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SANDY — Ben Nicholls had plenty of great moments playing in front of the state’s rugby fans during his four years at BYU.
But when the unemotional scrumhalf from Zimbabwe crossed the line for the first try in Utah Warriors history and looked up into the announced crowd of 9,176, he felt something special.
"That was a highlight for me," Nicholls said. "I was just overwhelmed at that. We came out with a lot of energy and excitement. But for us, that crowd was phenomenal.
"Utah does a great job of backing our sports teams, and that was overwhelming for us to see that support tonight. I hope they’ll stick with us; we’ll get better, guaranteed."
The spirited crowd could barely be damped by the exhibition loss.
Nicholls gave the Warriors a 5-0 lead just three minutes into the match, but the visiting Glendale Raptors used a 21-0 run to pull away for a 42-15 win in Utah’s exhibition opener Friday night at Rio Tinto Stadium.
"The crowd was absolutely awesome," Warriors coach Alf Daniels said. "After I got off the field and went upstairs to look out, I was overwhelmed and humbled at the massive support the Utah community gave us tonight.
"We’re a little bit disappointed that we didn’t put a winning scoreline out there for them. But I hope they can see like we did that these guys got a big heart. In a couple of months’ time, I hope to play Glendale in the finals and it’s a bit different."
Miss the @warriorsrugbyut opening match in franchise history? @RodZundel has you covered with this historic try. pic.twitter.com/y7eK3oir3P
— KSL SportsBeat (@kslsports) March 31, 2018
The moment hit home for the Raptors, a 10-year-old club that is the oldest pro rugby squad in the United States.
"That felt like a professional game of rugby to me," Glendale's Will Magie said. "The job that the Warriors have done with their staff to fill the bottom tier of this stadium is great, and the product on the pitch was very good for our second game of the season and Utah’s first, as well.
"It's a great effort from Major League Rugby."
Nicholls' lead was emotional, but it only lasted 15 minutes.
Mika Kruse’s try in the 18th minute started a 21-0 run, and the Raptors jumped out to a 21-5 lead on John Quill’s dive across the line in the 37th minute.
"We know those guys pretty well, and they are a great group of guys," Utah wing Joshua Anderson said. "We're starting from the ground up, but we’re lucky to have a great coaching staff and a bunch of great players. It’s a credit to all of our teammates for coming out in a first match and really coming together as a team and showing some heart."
Lance Williams scored in the final moments of the half, pulling Utah within 21-10 in first-half stoppage time. BYU alum Josh Whippy sprinted across midfield to set up the try, and Williams did just enough to net the try just before the halftime whistle.
Glendale extended its lead through Maximo DeAchaval’s try five minutes into the second half. The 5-foot-11 fullback from Argentina scored consecutive tries in the 45th and 63rd minutes to give the Raptors a 35-10 lead midway through the second half.
The Warriors pulled another one back through Anderson, who took a swing pass and dotted the corner for Utah’s third try of the match, down 35-15 in the 67th minute.
But Magie raced past the try line untouched to cap the scoring in the 76th minute of Utah’s inaugural rugby match.
After the result, both the Warriors and Raptors agreed: Major League Rugby is here, and ready to compete.
As are the fans.
"It was pretty awesome to see when the crowd was going off as much as they did," said Glendale scrumhalf Shaun Davies, a BYU product. "We knew going into the game that Utah was going to come out fast, and we just had to hold them off for 20 minutes and see what happened.
"But coming back to Utah was great, to see this atmosphere and all the players who were so excited with a buzz for MLR. Hopefully, it keeps growing from here, and when they move to (Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman), they can keep the same atmosphere."
Utah will play one more exhibition match April 6 at Rio Tinto Stadium against Canada's Ontario Arrow before christening the 5,000-seat Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman against Alberta on April 20.
The Warriors open the 2018 Major League Rugby season April 29 at the San Diego Legion.
