rugby comes to utah

Technically rugby has been here - club, high school and college level - but now there's Major League Rugby.  And Utah has one of the eight inaugural teams:  the Utah Warriors.  The first game of the first season was held at Rio Tinto as the finishing touches are being put on the Warriors' permanent home stadium out in Herriman.  My office was offered a block of free tickets and so H and I scooped two of them up, happy to have entertainment for a Friday night.  The Warriors' marketing department did their job well because over 9,000 spectators showed up to see the home opener.

Utah in black, Glendale (CO) Raptors in yellow

I know absolutely nothing about rugby and H knows just a little more than I do, gleaned from eavesdropping on conversations while in New Zealand for business.  When the ball was moving on the field, it was exciting: the players are huge and very strong and play without helmets or pads, making for brutal tackles.  But there did seem to be more standing around than we expected and the home team did not hold their own, succumbing with a final score of 42-15.  The crowd seemed into it, however, and I hope that Utah's team in this fledgling professional sport can maintain the fan support.