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A packed house at Zions Bank Stadium were treated to an exhilarating contest between the Utah Warriors and Houston SaberCats on Saturday night. In the end it was the home side who took the spoils with a 34-28 victory, though a late try saw the visitors salvage two vital bonus points.
Vereniki Tikoisolomone’s line break put Utah on the back foot early, and then a late tackle penalty gave Davy Coetzer a routine shot at the posts. The ball went through the posts and three points went up the board to open the scoring.
Mika Kruse’s booming clearance from inside his own 22 bounced and rolled for a remarkable 50-22. Utah came off the top and went wide, with Jurie van Vuuren smashing over the gainline. With the Warriors on advantage Tyler Fisher went over after storming through a hole in the midfield, but it was opened by an obstruction and Joel Hodgson settled for a penalty goal instead of a try.
The clearance attempt after the restart landed straight in the hands of Drew Wild, who slipped out of a tackle on halfway and offloaded to Dom Akina. Wynand Grassmann was there to take the inside ball, and then Dillon Smit provided the link for Gideon van Wyk to finish off a cracking counter-attack. Coetzer’s conversion attempt missed but the visitors were in the lead.
Utah were keen to avoid an arm-wrestle and went off the top from a lineout, immediately throwing the ball wide right. van Vuuren arrived to make ground in heavy traffic, and when the ball came back to the midfield Calvin Whiting went through a gap. With only one defender left it was a simple two-on-one with Connor McLeod racing free in support for the try. Hodgson’s conversion pushed Utah ahead by two.
The game plan from Houston was familiar as they went back to their driving maul. When progress slowed the forwards took it on until van Wyk appeared on the edge of a ruck, sidestepping Paul Mullen to grab a double. Coetzer converted but he would soon be forced off the pitch after taking a bang on the knee, though early reports suggested no major damage.
Hodgson replied with a penalty for the Warriors and with Coetzer off it was Drew Wild who took over kicking duties for Houston, slotting his first crack at the posts to erase Hodgson’s effort. The SaberCats were five points in the lead but suddenly the Warriors exploded for two tries just before halftime.
Joe Mano came off his wing looking for work and sliced through the midfield. He was stopped just short but McLeod was there to fire a wide ball to Kruse, who then offloaded to put a looping Hodgson into the corner. Caleb Makene sparked the next score with a searing break from his own end, passing to Mano on the outside. The winger found Whiting in support, who attracted the cover before feeding it back to Mano for a sensational try that brought the crowd to its feet.
Mano was back at it early in the second half. This time he took the ball at first receiver from a scrum, selling a dummy before tearing up the middle. He popped off the deck to Hodgson, with a wide pass finding Kruse on the right side. Two Houston defenders weren’t enough to stop him from grounding the ball to make it a 10-point lead to the home side.
The SaberCats at last found their legs and used their forwards to soften up the defense. After several phases it looked as though the Warriors were matched up, but van Wyk cut back across the grain and slipped out of a tackle to dive over for his hat trick.
A penalty goal from Makene at the hour mark restored a two-score lead for Utah. On the other side of the hydration break he would have another crack at the posts following a scrum penalty on halfway. The distance was there but not the accuracy.
Discipline began to break down for the Warriors and after repeat infringements John DuPree was shown a yellow card. A turnover allowed Utah to clear their lines, however, and it would be Makene kicking another penalty to put the result beyond doubt.
There were still points to play for and Houston got the score they wanted with time up on the clock. From an attacking scrum the forwards hit the midfield and then Wild found Tikoisolomone with a flat pass on the right side. His offload put Akina into space, and one more pass sent Zach Pangelinan over for the fourth try that also secured a losing bonus point.
Both teams will have home games next Saturday as the playoff race hits a fever pitch. The SaberCats host the Chicago Hounds, with the Warriors taking on Rugby ATL.
SCORING
UTAH 34
Tries (4) – C. McLeod (17′), J. Hodgson (36′), J. Mano (40′), M. Kruse (42′)
Cons (1) – J. Hodgson 1/4 (18′)
Pens (4) – J. Hodgson 2/2 (13′, 32′), C. Makene 2/3 (61′, 78′)
YC (1) – J. DuPree (71′)
HOUSTON 28
Tries (4) – G. van Wyk 3 (14′, 27′, 51′), Z. Pangelinan (80′)
Cons (1) – D. Coetzer 1/2 (28′), D. Wild 0/2
Pens (2) – D. Coetzer 1/1 (4′), D. Wild 1/1 (34′)
TEAMS
UTAH WARRIORS
1 Olive Kilifi (17 Emerson Prior 49′), 2 Henry Bell, 3 Paul Mullen (18 Angus MacLellan 49′), 4 Jamie Lane, 5 Saia Uhila (16 Tuvere Vugakoto 49′), 6 Onehunga Havili, 7 Lance Williams (20 John DuPree 66′), 8 Jurie van Vuuren, 9 Connor McLeod, 10 Joel Hodgson, 11 Joe Mano, 12 Calvin Whiting, 13 Tyler Fisher (22 Tomasi Tonga 56′), 14 Mika Kruse, 15 Caleb Makene (capt.)
Not used: 19 Jeremiah Noaese, 21 Zion Going, 23 Logan Tago
HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Rob Cobb (17 Alec McDonnell 61′), 2 Joe Taufete’e, 3 Morgan Mitchell (18 Pono Davis 26′), 4 Marno Redelinghuys, 5 Nathan Den Hoedt (capt.), 6 Malon Al-Jiboori (20 Danny Barrett 51′), 7 Wynand Grassmann (19 Keni Nasoqeqe 66′), 8 Gideon van Wyk (21 Emmanuel Albert 76′), 9 Dillon Smit (22 Carlo de Nysschen 76′), 10 Davy Coetzer (23 Zach Pangelinan 33′), 11 Vereniki Tikoisolomone, 12 Louritz van der Schyff, 13 Dom Akina, 14 Christian Dyer, 15 Drew Wild
Not used: 16 Will Vakalahi
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Assistants: Kahlil Harrison (USA) & Justin Canova (USA)
TMO: Derek Summers (USA)
Attendance: 4,500
