Arrows' attack on point, defeat Utah Warriors 63-31

(Photo by David Boyd)

To say that the 2019 season for the Utah Warriors hasn’t gone as head coach Alf Daniels expected would be an understatement. Now in their second season as a team, the Warriors are a year removed from a season that featured Major League Rugby’s most prolific offense, the league’s leading try-scorer and a spot in the MLR Playoffs. But following a loss to the Toronto Arrows at home, the Warriors are searching for answers.

It was another slow start for the Warriors, who concedes 33% of opponents’ tries within the first 20 minutes of play, falling behind early, giving up two tries to Toronto in the first 10 minutes of the match, and fell behind 14-0 before most fans had even reached their seats. The Arrows continued to build on their lead, getting out to a 19-0 advantage before Utah was able to get on the board.

“That's something that we're very aware of and something that we’ve have talked about,” Head Coach Alf Daniels said of Utah’s slow start. “It’s something that we have addressed and obviously something that we still need to work on and just try and fix it. If we can take away those first 20 minutes and stop the opposition from scoring points or building so [many] points I think we give ourselves a much better chance, but obviously, we didn't do it again tonight.”

Tries by Jackson Kaka and Tonata Lauti for the Warriors cut into the Arrow’s lead, bringing Toronto’s advantage five (19-14) in the 23rd minute, while a try by Fets Vainikolo tied the match at 19 apiece in the 29th minute. The Arrows responded with a try of their own in the 38th minute, scored by Kolby Francis, taking a 26-19 lead into the half.

“We've had those moments every single game, where we put together 20 minutes of good rugby,” Warriors’ Center Ganon Moore said. “It's just a matter of continuing that out but we played well for a moment.”

Utah’s comeback bid fell short, however, as second-half struggles continued for yet another week as the Arrows scored four tries in the first 20 minutes of the second half, taking a commanding 54-26 lead over the Warriors in the 59th minute of play.

Utah Wing Tonata Lauti believes a lack of adjustment led to Toronto running away with the game in the second-half. “I think we just didn't adjust well. They saw what was working for us, why we're able to come back late in that first half. And they adjusted well to that and they kind of shut it down. And they were able to capitalize on those. We should have seen that and adjusted a little bit.”

Utah was able to add another try in the 67th minute of play but it was too little, too late for the Warriors as the Arrows came away with the 64-31 victory.

Toronto, who now sits at 4-4 on the season are vying for a spot in the MLR Playoffs, while Utah, who falls to 1-5-1 with the loss, are desperately looking for something they can build on as they approach the second half of the 2019 season.

“I think we just need to take a little bit of a breath as a team, and just focus more on things that have been working well for us,” Daniels said. “When we play well and when we have a little bit of patience around our game, we actually do a lot of good stuff. We’ve just got to do it for longer in games. Just got to be a little bit more patient, and maybe you know one or two better decisions in critical times in the game and try and build it from there."

As Utah prepares to take on the defending MLR Champion Seattle Seawolves on Friday, April 5 at Zions Bank Stadium, the Warriors may be without two of their top forwards as Lance Williams suffered what is believed to be an MCL strain, and Saia Uhila exited the match due to inflammation.

While the season hasn't gone as hoped, Daniels has no intention of letting the recent play diminish his spirits. "I'm not going to give up, and we’re in for the long haul, that's for sure.”

(Photo by David Boyd)