Old Glory Looks to Finish Road Trip as Victors at Utah

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Old Glory Looks to Finish Road Trip as Victors at Utah

By Evan Lappen

 

Old Glory DC will complete its westward swing with a test against the Utah Warriors on Saturday. At Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah, DC hopes to secure its first road victory and return to the Nation’s Capital with a 3-3-1 record. Five of Utah’s six games have been decided by a try or less, so Old Glory will be in for a derby this weekend. Will DC be able to refocus and regroup following the LA loss, or will the Warriors defend their home turf after their bye? We’ll find out on Saturday at 10:00 pm EST on FS2 and the Rugby Network internationally.

After the disappointing LA defeat, DC skipped the return to the DMV and instead made a pit stop in Las Vegas for the week of training. On Friday, Old Glory leaves for Utah, holds its captain’s run to acclimate to the altitude, and then prepares for the match on Saturday night.

As for the roster against the Warriors, the OG lineup will be different with injuries, departures, and new arrivals. Tevita Naqali is out after suffering a calf strain early versus LA, but Stan South will take his place following a one-week suspension. Osea Kolinisau’s two-week contract has expired and he will not return, and Luke Campbell returns to the fold after recovering from injury.

Doug Fraser is also expected to rejoin the squad after straining his MCL in Week 3, and Dylan Taikato-Simpson has an outside chance of making the gameday 23-man squad this weekend. Finally, Mike Dabulas experienced tightness in his hamstring, and the training staff will monitor him this week.

The Utah Warriors have been an up-and-down team this year after winning their first two games, dropping the next three, and scoring 50 points in a shootout win against Houston. All but one of their games has been decided by a try or less, and they are 2-3 in those contests. The Warriors will attempt to notch their fourth win of the season, while DC seeks its first win on the road.

“Utah is getting better and more confident every week,” Renata Roberts-Te Nana said. “Big boys, but we can see there are places where we can exploit, especially working around the corner. Our fitness levels will be a strength we can play to this weekend. Beating them around the corner, moving their big fellas around, so they are breathing heavily, and getting mismatches with our backs [are key] … They have a lot of weapons, but I definitely think we have the game plan where we can come out victorious.”

Utah is loaded with six USA Eagles and many accomplished internationals. Two of the Eagles, Olive Kilifi and Angus Maclellan, join capped Fijian Veremalua Vugakoto up front and combine for 800 lbs of man in the scrum. Matt Jensen and Aston Fortuin are the mountain men in the middle of the Warriors’ lethal lineout. Utah wins 84.7% of its lineouts, leads the league by stealing 29.5% of its opponents, and has scored 12 of its 22 tries off the throw-in.

Flyhalf Hagen Schulte is third in the MLR in total points with 58 and is deadly accurate, whether through penalties, clearances, or tactical kicks. Scrumhalf Michael Baska leads the troops while Bailey Wilson is the skipper from the back row. Mika Kruse has been a beast since coming over from LA via trade and partners with Joseph Mano on the wing.

The catalyst of the team is another Eagle, Mike Te’o. Against Houston, the fullback scored a pair of tries (ranked fourth in the league with five) and had his hand in three more. Like LA, Utah looks for space and will swing it wide where its offload game excels, especially with Te’o at the helm.

“It’s not really his back three that concern me. It’s that [Te’o] plays so well off his wing,” head coach Andrew Douglas indicated. “It’s the work he does off the ball is probably the biggest thing. He pops up all over the park… We got to make sure he doesn’t get as much ball he has been getting.”

Consistency and pressure will be essential for Old Glory on Saturday. DC needs to make its first-up tackles, disrupt the Warriors’ offload game, avoid getting into a slugfest with a team used to playing in tight games, take advantage of defensive miscues, focus on ball retention, and prevent Te’o from taking over the game. For Utah, the Warriors must dominate the DC forwards and take them out of the game, suck in the defense tight and get it wide to Te’o, and kick it deep with Schulte and keep DC under pressure in their end.

“Defense will be key for us,” Douglas said. “We have to frustrate them in giving us the ball back. If we defend well, they will give the ball back to us… In the scrum and lineout, we have to go through our processes to make sure our objectives are right and keep pressure on them. I don’t think they are better than us in those areas. It’s just a matter of being consistent in that area. The set-piece is one thing, but it’s what [the forwards] are going to do around the park what is key.”

“It’s going to be on us,” Roberts-Te Nana concluded. “They are a good team and all respect to them, but we’re the only ones that can lose this game. We definitely have all the firepower, weapons, and talent and all the people in the right places to get the job done. We have to trust and believe in our game drivers, our coaches, and our team as a whole to come together. Have fun first and put in the performance we owe our fans, ourselves, and our family on the field.”

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