When Genesis Head Coach Eric Nelson arrived at the pitch for the scheduled match against Mountain Ridge High on the opening weekend of Utah Youth Rugby play, he knew it would be an interesting day. 

“The entire field was covered with snow and it was extremely cold. I worried that the conditions might affect our game plan,” said Nelson. Any concerns that he had about how his side would perform were quickly allayed.

That’s because after receiving the opening kickoff, his players used only three passes to send the ball wide to senior No. 8 Aedan Seiuli, who took the ball the length of the field and then made a final pass to senior flyhalf Willie Leota that set Leota ip for a run in under the posts for the opening try.  After that the rout was on with multiple scores coming from Leota, Seiuli, and senior prop James Cardon-Leota. A host of other Genesis players also got in on the scoring action as Genesis won 55-0.

Despite the lopsided score, Nelson was quick to point out that it was far from a flawless victory. 

“Overall I was happy with the performance and I am glad that we got the win. We also have a lot to work on. We conceded far too many penalties and we are going to need to clean that up, especially against the stiffer competition we are sure to face,” Nelson said.    

Next up for Genesis is longtime rival United in a pivotal early-season matchup.  United is coming off a close loss to the West Valley Warriors (19-17) and If history is any indicator, this is sure to be tight match that will have heavy implications for the HS Club picture in Utah for the rest of the season.