The Utah Warriors signed Lance Williams for his fourth season with the club. The 27-year-old back-row (28 in February) is 6’2″ and 255 lbs. Lance suffered a season-ending injury during the truncated 2020 MLR season. He currently is playing with the Warriors Selects during their Fall season. Lance has been a key contributor for the Warriors since 2018. In 2019 he played 1195 minutes, starting in all 16 of the matches. He scored 4 tries, made 154 carries for 843 meters, made 212 tackles, and had 27 lineout takes with 1 steal. In 2018 he played 568 minutes, scoring one…

The Utah Warriors re-signed Thomas Tu’avao for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The 26-year-old flanker is 6’3″ and 230 lbs. Thomas started twice at openside flanker for the team during the truncated MLR season. Thomas is from Widnes, England, and grew up playing rugby league for Widnes St Maries, Widnes Schoolboys, and at Wade Deacon High School. He then moved to California and played football at Lincoln High School in Stockton, graduating in 2012, and then attended American River College, a junior college in Sacramento. He played rugby with the Sacramento Blackhawks and then went on a mission for…

The Utah Warriors has Matt Jensen returning for his fourth Major League Rugby season for 2021. The 28-year-old lock (29 in April) is 6’7″ and 275 lbs. Matt started all five matches during the truncated 2020 MLR season. He played 1262 minutes in 2019, starting in all 16 matches and scoring 1 try. He carried the ball 62 times for 283 meters, made 140 tackles, had 68 lineout takes with 6 steals. In 2018 he played 518 minutes, playing in all 9 matches, starting seven, and scoring one try. Jensen is from Scranton, Pennsylvania, but spent time living in Utah…

The Utah Warriors re-signed Mike Payne for the 2021 season. The 26-year-old tighthead prop/hooker is 6’0″ and 245 lbs. Although Mike signed with the Utah Warriors for 2020, he did not see action for the team during the truncated season. He has played for the Warriors Selects during the 2020 Fall season. Mike is from Murrieta, California, and attended Murrieta Valley High School. He played football as a defensive end and running back and was also on the track and field team, specializing in the shot put. Mike attended Brigham Young University from 2013-2019 where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree…

Utah Warriors signed Eagle prop Paul Mullen for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The 29-year-old tighthead prop is 6’0″ and 270 lbs. Paul started all five matches for the San Diego Legion in 2020. Paul played with the Houston SaberCats in 2018 and 2019. In 2019 he played 287 minutes in 7 matches, carried 10 times for 36 meters, and made 27 tackles. National Team duties for the American Rugby Championship and team assembles in June had him unavailable for half the season. Paul was a standout prop for the SaberCats in 2018 and led to his selection for…

The Utah Warriors re-signed Angus Maclellan for the 2021 Major League Rugby season, his fourth with the club. The 28-year-old prop is 6’1″ tall and 260 lbs. During the shortened MLR season due to COVID-19, Angus started all five matches at tighthead prop. Angus played 1095 minutes in 2019 and has played in all 30 of the team’s matches since 2018. He had 2 tries, carried the ball 49 times for 224 meters, and made 109 tackles. He is the current MLR leader for the most minutes at prop. In 2018 Angus played 682 minutes, starting all nine matches and…

The Utah Warriors re-signed Franco Van den Berg for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The 24-year-old loosehead prop is 6’0″ and 265 lbs. Franco started all five matches during the truncated 2020 MLR season. During the 2019 season, he played 1013 minutes in all 16 matches, scored two tries, carried 92 times for 518 meters, and made 112 tackles. Franco is from Randburg, Gauteng, South Africa, and attended Hoërskool Randburg from 2010-2014. He then studied at the University of Pretoria in 2015, studying law. Franco played rugby in school and with the Blue Bulls since 2015 and played with…

The Utah Warriors re-signed Alex Tucci for the 2021 Major League Rugby season, his fourth with the team. The 28-year-old prop (29 in December) is 6’3″ and 255 lbs. Alex played 175 minutes in 14 matches for the Warriors in 2019. He carried 15 times for 103 meters and made 34 tackles. He was injured during the 2019 season and spent 2020 aggressively rehabilitating with the hopes of returning in 2020. COVID-19 interfered with that goal, but he is now ready to resume playing in 2021. Tucci was born in New York City in the Bronx and moved to South…