A win to build on

Unfolding the victory in Vegas against New England!

By Utah Warriors Rugby

February 18^th, 2020

"The road to success is always under construction" – Lily Tomlin

Destination Las Vegas, a familiar location. A location we've tread once before by way of the preseason. This time we've set foot in the sin city to take on a new opponent. An opponent we've encountered previously, but this time with an MLR 2020 win under their belt. A win against a team that shook the 2019 MLR play off stages. The experts wrote us off, the odds were against us.

BEGIN WITH A VIBE

Morning routines, team meetings done and dusted we head for the Stadium. We gather, we prep, game time is at 12:30pm MT. The focus at hand are our individual responsibilities. We individually walk through our rituals of focus.The walls of the lockers share quotes of determination, mentality and position. The energy, the vibe in the room spoke of team and camaraderie. Our game plan has been prescribed, we have a system, how we executed was based on how bad we wanted the WIN.

GO TIME!

Where does the mind go when those minutes, seconds fall off and then it's GAME TIME! For us it was what we can put up for 80 minutes, as individual contributors, as a team, as a whole. What lies ahead of us was all in our hands. The heat in the middle of the Las Vegas desert set the mood for what was about to go down. Let the games begin.

9M' - Warriors strike first with the boot of Hagen Schulte, 3-0 Warriors.

14M' - Free Jacks try with an incomplete conversion, 3-5 New England.

26M' - Another penalty goal by Hagen Schulte, 6-5 Warriors.

29M' - 40 meter try by Warrior veteran wing Fetu'u Vainikolo 13-5.

36M' - Converted try by Free Jacks 13-12, Warriors.

Halftime - 13-12 Warriors

HALFTIME, RESET, RELOAD

Leading with a single point at halftime 13-12. We head back for the lockers. There is talk, conversations, adjustments and tweaks. The second half is where the rubber hits the road, lets reload and head back out.

ANOTHER 40 TO GO

The second set of 40 minutes were upon us. What was said was said in the locker room. What we do next to control the situation is what will separated us from the opposition. We're back in the tunnel, waiting for our queue to head out. And just like that, its game time again. New England proved to put up a fight, a challenge we were up for. We take it head on.

42M' - New England score a converted try and push ahead 13-19.

46M' - Free Jacks cross the try line yet again with another converted try 13-26.

53M' - Warriors captain Dwayne Polataivao crosses the try line for an unconverted try 18-26.

60M' - Great sequence from Warriors backline leading to a Hagen Schulte converted try 25-26 Warriors take the lead.

67M' - Saia 'Uhila and Huluholo Mo'ungaloa drive carries 'Uhila over the try line for a converted try 32-26 Warriors.

76M' - A beast 40 meter run by Gannon Moore, with a series of hand offs between him, Josh Whippy leading to a Michael Baska converted try, 39-26 Warriors.

79M' - New England claw back for a converted try before full time, 39-33.

80M' - Full time Warriors win 39-33.

FOR WARRIORS NATION

Back to back weeks on the road and this time we have a Warriors Nation crowd. The support was felt, we can't wait to bring it home. Next match on the road again but we got a taste of what it felt to have a NATION of Warriors behind you. For that we thank you Warriors Nation. Community, Family, Tradition, Respect!

NEXT UP, AUSTIN GILGRONIS

We're on the road again this week. This time in Austin Texas to take on the Gilgronis.

Matches will be broadcasted locally in Utah on KUTV, streamed nationally on ESPN+ and available internationally on Major League Rugby's Facebook Live stream.