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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Warriors were down several key bodies, but never found themselves out in a pivotal road match at Houston.
Former Newcastle flyhalf Joel Hodgson converted three kicks from the penalty spot, and Connor McLeod, Caleb Makene and Cliven Loubser each scored a try to help the Warriors to their third-straight win, 30-24, Saturday night at SaberCats Stadium in Houston.
The win handed Houston its first home loss of the season as the Warriors improved to 5-2 on the year — equal in record to the SaberCats and just 4 bonus points behind in fourth place in Major League Rugby's Western Conference.
"I'm incredibly proud of the guys, because Houston are a very good side," an elated Utah coach Greg Cooper said after the match. "We had to meet their muscle with our muscle, and our forwards were superb.
"When we attacked, we looked dangerous. We didn't get a lot of ball, and we'll get that right. But an outstanding performance."
McLeod added the win was "massive," coming on the road, at a conference rival, with so many reasons to hang heads — including injuries.
"We came in with an underdog mindset," the scrum half from New Zealand added. "Houston are up there on the table, but we did our review and were quietly confident coming over that we could get stuck in.
"Bit of a shame that we couldn't get a bonus point … but I'm really glad we got the win."
Utah (5-2, 22 points) was missing a number of starters, including team captain Paul Lasike, leading try scorer Joe Mano, and starting lock Jamie Lane. The Warriors also played the final moments shorthanded, with lock Saia 'Uhila sidelined with a penalty.
No matter.
"I think we're used to it; we get so many yellow cards in a week," McLeod joked after the match. "But games like that, it just gives us belief in each other. … When that happens, we just have to dig a bit deeper. Our scrum stood up today."
HALFTIME ⚡️@utwarriorsrugby in the lead over @Hou_Sabercats, 17-10 in Texas. Check out the full highlights!
— Major League Rugby (@usmlr) April 9, 2023
🎥 @therugbynetwork | #HOUvUTAH | #MLR2023pic.twitter.com/STrg5H44NT
After falling behind 7-3, McLeod took an offload that started with Mika Kruse on the wing under the bar for an automatic 7 points midway through the first half.
Makene doubled the try count to give Utah a 17-10 halftime advantage.
Loubser extended the lead with a short try out of a scrum in the 57th minute, and Hodgson's third penalty kick of the match a few moments later stretched the lead to 30-10.
The SaberCats scored two tries in the final 10 minutes, including Nicklas Boyer touch-down in the 78th minute.
But the front line held firm in the final moments, including holding up a tackle on a late gamewinner that fell just wide of the corner flag in the closing seconds of the match.
"It was nerve-wracking, because we shouldn't really have been in that position," Cooper said. "They came back hard, and I understand why. They're always going to be hard … but we didn't deserve to lose that game at all. We were clearly the better team on the day."
The Warriors are back at Zions Bank Stadium next Saturday, April 15 to face Seattle. Kickoff against the West-leading Seawolves is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MDT on KMYU and The Rugby Network.
