Utah Warriors salvage 2 bonus points from road loss to Los Angeles

HERRIMAN —If there is a way to build momentum from a road loss, the Utah Warriors managed something of it Sunday afternoon.

But an inability to capitalize on "moments" will have head coach Greg Cooper's club bemoaning the 5 points given up to the last-place team in the Western Conference more than the 2 points gained.

Andrew Coe scored two tries as Rugby FC Los Angeles took its first win of the season 36-32 over the Warriors, who scored two tries in the final 10 minutes to snatch a pair of bonus points from their second straight loss in a trip to Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

The bonus-point win for Los Angeles and 2 bonus points for Utah pull the two sides to an equal 1-3 overall record with 8 points after the first four rounds of Major League Rugby's 2024 season.

"We're disappointed to lose," Cooper said after the match. "We did enough to win that game in some areas, but we also did enough to lose it. We gave them easy options, and that's the frustration. Our scrum was very good today, but our lineout didn't quite function again. Getting players back who are world class is a positive, but I think the game for me was lost on soft moments and easy moments for the offseason to get points. We've got to be better than that."

Facing the club formerly known as Rugby ATL that featured former Utah standouts Niall Saunders and Jurie Van Vuuren, the Warriors were as healthy as they've been through the first month of the season with the return of Mika Kruse and Joe Mano from injury. But it was Kruse's younger brother, Isaia, who opened the scoring just six minutes in when he took an offload down the right wing for an early 5-0 lead.

Los Angeles responded with tries from Coe and Jason Damm en route to a 17-5 advantage midway through the first half. Joel Hodgson converted a penalty in the 31st minute, and Mano dotted it down four minutes later to pull Utah within 17-13 at halftime.

RFC LA opened the second half with a try just two minutes in that survived a video review, and Frank Lochore piled on another five minutes later to give the hosts a 31-13 lead on the conversion in the 49th minute.

It's the most points scored by Los Angeles since the club relocated from Atlanta prior to the season.

"It's still early in the competition," Cooper said. "We got a couple of points, but it's not what we came here to get."

Onehunga Haveli powered one over the line in the 55th minute to pull Utah back within 31-18. But Coe dove over the line in the corner for his fourth try of the season to restore the Angelenos' 36-18 lead in the 69th minute what amounted to the game-winning try.

"Words cannot describe it. This has been a monkey off our back," Coe told The Rugby Network after his team lost its first three matches by a combined 19 points. "I feel like we've had two really close games coming down to the wire, so to get that first win in front of the home fans is really unbelievable."

Saia Uhila helped push Ben Strang over the line for a try in the 75th minute that clinched a bonus point for the visitors, and Hodgson's tee-assisted conversion pulled the Warriors within 36-25.

Michael Manson then spun with the ball on a quick restart to score from inside of 20 meters for a try near the post, pulling Utah within four in the final two minutes to help clinch a second bonus point for losing by 7 points or fewer.

"Michael's playing out of position at fullback, and I thought he was outstanding today," Cooper said of the newcomer from Invercargill, New Zealand. "Joe was the same; he hasn't even been playing that long (since Mano's injury). If we can get our lineout going better and shut down those moments where an individual or two switch off, that's our frustration at the moment. I think we gave them three of those five tries they scored."

Utah has a midseason bye next week before is next match April 5 against Anthem Rugby Carolina. That match is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. MDT on KMYU and The Rugby Network.

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