HERRIMAN — To use the words of Utah Warriors coach Alf Daniels, his nascient Major League Rugby side is trying to approach the level of established squads like the Glendale Raptors.

The Warriors found themselves on equal footing with the Raptors for 70 minutes Saturday afternoon.

But rugby matches are just 10 minutes longer.

Utah's Tonata Lauti scored a pair of second-half tries, but Glendale's Bryce Campbell and Mika Kruse scored in the final 10 minutes to help the Glendale Raptors hold off the Utah Warriors 36-29 Saturday at Zions Bank Stadium.

"We've always felt that we've been a gallop short of being where we need to be," Daniels said. "Today was maybe the last game to put us where we needed.

"Ten months ago, this same team came here and put 100 points on us. In 10 months, we've nailed that down to one try. We're still building. I was extremely proud of the boys, especially the starting pack. We're not happy about the scoreline, but I'm very happy with the performance today."

It's a far cry from where the Warriors (0-2) were, even in the preseason when Glendale won 42-15 at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy.

"We won ugly. We got the four points and we got the way with the win," Raptors coach David Williams said. "We're sitting pretty, but there are lots of things to work on. We made it very clear in the team huddle — we aren't happy with that performance ... and we've got to get better."

Glendale's Sam Figg converted the first try of the match in the 17th minute, but the two teams were deadlocked at 10-10 thanks to Angus Maclellan's first-half score for Utah.

Fetu'u Vainikolo gave the Warriors their first lead of the game in the second half, scampering into the far corner in the 43rd minute for a try that gave Utah a 17-10 advantage.

"We went in at halftime with everything even," Utah captain Paul Lasike said. "The boys did a good job coming out and bringing it.

"We just fell short."

But the lead only lasted five minutes.

Harley Davidson busted through the Utah forwards like a crumpled origami crane, pulling the Raptors (3-0) even at 17-17 in the 49th minute. Peter Dahl gave the heavily-favored Raptors the 24-17 lead with a try in the 59th minute.

But Lauti gave the lead back to the Warriors with consecutive tries less than three minutes apart, and Utah took a 29-24 lead in the 67th minute of play.

"The team did most of the work," said Lauti, a Lehi native. "I was just in the right position at the right time, and everything fell into place. The boys did great."

Campbell and Kruse scored just over two minutes apart to give Glendale a 36-29 advantage in the 74th minute to clinch the win in the back-and-forth tilt.

The Warriors nearly equalized on the final play of the game, but a penalty against the Raptors killed the drive and gave Glendale its third-straight win to open the inaugural Major League Rugby season.

"Utah is riddled with unbelievable skill players. We knew we were going to be in for a dogfight," Glendale captain Zach Fenoglio said. "We just felt that if we kept our foot on the gas, we'd have an opportunity to expose some opportunities at the end of the game.

"It's a massive credit to Utah. They exploited some major holes on our shape. They exposed and made us look silly, but we pulled back and found a way to win."

Next up

Utah hosts Austin Elite at 7 p.m. MT Friday, May 11 at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman. Austin are 1-2 on the young season.

The Raptors host the San Diego Legion at 6 p.m. MT, Sunday, May 13 at Infiniti Park in Glendale, Colorado. The Legion beat Utah in its first-ever road match a week ago, and improved to 2-1 with a 35-32 win Friday over Houston.

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