The University of Utah came back with a torrid second half to beat Arizona 39-31 in the opening weekend of PAC Rugby Conference play.

Arizona, which welcomed back four players from the USA U20 camp, stormed to a first=half lead, exposing some weak tackling on the part of the Utes.

But Utah came back in the second half, getting back to their attacking pattern.

“It was a heck of a battle, back and forth,” said Utah Coach John Law. “We dug ourselves a hole. Arizona plays a pretty good brand of defense and held us in check. But we also weren’t playing our pattern. In the second half we played our pattern a bit more - maybe a third of the time. But obviously we have a bit of a problem with our tackling and our defense.”

Hooker Chad Gough, center Taylor Thomas, and flyhalf Josh Webber were all good for Utah, but Law was blunt in his assessment of his team.

“Right now we’re a fairly marginal athletic, team,” he said.

As for Arizona, they got good games from scrumhalf Jonah Eldridge (two tries), and tries from flyhalf Kyle Rogers, No. 8 Tyler Hansen, and wing Dante Weeks. Head Coach Sean Duffy said his team made steps forward.

"But it's still frustrating to play so well than gradually let a team back in the game. We felt we did some good things but it's about finishing games. Credit to Utah for battling and credit to our guys for staying in the moment."