Second half surge lifts Seattle over Utah

Recap

A five-try second half propelled the Seattle Seawolves to a 48-36 victory over the Utah Warriors at Zions Bank Stadium on Friday evening. The defending champions again struggled to find their footing in the first half as the Warriors held a 12-point lead just after the break.

Brock Staller and Tim O’Malley sent over penalty goals for their respective sides in the opening minutes. Seattle would suffer an early blow as Eagles prop Olive Kilifi was forced off with an ankle injury in just the 7th minute, bringing DJ Sears-Duru into the fray for his Major League Rugby debut earlier than expected. Kellen Gordon switched to tighthead but managed to hold his own in the scrum despite his inexperience at the position.

The opening try would go to Staller. Sears-Duru made inroads with his first carry and then a simple backline move crossed up the Utah defense with the Canadian winger free to dive into the right corner. He judged the tricky breeze well to land the conversion from wide out.

Utah responded in force. Saia Uhila powered ahead from a lineout and after Lance Williams made headway, Gannon Moore sliced through, offloading to Franco van den Berg in support with the prop sprinting in for the finish.

It was Moore again who sparked the second. Running from their own end, he took a Fetu’u Vainikolo offload 60 meters up the pitch. An injury stoppage stalled the attack briefly, but the Warriors were quickly on Seattle’s doorstep and it was Vainikolo doing his best forward’s impression with a pick-and-drive for the score.

A huge counter-attack from Riekert Hattingh brought the Seawolves back to life. Staller dropped the final pass but Johnny Ika slammed into him after the whistle, conceding a penalty and the scrumhalf was fortunate not to see yellow. Seattle used the position to their advantage with Brad Tucker ultimately finding the line as Vainikolo trudged off with a hamstring problem.

Nolan Tuamoheloa was the man to come on and he could have hardly scripted a better entry himself. Moore stepped and fended his way yet again through half a dozen defenders to take the Warriors inside the Seawolves 22. Soft hands moved the ball wide and offloads from Moore and finally Jackson Kaka put Tuamoheloa in for Utah’s third try of the half.

It didn’t take long for the Warriors to secure a bonus point. Like clockwork Moore stepped and sprinted through the line as if he was coated in teflon. Hatting managed to snag him with a last-ditch ankle tap but O’Malley was on hand to take the offload in under the sticks. He converted his own to make the score 29-17 at only 43 minutes.

Whatever was said under the posts seemed to work. A mistake from Don Pati gave away possession deep in Utah’s end and Tucker crashed straight through the line for a score. Tucker’s influence only grew as he popped up on the left side, somehow taking out three defenders as he put Sequoyah Burke-Combs into space, the winger spinning past the cover to touch down for a seven-pointer and give Seattle the lead.

An obstruction call snuffed out a Utah advance and Joey Iosefa tore away for the Seawolves. The big man was felled but from the position the Seattle forward were unrelenting until Stephan Coetzee tore away from the maul to extended the lead.

Richie Walker sent on fresh legs and Eric Duechle made a break followed immediately by Tucker. Again there would be no escape for Utah. They managed to hold out for a few minutes but Hattingh was the man to bust through, spotting a short-handed blindside for try number six.

Josh Whippy gave his team a chance as he picked up a loose ball and touched down at the base of the post. A brilliant take from Dion Crowder off a restart nearly gave the score straight back but Jeremy Leber won a crucial turnover at the breakdown.

From the lineout Whippy’s over-the-shoulder pass put Tonata Lauti through the line with JP Smith chopping him down on the Seattle 22. The Warriors worked their way ahead but the ball popped loose in a tackle and Mat Turner looked up the field to find nobody between him and the line on a 90-meter breakaway to seal the win and take away Utah’s losing bonus point.

SCORING

UTAH 36
Tries – F. van den Berg (17’), F. Vainikolo (27’), N. Tuamoheloa (34’), T. O’Malley (43’), J. Whippy (72’)
Cons – T. O’Malley 4/5 (18’, 28’, 44’, 73’)
Pens – T. O’Malley 1/1 (6’)

SEATTLE 48
Tries – B. Staller (9’), B. Tucker 2 (31’, 46’), S. Burke-Combs (50’), S. Coetzee (57’), R. Hattingh (66’), M. Turner (76’)
Cons – B. Staller 5/7 (10’, 32’, 47’, 51’, 67’)
Pens – B. Staller 1/1 (2’)

TEAMS

UTAH WARRIORS
1 Franco van den Berg (17 Huluholo Mo’ungaloa 64’), 2 Jeremy Leber, 3 Angus MacLellan (20 Alex Tucci 73’), 4 Saia Uhila (18 Ara Elkington 59’), 5 Matt Jensen, 6 Jackson Kaka (19 Arthur Bergo 67’), 7 Lance Williams, 8 John Cullen (18 Ara Elkington 8’-20’, 56’-59’), 9 Johnny Ika, 10 Josh Reeves (22 Josh Whippy 67’), 11 Fetu’u Vainikolo (21 Nolan Tuamoheloa 30’), 12 Tim O’Malley (capt.), 13 Gannon Moore, 14 Tonata Lauti, 15 Don Pati

Not used: 16 Blake Burdette, 23 Joseph Nicholls

SEATTLE SEAWOLVES
1 Kellen Gordon, 2 Stephan Coetzee (16 Dan Trierweiler 59’), 3 Olive Kilifi (17 Djustice Sears-Duru 7’ {18 Tim Metcher 59}), 4 Jérémy Lenaerts (19 Apisai Naikatini 51’), 5 Brad Tucker, 6 Cam Polson (20 Eric Duechle 51’), 7 Nakai Penny, 8 Riekert Hattingh, 9 Phil Mack (21 JP Smith 59’), 10 Ben Cima, 11 Sequoyah Burke-Combs (23 Dion Crowder 73’), 12 Shalom Suniula (capt.), 13 Joey Iosefa (22 Roland Suniula 59’), 14 Brock Staller, 15 Mat Turner