Utah scrap to win over Austin in season opener

photo credit: David Snook / 8th Man Photography / Utah Warriors

Recap

The Utah Warriors started their 2019 Major League Rugby campaign on a winning note, defeating Austin Elite 17-9 at Dell Diamond on Friday evening. It was a scrappy match with both teams struggling to find continuity and penalties scattered throughout.

A half-break by Tim O’Malley put the Warriors in behind the Austin defense and multiple phases pushed them close to the line. James Semple found Fetu’u Vainikolo circling in off his wing and the Tongan international fired a huge cutout pass to a wide open Ara Elkington. The flanker had enough strength to carry Zinzan Elan-Puttick over the line for a try with less than five minutes on the clock. O’Malley added the extras to make it a perfect seven.

Tim Guillimin would respond in short order for Austin. Utah were caught offside for the first penalty, and a second followed almost immediately when John Cullen was pinged for kicking the all out of a ruck. That seemed to breathe life into the home side but Utah would have the next say.

The forwards went to work from a lineout with Matt Jensen setting the target for a driving maul. Austin had no defense as the Warriors pack drove 20 meters up the pitch before Lance Williams peeled off and in over the line. Another O’Malley conversion put them eight points up.

It looked as though they might carry that lead to the half but Austin got three points back in added time. A huge penalty clearance from Guillimin put them well into Utah territory and then Franco van den Berg was caught ripping the ball away on the deck. Guillimin made no mistake with the kick to make the score 14-9 at the break.

Both teams made replacements at the half. Simon Courcoul come on at loosehead prop for Austin with Chris Schade sliding over to hooker. Utah lost Semple and Saia Uhila to pre-existing injuries with Josh Anderson coming on the wing and new signing Maikeli Naromaitoga coming into the second row.

The giant Fijian made an immediate impact. For 20 minutes Naromaitoga smashed into the Austin line but to their credit the Elite held firm. Eventually his fitness waned and with it his discipline, and Naromaitoga trudged off to the sin bin with 15 minutes to play.

Despite the man advantage it was the Warriors who scored next. O’Malley made good on a penalty kick to make it a two-score game. With time winding down Austin repeatedly opted for the posts instead of the corner. Guillimin missed one kick and then appeared to connect on the second, but the flags mysteriously stayed down. His third attempt to save a bonus point on full time drifted wide of the left upright.

 

SCORING

AUSTIN 9
Pens – T. Guillimin 3/6 (8’, 11’, 40’)

UTAH 17
Tries – A. Elkington (4’), L. Williams (24’)
Cons – T. O’Malley 2/2 (5’, 25’)
Pens – T. O’Malley 1/1 (73’)
Yellow cards – M. Naromaitoga (65’), L. Williams (79’)

 

TEAMS

AUSTIN ELITE
1 Chris Schade (16 Brendan Rams 54’), 2 Tiaan Erasmus (23 Simon Courcoul HT), 3 Mason Pedersen, 4 Ben Mitchell (capt.), 5 Rikus Zwart, 6 Kyle Breytenbach, 7 Dom Bailey (18 Dylan Pieterse 57’), 8 Travis Larsen (18 Dylan Pieterse 12’-14’, 35′-38′), 9 Marcelo Torrealba (20 Mickaël Romera 60’), 10 Timothée Guillimin, 11 Alex Faison-Donahoe, 12 Sione Fangaiuiha, 13 Zinzan Elan-Puttick, 14 Peni Tagive (21 Reece Czarnecki 21’), 15 Soheyl Jaoudat

Not used: 17 LaRome White, 19 Craig Welborn, 22 Andrew Suniula

UTAH WARRIORS
1 Franco van den Berg (18 Huluholo Mo’ungaloa 76’), 2 Logan Daniels (16 Alex Vorster 68’), 3 Angus MacLellan (17 Alex Tucci 72’), 4 Saia Uhila (19 Maikeli Naromaitoga HT), 5 Matt Jensen, 6 Lance Williams, 7 Ara Elkington, 8 John Cullen, 9 Ian Luciano (23 Joseph Nicholls 58’), 10 James Semple (22 Josh Anderson HT), 11 Fetu’u Vainikolo, 12 Tim O’Malley (capt.), 13 Jeremy Misailegalu, 14 Tonata Lauti, 15 Johnny Ika (21 Iniki Fa’amausili 63’)

Not used: 20 Kenny Scott

 

Result

TeamTCPDPoints
Austin Elite00309
Utah Warriors221017

Austin Elite

1Chris Schade 16 Loosehead Prop
2Tiaan Erasmus 23 Hooker
3Mason Pedersen Tighthead Prop
4Ben Mitchell Left Lock
5Rikus Zwart Right Lock
6Kyle Breytenbach Blindside Flanker
7Dom Bailey 18 Openside Flanker
8Travis Larsen Number Eight
9Marcelo Torrealba 20 Scrumhalf
10Timothée Guillimin Flyhalf
11Alex Faison-Donahoe Left Wing
12Sione Fangaiuiha Inside Center
13Zinzan Elan-Puttick Outside Center
14Peni Tagive 21 Right Wing
15Soheyl Jaoudat Fullback
16Brendan Rams 1 Hooker
17LaRome White Tighthead Prop
18Dylan Pieterse 7 Openside Flanker
19Craig Welborn Blindside Flanker
20Mickaël Romera 9 Scrumhalf
21Reece Czarnecki 14 Right Wing
22Andrew Suniula Inside Center
23Simon Courcoul 2 Loosehead Prop

Utah Warriors

1Franco van den Berg 18 Loosehead Prop
2Logan Daniels 16 Hooker
3Angus MacLellan 17 Tighthead Prop
4Saia Uhila 19 Right Lock
5Matt Jensen Left Lock
6Lance Williams Blindside Flanker
7Ara Elkington Openside Flanker
8John Cullen Number Eight
9Ian Luciano 23 Scrumhalf
10James Semple 22 Flyhalf
11Fetu’u Vainikolo Left Wing
12Tim O’Malley Inside Center
13Jeremy Misailegalu Outside Center
14Tonata Lauti Right Wing
15Johnny Ika 21 Fullback
16Alex Vorster 2 Hooker
17Alex Tucci 3 Tighthead Prop
18Huluholo Mo’ungaloa 1 Loosehead Prop
19Maikeli Naromaitoga 4 Right Lock
20Kenny Scott Blindside Flanker
21Iniki Fa’amausili 15 Fullback
22Josh Anderson 10 Left Wing
23Joseph Nicholls 9 Scrumhalf

Officials

Referee
Pali Deluca (Argentina)
Assistant Referee 1
Derek Summers (USA)
Assistant Referee 2
Lex Weiner (USA)

Details

Date Time League Season
February 1, 2019 8:00 pm Major League Rugby 2019

Venue

Dell Diamond
3400 E Palm Valley Blvd, Round Rock, TX 78665, USA

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