DAY 3 - LAS VEGAS

Scrimmage, UFC Gym and the fine details

By Utah Warriors Rugby

January 23^rd, 2020

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." – Walt Disney

Back to the drawing board, this time around making adjustments from things learned on day 1 and day 2. There's still plenty of room to improve, and so we keep moving forward adjusting wherever necessary and leave no stone unturned.

The focus of day 3; our scrimmage, apply and adjust things learned from previous days and give the boys an opportunity to apply their skills in a new and somewhat familiar environment of athleticism.

WARMING UP

"If people aren't in sync, things won't work out well" – Stephen Hopkins

The same field from day 1 and day 2 awaited us. We prep for our controlled scrimmage sessions against Rugby Atlanta. Our Catapult systems are up and running to capture every measure of progress. We warm up, a critical aspect of team camaraderie. A chance to sync up, renew and refocus before going through an obstacle together as a single unit. The coaching staff, adamant that everyone both backs and forwards are on the same page. Starting with the mind, knowing the game plan. Working out the kinks in the armor, getting the body right for game time. It's time to do work after the coaches have their final say.

SCRIMMAGE

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles" ― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Four teams in Major League Rugby's preseason met in Las Vegas to scrimmage and play each other. A great opportunity to get an early hit out as a team and feel out the opponents a month a head of the 2020 season. We meet Rugby ATL for the second and last time in a series of controlled scrimmages. The next time around will be on February 9th, at their home field to officially kick off our 2020 campaign in season 3 of Major League Rugby. This one last time around was a great build up to a much anticipated MLR showdown.

“It was great to see the guys on the pitch together for our first official run out. Really beneficial to work through pitch based scenarios with Atalanta. It allowed us to see specific areas of the game we need to focus on in the short term and areas we need to double down and make key areas of the game for us.” – Shawn Pittman, Utah Warriors Assistant Coach

UFC GYM

"I am comfortable in the uncomfortable." - Conor McGregor

A surprise event awaited the boys, a surprise that came in the form of a level of athleticism that shared some parallels to the sport of rugby. This was an opportunity to get into the zone of being uncomfortable, finding room for new things to add to their bag of tricks and having fun with it. The staff at UFC GYM Blue Diamond took care of the boys, they hosted a group that absorbed every bit of skill and knowledge shared. This was a time they challenged each other with the coaching staff included. They were challenged in ways that created opportunities to gain trust and push the each others boundaries of athleticism. What started as an uncharted territory, became familiar grounds for new beginnings.

"That's what this was all about, having a little bit of fun, having a good time" – Brandon Sparks, Director of Rugby Operations

FEBRUARY 9TH

The days and weeks keep getting closer to our 2020 Major League Rugby season campaign kick off. Every bit of detail matters. It's only forward and upward from here. We're locked in and RELOADED for season 3 in Major League Rugby