Utah Warriors use pain, process, tough conversations to snap 6-game slump


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HERRIMAN — The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but for the Utah Warriors rugby, the distance between win No. 2 and No. 3 of the 2022 Major League Rugby season was anything but.

The Warriors took the long way toward inching up just a little bit out of the basement of the Western Conference with an 18-point win in a far-distant point of the season. But perhaps the arduous nature of the journey is what made the rapture of Saturday night's upset victory over Rugby ATL that much sweeter.

Lance Williams scored one of two tries directly off a scrum maul, and Joe Mano dotted down the final try from Mikey Te'o in the closing seconds as the Utah Warriors snapped a six-game losing skid with a surprise 44-26 win over Rugby ATL.

And the sweetest feeling as Williams exited the pitch at Zions Bank Stadium? Relief.

"We finally got that monkey off our backs," said Williams, who became the ninth player in MLR and third from the Warriors to celebrate his 50th appearance during the club's fifth season. "For that moment right there, we just want to play footie; we just want to play rugby. Our record doesn't reflect it, but we know we can play great rugby."

It's been a long journey for the Warriors (3-9, 20 points) since March 13, a 28-19 road win over the LA Giltinis. Who would've thought that would be the last time Utah tasted victory in its fifth season of Major League Rugby?

But that was exactly the case as the Warriors piled up loss after loss. As playoff opportunities slipped through their fingertips, the side with the reigning MLR coach and player of the year made some drastic measures to try to turn around the program — not just for the 2022 season, but for beyond.

Plenty of hard conversations were had, both among the roster and in the front office.

First, they made the drastic move of firing coach Shawn Pittman following three consecutive losses, less than a year after the former U.S. international took the Warriors to the playoffs as an interim manager in 2021. A week later, and after general manager Brandon Sparks took an on-field role for the remainder of the season, Utah had the perfect chance to snap its losing skid at three with an April 15 trip to then-winless Old Glory DC.

Except things didn't get better that night in Leesburg, Virginia. Instead, the Warriors were embarrassed en route to Old Glory's first win of the season 22-21.

Utah tried everything to stop the slump — from a rash of roster changes to bringing home former star Paul Lasike from England to the aforementioned midseason coaching change. But things got worse, it seemed, with losses to Seattle and New England — two middling teams in the league — in consecutive weeks.

Heartbreakers. Blowouts. It didn't matter. The Warriors were spiraling. Anyone who said it was easy would be lying. But pain can also bring out the best in a group, as it did Saturday against Atlanta.

"If I'm honest, the thing that led up to that was a lot of pain," forwards coach Robbie Abel said after upsetting Rugby ATL. "A lot of hard conversations, some hard training sessions and time to look at and dissect our game.

"We figured out what we did well, and work towards that. It's been over a period of a few weeks, and credit to everyone; the boys haven't got disheartened. We've been right in the mix of every game we've been in. It was time for us to finish the job, and we did that tonight."

Utah Warriors flanker Bailey Wilson in a scrum during a recent match with Toronto. The Warriors snapped a six-game losing skid Saturday night with an upset victory over Rugby ATL at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman.
Utah Warriors flanker Bailey Wilson in a scrum during a recent match with Toronto. The Warriors snapped a six-game losing skid Saturday night with an upset victory over Rugby ATL at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman. (Photo: Davey Wilson, Utah Warriors)

There was only one thing they didn't lose: hope.

Even while the results didn't come, Utah stuck together. The rest of the league had passed them by, and a postseason appearance became all-but impossible for perhaps the most remote of mathematical possibilities. But the Warriors didn't give up.

"We've just got to focus on the positives," said Warriors captain Bailey Wilson, a third-year flanker who played locally at Lone Peak and Utah Valley. "If you look at the results, it's easy to get discouraged. We just have to back the process, and try to keep building into each week."

It's the hope that kills you, according to esteemed fictional American soccer coach Ted Lasso. But this hope didn't kill the Warriors.

It only led to Saturday night, perhaps one of the most improbable of wins during the slump. Atlanta was the second-rated team in the Eastern Conference, Utah sixth in the West, and both sides had seemingly opposite reasons to play. But it was the Warriors that got the upper hand, from Williams' sprawling try off the maul, to a young front row stepping up amid a rash of injuries, and to Mano's final score that finished off 44 points when Te'o intercepted a pass inside his own 30-meter line and raced toward the opposite try zone.

"It builds up our confidence," Williams said. "We come out every week, and just have to put our heads down and grind. We've been in dark places, we've been through ups and downs throughout the season. But we just want a platform to play good rugby.

"I know we aren't know for our record throughout the season. But we just want everybody to play good footy, create friendships and a brotherhood around here — and just have fun with it. No negatives around the season. The boys are still tight, and we still play for each other."

Utah hits the road next Saturday, May 14 to face the Houston SaberCats at AVEVA Stadium in east Texas before returning home for the final two matches of the regular season at Zions Bank Stadium, May 21 against Austin Gilgronis and May 28 against Los Angeles.

Kickoff against the Gilgronis is scheduled for 8 p.m. MT on KJZZ and the Rugby Network.

And they'll head into the final weeks of the season with a new lease on life — or at least, the career.

"We're just going to take it week by week," Williams said. "Bust our (butts) off, and keep grinding through the rest of the season."

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