Utah Warriors

Utah Warriors

Union	USA Rugby
Founded	2017; 5 years ago (2017)
Ground(s)	Zions Bank Stadium Herriman, Utah
CEO	Kimball Kjar
Coach(es)	Shawn Pittman
Captain(s)	Bailey Wilson
Top scorer	Tim O'Malley (134)
Most tries	Tonata Lauti (10)
League(s)	Major League Rugby
2021	Semi-finalists 2nd (Western Conference)
Team kit
Official website
warriorsrugby.com

The Utah Warriors are a professional rugby union team that competes in Major League Rugby, the top-level rugby union competition in the United States and Canada that played its first season in 2018.^[1] The team is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was founded in 2010 as Utah Warriors (Rugby Super League) and re-refounded in 2017 by Rugby Utah Ventures.

Home field[]

The Utah Warriors play at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah, which has a seating capacity of 5,000.^[2] The adjacent training facility includes two full-sized indoor turf fields. The Warriors share the venue with Real Monarchs, a USL Championship team affiliated with Real Salt Lake.^[3]

Broadcasts[]

2019 home games were shown on KMYU a CBS affiliate station owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. Jarom Jordan and Jonny Linehan were the on air talent.

Sponsorship[]

Season	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2018-2019	XBlades	Nui
2020–2021		None
2022		Intermountain Healthcare

Players and personnel[]

Current squad[]

The Utah Warriors squad for the 2022 Major League Rugby season is:^[4]

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Joey Backe Hooker United States Chad Gough Hooker United States Tuvere Vugakoto Hooker Fiji Elijah Hayes Prop United States Olive Kilifi Prop United States Angus MacLellan Prop United States Paul Mullen Prop United States Emerson Prior Prop Canada Franco van den Berg Prop South Africa Lock New Zealand Saia Uhila* Lock Tonga Puna Vuli* Lock Fiji Mike Gieselman Back row United States Taris Schramm Back row United States Carson Shoemaker Back row United States Thomas Tu’avao* Back row England Jurie van Vuuren Back row South Africa Lance Williams Back row United States Bailey Wilson (c) Back row United States

Player Position Union Danny Christensen Scrum-half United States Scrum-half Ireland Jone Vatuwaliwali Scrum-half Fiji Cliven Loubser Fly-half Namibia Coleson Warner Fly-half United States Tyler Fisher Centre South Africa Centre United States Tomasi Tonga Centre United States Calvin Whiting Centre United States Paul Lasike Centre United States Mika Kruse Wing United States Joseph Mano Wing American Samoa Mike Te'o Wing United States James Vaifale Wing American Samoa Connor Burns* Fullback England Caleb Makene Fullback New Zealand

• Senior 15s internationally capped players are listed in bold.
• * denotes players qualified to play for the United States on dual nationality or residency grounds.
• MLR teams are allowed to field up to ten overseas players per match.

Head coaches[]

• Alf Daniels (2018–2019) ^[5]
• Chris Latham (2020)
• Shawn Pittman (2021–present)^[6]

Captains[]

• Paul Lasike (2018)
• Tim O'Malley (2019)
• Dwayne Polataivao (2020)
• Bailey Wilson (2021–present)^[7]

Honorary members[]

• Josh Pray (2019–present)

Records[]

Season standings[]

Year	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	+/−	BP	Pts	Playoffs
2018	4th	8	3	0	5	269	274	–5	10	22	Lost semi-final 21–34 to Glendale Raptors
2019	8th	16	2	2	12	381	517	−136	9	21	Did not qualify
2020	7th	5	2	1	2	125	134	-9	2	12	Season currtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	2nd	16	10	0	6	506	464	+42	17	57	Lost semi-final 13–17 to LA Giltinis

Honors[]

• Major League Rugby
  • Playoff appearances: 2018, 2021

2018 season[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Venue	Location	Result
March 30	Glendale Raptors°	Home	Rio Tinto Stadium	Sandy, Utah	Lost, 42–15
April 6	Ontario Arrows°	Home	Rio Tinto Stadium	Sandy, Utah	Lost, 24–20
April 20	Prairie Wolf Pack°	Home	Zions Bank Stadium	Herriman, Utah	Won, 80–12
April 29	San Diego Legion	Away	Torero Stadium	San Diego, California	Lost, 24–31
May 5	Glendale Raptors	Home	Zions Bank Stadium	Herriman, Utah	Lost, 29–36
May 11	Austin Elite	Home	Zions Bank Stadium	Herriman, Utah	Won, 41–22
May 20	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Starfire Stadium	Seattle, Washington	Lost, 30–41
May 26	Houston SaberCats	Away	Dyer Stadium	Houston, Texas	Won, 36–30
June 1	Austin Elite	Away	Round Rock Multipurpose Complex	Austin, Texas	Lost, 33–41
June 16	New Orleans Gold	Home	Zions Bank Stadium	Herriman, Utah	Lost, 43–46
June 23	Houston SaberCats	Home	Zions Bank Stadium	Herriman, Utah	Won, 31–27
June 30	Glendale Raptors°°	Away	Infinity Park	Glendale, Colorado	Lost, 21–34

