggling after taking an early blow to the face. Matyas leaped to win a high ball, then Pietersen broke through a gap in the line. Basson was now prowling on the left wing and he raced clear, popping to Higgins in support on his inside for the try.

Pietersen would add the conversion and then a penalty goal to stretch the gap to 34-11, but the Warriors did not wave the white flag. A multi-phase attack went right to Fisher, but he immediate checked and returned the ball to his left where Calvin Whiting was waiting to swerve back through the middle and in under the posts.

A third Pietersen goal followed before Fisher grabbed a double in almost identical fashion to Whiting’s score. There would be no bonus point in defeat however as Pietersen’s fourth penalty put the Legion three scores up with the final minutes proving uneventful.

Utah will have a bye week to reflect on what has been a frustrating first half of the campaign. San Diego are straight back into the fire as they host the Austin Gilgronis on Sunday.

 

SCORING

UTAH 25
Tries – T. Fisher 2 (36′, 74′), C. Whiting (59′)
Cons – C. Makene 1/2 (75′), No kick (59′)
Pens – C. Makene 2/2 (3′, 18′)

SAN DIEGO 40
Tries – T. Tameilau (20′), B. Basson 2 (27′, 31′), J. Higgins (41′)
Cons – J. Pietersen 4/4 (21′, 28′, 32′, 42′)
Pens – J. Pietersen 4/5 (7′, 56′, 65′, 77′)
DG – J. Pietersen 0/1

 

TEAMS

UTAH WARRIORS
1 Olive Kilifi (17 Franco van den Berg 51′), 2 Tuvere Vugakoto (16 Joey Backe 77′), 3 Angus MacLellan (18 Paul Mullen 51′), 4 Thomas Tu’avao (20 Mike Gieselman 32′), 5 Puna Vuli (19 James Mocke 60′), 6 Lance Williams, 7 Bailey Wilson (capt.), 8 Jurie van Vuuren, 9 Niall Saunders (21 Danny Christensen 51′), 10 Caleb Makene (23 Coleson Warner 77′), 11 Connor Burns, 12 Calvin Whiting (22 Tomasi Tonga 60′), 13 Tyler Fisher, 14 Mike Te’o, 15 Cliven Loubser

SAN DIEGO LEGION
1 Nathan Sylvia (17 Joe Walsh 54′), 2 Peter Malcolm, (16 Matt Moulds 60′) 3 Paddy Ryan (18 Chris Baumann 54′), 4 Ben Mitchell (19 Chris Turori 19′), 5 Ben Grant, 6 Rohan O’Regan, 7 Michael Smith, 8 Tevita Tameilau (20 Dan Pryor 60′), 9 Nate Augspurger (capt.) (21 Jason Higgins 32′), 10 Joe Pietersen, 11 Tomas Aoake, 12 Tiaan Loots, 13 Thomas Morani (23 Ryan Matyas HT), 14 Bjorn Basson, 15 Matías Freyre

Not used: 22 Will Hooley

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Kahlil Harrison (USA) & Kage Green (USA)
TMO: Mike Lash (New Zealand)

 

Attendance: 3,092