The Utah Lions Rugby Academy ended a European tour to the United World Games with Gold and Bronze medals to show for the trip.

Traveling with Waisale Serevi as part of the Atavus partnership, the Lions had the opportunity to train and prep with the best! The team had hoped to play against some top clubs or, even better, national team sides and the United World Games definitely provided. Top teams included Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (QEGS), Lithuanian National Team, Czech National Team, Hungarian National Academy, German National All-Star team and numerous other quality organizations.

The Lions Developmental team, the Red team, had started the tournament against Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, ranked 27 in UK and three-time winner of the Rosslyn Park 7s at the U16 level. The Lions were fired up for their first test, and came out strong, putting QEGS on the back foot with two tries. Down 14-0, QEGS showed their quality and scored about a minute into the second half. They continued to attack the Lions from all areas of the field, but the Lions defense held, and the Lions Reds ran in one more to take the game 19-7.

They rode the momentum to close a shutout against a lethargic Stade Rugby team (France) 27-0 at the end of the day.

The Lions Elite team, the White team, started the day off against their eventual opponent in the finals with a 42-12 shellacking of the Czech National team. The Czech national team scored their first try within the first minute of the game putting the score at 7-0. The Lions took the moment to regain their composure and put two converted tries on the board while starving the Czechs of possession ending the half at 14-7. With four more tries in the second half, the Lions dominated the restart to secure possession, preventing the Czechs from mounting a significant counter-attack.  The Czechs finally mounted a coordinated attack with no time left ending the game at 42-12.  They closed the day with a game against Donau Wien (Austria) winning handily at 57-0 to move into Day 2.

Day 2 saw the first and only loss for the Lions Red, team as the Hungarian National Academy came out fired up and the Lions came out looking tired. The Hungarians quickly took the lead on the opening kickoff and never looked back. They stretched the lead to 12 points before the Lions were able to slot 5 at the half. The second half was a replay of the first with 2 more tries to the Hungarians and 1 more for the Lions to end the score 26-12. The Red team then took on a Syrian Refugee team from Vienna. While their skills were lacking they had tremendous heart and never gave up. At the full time score of 38-0, the teams had gained great respect for each other and lifetime friends. Last game of the first day for the Red team was a Slovenian select side called Rugby Olimpija that couldn’t match the pace of the red team and quickly fell behind with a final score of 35-0

Day 2 for the White team started slow against RC Bonn.  Coming out of the first half at only 7-0, the Lions quickly found their pace slotting 6 unanswered tries to finish the game 47-0.  The second game of the day against the Lithuanian national U18 team, who have several players training with their men’s national team, showed that they were a side to be reckoned with by scoring in the corner with accurate passing and explosive running lines.  Averaging a full head taller than most of the Lions, the boys showed great composure and poise by answering with two quick tries, bringing the score to 14-7 at the half.  The second half started with the Lions capitalizing on Lithuanian mistakes to score two tries on successive restarts.  The Lithuanians fought hard to find their way into the corner ending the game with a score of 26-12.

The Gold Medal game saw the Lions White team against the Czech U18 national team in a rematch of a Day 1 meeting.  Morning rain had created slippery conditions which would challenge both teams with numerous knock-ons. The Czech team was the first to score in the corner after over two minutes of back-and-forth play. The Lions were able to score a try before the Czech team scored again.The halftime score was 14-7 in favor of the Czechs.  The Lions scored early in the second half to tie the score at 14-14.  Another converted try by the Lions would put them up 21-14 with a little more than one minute left to play. The Czechs mounted a tremendous attack, scoring with no time left in the clock in the corner.  With their primary kicker injured, their secondary kicker missed the conversion to tie the score, giving the Lions the gold medal, with a final score of 21-19.

“Playing against European national teams was an eye-opener with regard to speed, technical ability, and defensive skills. It was a real honor to play against them,” said Utah player Keagan Barnes

With a three-way tie for first in the Red Division, the Lions found themselves playing the Hungarians again under a steady drizzle for the Bronze. The steady drizzle made for tough conditions for both teams which slowed the game down considerably. Both side put up a tremendous fight and kept the score at the half 0-0. The Hungarians scored first in the second half with a successful conversion making the score 7-0. The Lions came back with a try but missed the kick putting them 2 points down at 7-5 with 2 minutes left. After hammering at the Hungarians for almost a full minute, the defense finally cracked and a try was scored in the corner. An unsuccessful conversion attempt made the score 10-7 with the very capable Hungarians receiving the restart. The Lions were able to contain the Hungarians and force a penalty. Kicking it into touch, the Lions would win the Bronze medal and take 3rd in the U18s.

Overall the tournament was a huge success for the Utah team, and it probably would have been had they just been able to be competitive with these national-level teams. The tournament organizer said he wanted to attract more rugby teams, but would need to change the timing of the rugby portion to do that.

With 8000 athletes plus thousands of parents in attendance, the atmosphere was incredible and truly created an Olympic like experience for the players.