HERRIMAN — If the Utah Warriors have an Achilles’ heel, it’s the first 20 minutes of each half.

The trend continued Saturday afternoon.

The Toronto Arrows used a 21-0 run to start the second half, turning a 26-19 halftime edge into a 41-19 advantage to pull away for a 64-31 win Saturday afternoon over the Utah Warriors at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman.

“It’s something that we are very aware of, and we’ve talked about and addressed it,” Warriors coach Alf Daniels said. “Obviously it’s something that we still need to work on.

“If we can take away those first 20 minutes and stop opposition from building so much then, I think we give ourselves a much better chance. Obviously we didn’t do that today.”

Tonata Lauti scored twice for Utah (1-5-1), and Jackson Kaka, Fetu’u Vainikolo and Nolan Tuamoheloa each added a try for the Warriors.

“It felt good to get some tries in,” Lauti said. “I just wish we had gotten more.”

In a unique scheduling quirk unlike any other in Major League Rugby, Toronto — which joined the league as an expansion team alongside Rugby United New York — played its final match of an eight-match road trip to start the season. The Arrows (4-4) will play eight-straight times at home, beginning next Saturday, April 7 at BMO Field in Toronto.

Five minutes after falling behind 19-0, Kaka pulled one back, taking a second-effort try underneath the crossbar to put Utah on the board. Lauti cut the deficit to five, dotting the corner with a try in the 24th minute and Vainikolo tied the match just four minutes later, 19-19.

But Kolby Francis gave the lead back to the Arrows, 26-19 with a try just three minutes before halftime.

That’s when Toronto started to pull away.

Spencer Jones broke through three would-be tackles and exploded down the middle of the pitch for the Arrows’ third-straight try to open the second half.

Much like in the first half, the Warriors tried to rally. Lauti scored his second try in the 57th minute, weaving in, around and through the Toronto defense before tumbling across the try line to pull the Warriors within 47-26.

But Gaston Mieres intercepted a pass near the right sideline, and cruised in for a try just before the hour mark to put the Arrows back on top, 54-26.

“They had that pick, took it back for the try. I think we just didn’t adjust well,” Lauti said. “They saw what was working for us, and they adjusted well to that. They shut it down.”

Daniels said the interception came as the Warriors were trying to push the tempo and mount a comeback. It worked well — until the one bad backwards pass.

“At halftime, we talked about trying out the tempo and pushing them a little bit harder — to tire them a bit,” Daniels said. “I thought we did everything right — except for the intercept. Little things like that can hurt you.

“You’ve got to rebuild the game, it takes time … and we just have to make sure when we make those passes that we can see it is open and clear to pass.”

Lance Williams set up another try for Utah with a behind-the-back pass to Tuamoheloa in the 67th minute that cut the deficit to 54-31. But the Warriors could get no closer.

Next up

The Warriors will host last year’s league champion Seattle Seawolves next Friday, April 5 at Zions Bank Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT and will be broadcast on KMYU and ESPN+.

Scoring tries

1st Half

6’ TOR: Peter Milazzo try (Sam Malcolm kick)

9’ TOR: Scrum try (Malcolm kick)

15’ TOR: Daniel Moor try (kick failed)

20’ UT: Jackson Kaka try (Tim O’Malley kick)

24’ UT: Tonata Lauti penalty try

28’ UT: Fetu'u Vainikolo try (kick failed)

37’ TOR: Kolby Francis try (Malcolm kick)

Halftime: Toronto 26, Utah 19

2nd Half

45’ TOR: Lucas Rumball try (Malcolm kick)

50’ TOR: Marcello Wainwright try (Malcolm kick)

53’ TOR: Spencer Jones try (Malcolm kick)

57’ UT: Tonata Lauti try (O’Malley kick)

60’ TOR: Gaston Mieres try (Malcolm kick)

67’ UT: Nolan Tuamoheloa try (kick failed)

77’ TOR: Malcolm penalty kick

78’ TOR: Kainoa Lloyd try (Malcolm kick)

Final: Toronto 64, Utah 31 --------------------------

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