2021 – Western Conference Final: LA Giltinis v Utah Warriors

17 v 13

Report

The LA Giltinis host the Utah Warriors for the Western Conference Final, and the chance to face Rugby ATL in the MLR Grand Final!

As they did so many times through the regular season, LA were the first on the scoreboard even if it did take 35 minutes. LA took this 7-0 lead into the break, but it was quickly erased early in the second half by two penalties from the boot of Hagen Schulte, before a try under the posts from Sama Malolo in the 58th minute gave Utah a 7-13 lead to carry into the last 20 minutes.

It took 10 minutes for LA to shift the momentum, and they did so with a 68th minute try from Ryan James. The conversion was missed however, so Utah held on to a narrow 12-13 lead into the last 10 minutes. It took until the 77th minute for Harrison Goddard to connect again with Ryan James, who scored his second try of the game with a fantastic finish! James becomes only the 2nd player in MLR history to score multiple tries in a single playoff game.

LA advance to a home MLR Final against Rugby ATL!

Details

Date	Time	League	Season
July 25, 2021	3:00 pm	Major League Rugby	MLR 2021

Results

Team	Tries	Conversions	Penalty Kick	TB	LB	Points
Giltinis	3	1/3	0/1	0	0	17
Warriors	1	0/0	2/2	0	1	13

Giltinis

#	Player	Position	T	C	MG	Tackles	KS/KA	Pts
1	Jean-Pierre (JP) Smith 18	Prop	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Mahe Vailanu 16	Hooker	0	0	65	24	0	0
3	Marco Fepulea’i 17	Prop	0	0	39	14	0	0
4	Dave Dennis	Lock	0	0	27	18	0	0
5	Luke White 19	Lock	0	0	39	10	0	0
6	Nathan Den Hoedt	Lock	0	0	18	15	0	0
7	Christian Poidevin 20	Flanker	0	0	22	19	0	0
8	Corey Thomas	Lock	0	0	54	10	0	0
9	Harrison Goddard	Scrum-half	0	0	16	10	0	0
10	Matt Giteau 21	Fly-half	0	1	67	7	1/1	2
11	DTH van der Merwe	Wing	0	0	122	2	0	0
12	Billy Meakes	Center	0	0	112	8	0	0
13	Adam Ashley-Cooper	Center	1	0	59	9	0	5
14	John Ryberg 22	Wing	0	0	75	9	0	0
15	Luke Burton 23	Fly-half	0	0	17	6	0/1	0
16	Sean McNulty 2	Hooker	0	0	0	1	0	0
17	Blake Rogers 3	Prop	0	0	3	1	0	0
18	Charlie Abel 1	Prop	0	0	18	11	0	0
19	Sean O’Brien 5	Flanker	0	0	3	5	0	0
20	Pago Haini 7	Number 8	0	0	0	1	0	0
21	Ryan James 10	Wing	2	0	51	6	0	10
22	Luke Carty 14	Fly-half	0	0	21	3	0/2	0
23	Serupepeli Vularika 15	Center	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		3	1	828	189	1/4	17

Warriors

#	Player	Position	T	C	P	MG	Tackles	KS/KA	Pts
1	Olive Kilifi 17	Prop	0	0	0	25	2	0	0
2	Sama Malolo 16	Hooker	1	1	0	79	10	0	7
3	Angus MacLellan 18	Prop	0	0	0	40	3	0	0
4	Saia ‘Uhila	Lock	0	0	0	49	25	0	0
5	Matt Jensen 19	Lock	0	0	0	11	4	0	0
6	Aston Fortuin	Lock	0	0	0	30	9	0	0
7	Bailey Wilson 20	Flanker	0	0	0	68	15	0	0
8	Jurie van Vuuren	Number 8	0	0	0	25	13	0	0
9	Michael Baska	Fullback	0	0	0	18	6	0	0
10	Hagen Schulte 23	Fly-half	0	0	2	20	7	2/3	6
11	Mika Kruse	Center	0	0	0	7	3	0	0
12	Calvin Whiting	Center	0	0	0	23	9	0	0
13	Tyler Fisher	Center	0	0	0	58	14	0	0
14	James Vaifale 22	Wing	0	0	0	42	4	0	0
15	Mikey Te’o	Fullback	0	0	0	93	6	0	0
16	Tuvere Vugakoto 2	Hooker	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	Franco van den Berg 1	Prop	0	0	0	6	6	0	0
18	Paul Mullen 3	Prop	0	0	0	11	10	0	0
19	Chad Gough 5	Flanker	0	0	0	22	9	0	0
20	Mike Gieselman 7	Flanker	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
21	Danny Christensen	Scrum-half	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	Cliven Loubser 14	Fly-half	0	0	0	39	1	0	0
23	Logan Tago 10	Center	0	0	0	8	3	0	0
	Total		1	1	2	674	162	2/3	13