Utah spoils Chicago home opener in defensive battle

Chicago welcomed Major League Rugby for the first time on Sunday afternoon but the hometown Hounds couldn’t quite get the result the crowd was hoping for. Instead it was the Utah Warriors who picked up the 14-10 victory in a physical contest dominated by defense.

The opening score went to the home side. Julián Domínguez broke through a couple tackles to make territory, which led to a penalty in kicking range. Luke Carty obliged and three points went up on the board. Soon after the Hounds suffered an injury blow as Hugh Roach went off with a twisted knee, replaced by Lindsey Stevens.

A Duke Krishnan line break up the middle looked promising but the ball was turned over. At the other end the Warriors down down a shot at goal to take a lineout. The drive was stopped, and a second attack resulted in a knock-on which allowed the Hounds to clear their lines.

With the home side back on the front foot and parked inside Utah territory, Domínguez cleaned up a loose pass to keep the pressure on. Quick hands down the line found Caleb Strum in just enough space to squeeze between two defenders and score in the corner. Carty curled over the extras from wide out to give Chicago a 10-nil lead.

The Warriors came roaring back and again opted for an attacking lineout. This time the maul worked as intended and Henry Bell was handed a try on debut. Joel Hodgson converted, but then his side would be reduced to 14 men after Lance Williams was shown yellow for a breakdown infringement. Halftime came with no further scoring.

Replacements at the intermission came for the visitors in the form of Tuvere Vugakoto for Bell and Cliven Loubser for Caleb Makene. Loubser lasted just three minutes, as he was in turn replaced by Logan Tago after being slammed to the turf by Mark O’Keeffe.

A decisive moment came when Mika Kruse looped around infield off his right wing. He fired a wide pass to Joe Mano in space and Chicago’s wide defense was out of sorts, with Mano rounding a diving Carty to speed home for the try. Hodgson’s conversion put the score out of penalty goal range.

The Hounds attempted their own lineout drive but it was ground to a halt by the Warriors, who then won a scrum penalty to get out of danger. To add injury to insult, Domínguez was helped off holding his shoulder after a thunderous clearout from Paul Lasike.

Emerson Prior then saw yellow for a no-arms tackle, having been warned earlier, leaving Utah down a man for the remainder of the match. The Warriors defense stood strong, however. Onehunga Havili won a turnover to stop one attack, and then Krishnan was held up over the line in the dying moments to secure the victory.

It’s a well-earned week off for the Warriors, who now cast their eye to their road game against the NOLA Gold on Saturday, March 18. Chicago will look for their first home victory next Saturday against the Toronto Arrows.

 

SCORING

CHICAGO 10
Tries (1) – C. Strum (30′)
Cons (1) – L. Carty 1/1 (31′)
Pens (1) – L. Carty 1/1 (6′)

UTAH 14
Tries (2) – H. Bell (36′), J. Mano (52′)
Cons (2) – J. Hodgson 2/2 (37′, 53′)
YC (2) – L. Williams (39′), E. Prior (70′)

 

TEAMS

CHICAGO HOUNDS
1 George Thornton (17 LaRome White 70′), 2 Hugh Roach (16 Lindsey Stevens 9′), 3 Charlie Abel, 4 Duke Krishnan, 5 Mike Matarazzo, 6 Luke Beauchamp, 7 Maclean Jones, 8 Michael de Waal, 9 Michael Baska (21 Sean Yacoubian 79′), 10 Luke Carty (22 JP Eloff 65′), 11 Julián Domínguez (23 Kevin Morgan 67′), 12 Bryce Campbell (capt.), 13 Mark O’Keeffe, 14 Caleb Strum, 15 Chris Mattina

Not used: 18 Paddy Ryan, 19 Sam Peri, 20 Dacoda Worth

UTAH WARRIORS
1 Franco van den Berg (17 Emerson Prior 50′), 2 Henry Bell (16 Tuvere Vugakoto HT), 3 Paul Mullen (18 Angus MacLellan 50′), 4 Saia Uhila (20 Jeremiah Noaese 62′), 5 Jamie Lane, 6 Bailey Wilson (capt.) (1 Franco van den Berg 75′), 7 Lance Williams, 8 Thomas Tu’avao (19 Onehunga Havili 50′), 9 Connor McLeod (21 Zion Going 66′), 10 Joel Hodgson, 11 Joe Mano, 12 Paul Lasike, 13 Calvin Whiting, 14 Mika Kruse, 15 Caleb Makene (23 Cliven Loubser HT {22 Logan Tago 43′})

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Luke Rogan (USA)
Assistants: Niall Little (USA) & David Zaccaria (USA)
TMO: Nick Hannon (USA)

 

Attendance: 4,443