° = Preseason game
°° = Playoff semifinal
     Matches won are colored green

2019 season[]

Exhibition[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Venue	Result
October 13, 2018	Glendale Raptors	Away	Infinity Park	Postponed
October 20, 2018	Glendale Raptors	Home		Postponed
January 12, 2019	Life West	Home	RSL Academy Indoor Field	Won, 25–10
February 9, 2019	New England Free Jacks	Home	Zions Bank Training Center	Won, 70–15

Regular season[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Venue	Result
February 1	Austin Elite	Away	Dell Diamond	Win, 17–9
February 17	San Diego Legion	Away	Torero Stadium	Lost, 10–21
February 23	Glendale Raptors	Home	Zions Bank Stadium	Draw, 26–26
March 2	New Orleans Gold	Home	Zions Bank Stadium	Lost, 19–21
March 9	Rugby United New York	Home	Zions Bank Stadium	Lost, 21–47
March 23	Houston SaberCats	Away	Constellation Field	Lost, 27–29
March 30	Toronto Arrows	Home	Zions Bank Stadium	Lost, 31–64
April 5	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Zions Bank Stadium	Lost, 36–48
April 13	New Orleans Gold	Away	Gold Stadium	Lost, 19–28
April 20	Rugby United New York	Away	MCU Park	Lost, 22–24
April 27	Austin Elite	Home	Zions Bank Stadium	Won, 35–19
May 4	Glendale Raptors	Away	Infinity Park	Lost, 22–64
May 12	Toronto Arrows	Away	York Stadium	Lost, 21–28
May 18	San Diego Legion	Home	Zions Bank Stadium	Lost, 21–31
May 26	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Starfire Sports	Draw, 27–27
June 1	Houston SaberCats	Home	Zions Bank Stadium	Lost, 27–31

2020 season[]

On March 12, 2020, MLR announced the season would go on hiatus immediately for 30 days due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[8] It was cancelled the following week.^[9]

Regular season[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
February 9	Rugby ATL	Away	Lost, 19–28
February 15	New England Free Jacks	Home	Won, 39–33
February 22	Austin Gilgronis	Away	Draw, 20–20
February 29	Colorado Raptors	Away	Lost, 14–22
March 7	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Won, 33–31
March 13	New Orleans Gold	Home	Cancelled
March 27	San Diego Legion	Home	Cancelled
April 4	Toronto Arrows	Away	Cancelled
April 11	Houston SaberCats	Away	Cancelled
April 18	Austin Gilgronis	Home	Cancelled
April 25	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Cancelled
May 3	Old Glory DC	Away	Cancelled
May 8	Colorado Raptors	Home	Cancelled
May 16	Rugby United New York	Home	Cancelled
May 25	San Diego Legion	Away	Cancelled
May 30	Houston SaberCats	Home	Cancelled

2021 season[]

Regular season[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
March 20	Austin Gilgronis	Away	Won, 30–28
March 27	Toronto Arrows	Home	Won, 39–24
April 3	New England Free Jacks	Away	Lost, 21–22
April 10	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Lost, 15–20
April 17	San Diego Legion	Away	Lost 29-31
April 24	Houston SaberCats	Home	Won, 50-43
May 8	Old Glory DC	Home	Won, 34-33
May 15	LA Giltinis	Away	Lost, 27-38
May 22	New Orleans Gold	Away	Lost, 29-24
May 29	Austin Gilgronis	Home	Won, 45-24
June 6	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Won, 29-28
June 12	San Diego Legion	Home	Won, 45-41
June 19	Rugby United New York	Away	Won, 29-28
June 26	Houston SaberCats	Away	Won, 24-5
July 10	Rugby ATL	Home	Lost, 31-41
July 17	LA Giltinis	Home	Won, 34-29

Post season[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
July 25	LA Giltinis	Away	Lost, 13-17

2022 season[]

Regular season[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
February 6	San Diego Legion	Away	Lost, 39-21
February 10	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Lost, 17-20
February 19	Austin Gilgronis	Away	Lost, 10-24
March 5	Dallas Jackals	Home
March 13	LA Giltinis	Away
March 19	Toronto Arrows	Home
March 26	Houston SaberCats	Home
April 1	San Diego Legion	Home
April 15	Old Glory DC	Away
April 23	Seattle Seawolves	Home
April 30	New England Free Jacks	Away
May 7	Rugby ATL	Home
May 14	Houston SaberCats	Away
May 21	Austin Gilgronis	Home
May 28	LA Giltinis	Home
June 4	Dallas Jackals	Away

See also[]

• Utah Warriors (Rugby Super League) – defunct rugby union team of the same name that played nationally in the United States in 2011.

References[]

External links[]

• Rugby Utah
• USA Rugby