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HERRIMAN — Josh Whippy was playing with a heavy heart, having just lost his uncle in his homeland of Fiji.
His uncle would’ve been proud of how the Utah Warriors outside center played Friday night.
And then tragedy struck again in front of 3,143 fans.
Josh Whippy scored three tries, and brother Jared Whippy added two more to help the Utah Warriors christen the brand-new Zions Bank Stadium with a 80-12 rout Friday night over the visiting Alberta Wolfpack in a shortened exhibition game that ended with Josh Whippy taken off the field with a compound fracture in his lower leg.
“Not being able to get back home to Fiji and be with the family was hard, and tonight was an opportunity to show respect to their uncle,” Warriors coach Alf Daniels said of the Whippy brothers. “Tonight was an opportunity to play on behalf of him.
“It showed in the way they played, with both having really good games tonight. Unfortunately, the game didn’t end so well for Josh with that serious leg injury … It’s good to have a win, but very unfortunate to lose one of our better, top players.”
Added team captain Paul Lasike: “It was awesome to see (Josh and Jared Whippy) show out the way they intended.
“But when it ended the way it did, my heart sank. I was kind of on the edge of my seat thinking it might be a minor injury. But I’m still sick to my stomach. It’s a huge loss for us, as a player and as a person. I loved seeing him beside me at No. 13. It hurts.”
Saia Uhila scored two tries for the Warriors. Nata Lauti, Matt Jensen, Alexi Tucci and Ben Nicholls also scored a try for Utah, which begins Major League Rugby play April 29 at the San Diego Legion.
“It was just a matter of time,” Uhila said. “I think the boys needed a big wake up, to show the crowd what we’ve really got. We’re just going to build from here, and continue into the season.”
It’s an accelerated rate of improvement from the Warriors’ first two games, a 42-15 loss to the Glendale Raptors and a 24-20 loss to Ontario in two exhibition games played at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy.
“There were definitely some growing pains, even amongst the team,” Lasike said. “When you’re trying to build something, there is always going to be adversity amongst yourselves. Those first two weeks were tough.
“But I stepped back this last week and let the boys do their thing — and I thought it really paid off. We’re starting to see the fruits of our labor.”
Josh Whippy scored his second try inside of 20 minutes to give the Warriors a 20-0 lead in the 18th minute. The early run ran as high as 33-0 on Jensen’s try in the 31st minute, and former Colorado State defensive lineman Tucci put the home team up 40-7 at halftime.
Whippy scored his third try of the match just three minutes into the second half for a 47-7 advantage, and it was all downhill from there.
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— KSL SportsBeat (@kslsports) April 21, 2018
The only thing stopping the Warriors momentum was Fetu’u Vainikolo’s red card in the 44th minute for a hit that upended an Alberta attacker on the breakaway.
Jared Whippy added to his brother’s payload with back-to-back tries in the 63rd and 71st minutes to give the Warriors an 81-12 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining.
Moments later, the game ended in tragedy. Josh Whippy crashed to the turf trying to score his fifth try of the game, and medical personnel immediately attended to him. The attendants called out for a stretcher, fearing a neck injury. But Jared Whippy said his brother was in “high spirits” with a broken leg and a potential fractured foot, as well.
“He was good when he left,” Jared Whippy said. “He had an awesome game, and played really well. But then things happen; it’s part of the game, I guess. He’ll come back better.”
Daniels added the Warriors will build up to their Major League Rugby home opener May 5 against Glendale, hoping to come back stronger a week after the trip to San Diego.
“The culture and the heart of the Utah Warriors is what you saw tonight,” he said. “It’s not what you saw in the first two games. They needed a little reminder of what that was all about. For good passages tonight, they delivered what we are all about.”
