Utah stuns ATL in seesaw battle at Zions Bank

The Utah Warriors snapped their six-game losing streak in style with a stunning 44-26 upset over Rugby ATL on Sunday night. It was a wild seesaw battle that entertained the Zions Bank faithful from start to finish, with the home side pulling away in the final quarter.

Calvin Whiting opened the scoring with a penalty goal, but disaster struck for the Warriors just seconds later. Cliven Loubser bobbled the restart and Connor Cook simply snatched up the loose ball and run straight ahead to score the try. Kurt Coleman’s conversion was off-target but the visitors had the lead.

Utah fired back after Joaquin de la Vega Mendía’s kick rolled dead and handed the Warriors an attacking scrum. The ball was flung wide right across the backline to Loubser. His back-handed offload freed Joe Mano, who stepped away from de la Vega Mendía to touch down in the corner.

Like clockwork the Ratlers ripped the lead straight back. A penalty yielded an attacking lineout, and the maul worked just as intended with Cook grounding the ball for his second try. This time Coleman found his mark to make it a full seven.

A mistake from Coleman led to a second try for Utah. The flyhalf knocked on a high ball and soon after the Ratlers conceded a penalty, with the Warriors opting for a lineout. Taking a page from ATL’s book, the maul was formed and veered left with too much momentum for the defense to stop. Lance Williams took the credit for the five, with Whiting tacking on the extra two.

The Warriors scored a third try from a scrum. Zion Going passed straight to Mika Kruse on the short side. The winger chipped over the line and Caleb Makene beat Coleman to the ball, hacking ahead and regathering for the finish. The conversion eluded Whiting but Utah now held an eight-point lead.

ATL came roaring back with George Barton blasting his way up the middle. The forwards took it the rest of the way with Alex Maughan driving in under the sticks from close range. A Jurie van Vuuren turnover led to a penalty goal from Whiting to make the score 23-19 at halftime.

Just a minute after the restart the Warriors had their bonus point try. Williams spun out of a tackle and took out two more defenders before offloading from the deck to Thomas Tu’avao for a seven-pointer.

The Ratlers went back to their bread-and-butter with another try from a lineout drive, this time Tiaan Erasmus popping off the back to get the try. Coleman landed the conversion to make it 30-26, but that would be the last time ATL would find the scoresheet.

Whiting missed a shot at goal and then a speculative long-range drop goal attempt from Loubser fell short. Replacements streamed into the match and then the Warriors responded with another rolling maul of their own. It was a remarkable effort that started on the 22-meter line and finished with Williams crossing for his double.

As the clock wound down ATL threatened but two turnovers from Williams turned them away. On the final attack Mikey Te’o picked off a loose pass from de la Vega Mendía and sprinted clear, handing the ball to Mano for the walk-in with no defenders in sight.

It’s a short turnaround for ATL who will have to regroup before their road game against the Eastern Conference-leading New England Free Jacks on Friday night. Utah will look to carry their confidence into their match against the SaberCats in Houston on Saturday.

 

SCORING

UTAH 44
Tries – J. Mano 2 (10′, 80′), L. Williams 2 (23′, 60′), C. Makene (29′), T. Tu’avao (41′)
Cons – C. Whiting 3/5 (24′, 61′, 80’+1′), No kick (41′)
Pens – C. Whiting 2/3 (4′, 38′)
DG – C. Loubser 0/1

ATL 26
Tries – C. Cook 2 (5′, 14′), A. Maughan (33′), T. Erasmus (46′)
Cons – K. Coleman 2/3 (15′, 47′), No kick (33′)

 

TEAMS

UTAH WARRIORS
1 Emerson Prior (18 Paul Mullen 57′), 2 Chad Gough (17 Tuvere Vugakoto 66′), 3 Angus MacLellan, 4 Saia Uhila (20 Mike Gieselman 57′), 5 Jurie van Vuuren, 6 Thomas Tu’avao, 7 Bailey Wilson (capt.), 8 Lance Williams, 9 Zion Going (21 Danny Christensen 72′), 10 Caleb Makene, 11 Mika Kruse, 12 Tomasi Tonga (22 Tyler Fisher 59′), 13 Calvin Whiting, 14 Joe Mano, 15 Cliven Loubser (23 Mike Te’o 60′)

Not used: 16 Joey Backe, 19 James Mocke

RUGBY ATL
1 Alex Maughan (17 Jonas Petrakopoulos 59′), 2 Tiaan Erasmus (16 Marko Janse van Rensburg 59′), 3 John Sullivan (18 Lincoln Sii 66′), 4 Justin Basson (20 Jason Damm 55′), 5 Conor Keys (19 Frederick Henry-Ajudua 69′), 6 Daemon Torres, 7 Connor Cook, 8 Johan Momsen, 9 Eamonn Matthews (21 Rowan Gouws 78′), 10 Kurt Coleman, 11 Nolan Tuamoheloa (23 Te Rangatira Waitokia 60′), 12 George Barton, 13 Ryan Nell (capt.) (22 Will Leonard 60′), 14 Harley Davidson, 15 Joaquín de la Vega Mendía

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Derek Summers (USA)
Assistants: Kahlil Harrison (USA) & Kage Green (USA)
TMO: Jack Gohl (Australia)