Utah Warriors Close Season On High Note With Convincing Win In Dallas
Jun 4, 2022, 7:57 PM | Updated: Oct 4, 2022, 1:51 pm
(Courtesy of Utah Warriors Rugby)
(Courtesy of Utah Warriors Rugby)
SALT LAKE CITY – In a match that had no bearing on the final standings, the Utah Warriors topped the Dallas Jackals 33-5 in the final game of 2022.
The Dallas Jackals hosted the Utah Warriors at Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, TX on Saturday, June 5.
Winless through 15 games, Dallas got on the board first with a fifth minute try after barreling through the Warriors defense. A missed try left the score 5-0 Dallas.
It took nearly 35 minutes for the Warriors to find the goal line, but a long run started by Mikey Te’o and finished with a try from Danny Christensen. With the conversion, Utah took a 7-5 lead into the final five minutes of the opening half.
40’ more in ‘22
Warriors lead 7-5 at the half. #ForTheNation // 📸: @wadebphotos pic.twitter.com/X04tlrXuAf
— Utah Warriors Rugby (@utwarriorsrugby) June 5, 2022
Christensen added his second try of the match in the 53rd minute when he broke through the Jackal defense to increase the Warrior advantage to 14-5 with the conversion.
In a scoring outburst for the point starved match, Tyler Fisher broke free for the second try in as many minutes. Another conversion gave Utah a 21-5 lead with 25 minutes left.
Playing the final match of his professional rugby career, Warrior and St. George native Chad Gough was replaced. Gough had announced his intent to retire following the season earlier in the week.
"It was just about working hard, just like everything else in life, and that’s what’s helped me along, more than anything else.”
Chad Gough hangs up the boots after a successful rugby career, story by @brandoncgurney.#ForTheNation
— Utah Warriors Rugby (@utwarriorsrugby) June 2, 2022
Continuing his spectacular day, Christensen added an automatic seven on a 66th minute try that gave Utah 28 unanswered points and increased the lead to 28-5. The points came with the Warriors playing a man down following a Joe Mano yellow card earlier in the half.
Mano returned to add a try in the final minutes; giving Utah their sixth consecutive try of the match. Warner missed the conversion to end the match.
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Dallas finishes the their first season in MLR with an 0-16 record. Their 198 points scored was by far the fewest scored in all of Major League Rugby this season.
The win marks the end of the fifth season of existence for the Utah Warriors. Finishing sixth out of seven teams in the Western Conference, wins against league leaders Austin Gilgronis, LA Giltinis, Rugby ATL show the Warriors are on the right track since handing the reigns to head coach Robbie Abel midseason. Utah ends the year with a 5-11 record and their 28 points was the fourth fewest in the league.
