The Utah sports scene is robust, with a plethora of teams for any fan to follow no matter your preference. From NBA to college, MLS to Minor League Baseball and even Minor League Hockey, there’s a professional or collegiate team for everyone. With recent news of the return of an NWSL team and speculation regarding an NHL and MLB expansion team coming to the Beehive state in the near future, Utah is proving itself as a top location in the country for sports fanatics.
On Saturday night in Sandy, the state also showcased its burgeoning rugby culture.
While the rest of the globe was gearing up for Tonga vs Ireland at the Rugby World Cup in France, Utah rugby followers made their way to America First Field to watch the USA Eagles take on France’s top club team, Stade Toulousain.
The match was sponsored by Utah’s professional rugby team, the Utah Warriors. The Warriors have competed in Major League Rugby since the league’s inaugural season in 2018.
“It was huge to get a professional team and build the fanbase,” rugby fan Richard Vernon said regarding the Warriors. “They also have an academy team that have high caliber coaches. They’re a very professional organization. So they’re not just doing it for the pros, but they’re doing it for the little kids and the high schoolers to grow the program in the community.”
With the Eagles just missing out on qualification for this year’s World Cup, the Warriors saw an opportunity to grow the game even further, hosting the U.S. and Top 14 side Stade Toulousain in Sandy. Due to popular demand, the match was moved to Saturday after originally being scheduled for Sunday the 17th.
“This is huge, it’s the biggest game in Utah, and I would say maybe in the country,” Vernon said. “To have a Top 14 team (the French league) and European champions come play on American soil against our top team, that’s a good test to see how we fair.”
Vernon’s introduction to competitive rugby came through a mentor many Utahns would be familiar with, Larry Gelwix.
Gelwix, played by actor Gary Cole in the film Forever Strong, coached Vernon on the famous Highland High School rugby team for which the movie is based on.
After his playing days at Highland, Vernon served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in France, where he became a Stade Toulousain fan.
“I have a thirty-year-old hat that I wore when I was in Montauban just outside of Toulouse. My son Hank has been watching them because of (Antoine) Dupont and (Romain) Ntamack, so he knows all the players’ names,” Vernon said.
Hank, a junior in high school, plays for the American Fork Cavemen Rugby Club, which was co-founded by his dad. Donning the red and black of Stade Toulousain, he watched closely from the sidelines as the French side went through their final preparations on Friday.
In the week leading up to the big match, the Warriors organized several grassroots events including open practices and youth training sessions with the professionals.
“We had a practice at the Warriors academy with Charlie Faumuina, who played for the All-Blacks at the 2015 World Cup, and David Ainu’u, and they just talked to us, which is really cool,” Hank said.
Hank and his younger brother Luke also had a chance to have a few kicks after the Friday training session with a member of the Stade Toulousain coaching staff, a memory neither will soon forget.
For several players on the USA Eagles, the match also presented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent their country infront of their home fans.
Utah Warriors prop Takaji Yen Young was born in Utah but spent his formative years playing the game in rugby-hungry New Zealand, before coming back with his skills more “refined”.
“I visited Utah many times since I have family here, so I’ve seen how the rugby scene has grown,” Yen Young said. “Especially with the Warriors here and the crowds we have, the fans back the boys. So this game is big, rugby is already getting big in Utah.”
Warriors and Eagles teammate Bailey Wilson, an Australian-born Lone Peak High School graduate, reflected on the magnitude of this match for the growth of the sport.
“With the USA hosting the 2031 World Cup, we definitely want to try and inspire future generations, we want those young kids to have a rugby ball in their hands,” Wilson said. “We want to put out a good performance, something they can be entertained by, and hopefully they ask their parents to take them out to the next local club rugby practice.”
On the other side of the contest, players from Stade Toulousain were excited for the opportunity to explore the state, including watching Utah Football take down Weber State Saturday afternoon, and more importantly to serve as emissaries for rugby.
“To carry the image of Stade and of French rugby as a whole is massive. This trip has been a beautiful experience that we won’t forget,” said Toulousain prop Rorigue Neti in his native French.
Neti was born and raised in the French overseas collectivity of Nouvelle-Calédonie (New Caledonia) before moving to France as a teenager to play rugby. Despite having a strong Polynesian and French influence, the island of 300,000 is also in its pre-teen era when it comes to the development of rugby.
“We’re still in the beginning stages in New Caledonia. But to have guys like me and some of my teammates from the island, the door is starting to open for future generations. Similar to the American dream, there’s also the dream for young Wallisians and Caledonians who would like to leave for France and play rugby. I hope that others will follow our path and I wish them the best,” said Neti.
Saturday night’s game proved to be a dream for the Eagles, as they shocked Stade Toulousain 24-21 after trailing by a try at the half. Backed by his native Utah crowd, Takaji Yen Young scored a decisive try to turn the tide. Despite missing more than a dozen players to World Cup rosters, Stade Toulousain showed off their speed and strength in the first half but the Eagles’ home support was enough to push the Stars and Stripes over the line.
There were plenty of BYU connections to the game as well, with BYUtv’s Jarom Jordan providing the play-by-play on FS2, and football-turned-rugby legend Paul Lasike watching from the stands. The BYU men’s team played their first match of the season earlier in the day in Colorado, taking down Air Force 56-0, with the women’s team beginning their season on October 6.
The evening ended with an attempt to set a world record for most people participating in a scrum as fans flooded onto the pitch in celebratory fashion.
With the Eagles hoping to qualify for the 2027 Rugby World Cup and the 2031 World Cup already booked for the United States, the future of the sport is bright, and nights like Saturday suggest that Utah will be at the forefront in blazing a new frontier for American rugby.