So is this the St. Mary’s team that took apart Utah in Moraga, or the team that lost to the same Utes in Salt Lake City?

Is this the Utah team that seemed at sea against a speedy and decisive Gaels squad, or the one that beat St. Mary’s 49-21 and playing some wide open rugby of their own?

Well, let’s see.

“We’re evoking and so are they,” said St. Mary’s Head Coach Tim O’Brien. “We’re very different from how we were earlier in the season, and Utah were very different from the first time we played them to the second.”

Utah Head Coach John Law said his team can be guilty of over-reaching, and that’s how they were against Cal Poly. The Mustangs threw everything at the Utes and almost pulled out a win. Utah struggled in the scrum and while they have the talent to turn  small amount of space into a scoring opportunity, they tried a bit too hard last week.

But in the second half, Utah’s defense did better at closing down the space, and they got some useful attacking ball from the lineout. 

St. Mary’s didn’t play a playoff game and instead ran out a 15 against a DIII all-star team. Some players were felled with ankle injuries, but overall the injury report is encouraging. They miss Nick Schlobohm, But they have Henry Hall healthy and Cooper Maloney ready to play.

Kingsley McGowan got a run at flyhalf against Santa Clara and did very well, and it’ll be interesting to see how much time he gets in that position in this game. As an elusive runner, he can cause problems when he gets that many touches. 

“We have to focus on us, and while we’ve been good at times, we know we need to be better,” said O’Brien. “Utah is big, powerful, and have some hard-charging players. We need to be ready for that.”

Law added that he’s like to see his younger players not rely so much on the veterans, and use the experience they’ve gained this season. If they can do that and mix a wide, lateral game with their up-the-gut bread and butter, they might have something.

St. Mary’s hosts Utah in the DIA quarterfinals at 1pm PT in the St. Mary’s Stadium. 

The game will be streamed live here.