Last-minute try hands Utah Warriors rare home loss to Seattle

HERRIMAN — High winds and a determined Seattle desperate for points led to the Utah Warriors' second home loss of the season Monday night.

Rhyno Herbst scored a try in the final minute to help Seattle stun the Warriors 28-24 at Zions Bank Stadium.

"A lot of results just haven't gone our way this season," Seattle scrum half Nick Boyer said after the match. "But the belief has always been there. We knew we could come out here and take on one of the best teams in the league. We're really grateful to get the win, to grind it out, and move on from here.

"Frankly, our boys just got up for it. Second half, adverse conditions — the wind was howling out here, and it was pretty difficult to play into it. But I'm immensely proud of the way they overcame adversity and a bit of a deficit."

Two bonus points for scoring four tries and losing by 7 points or fewer inched Utah (8-0-4, 44 points) back ahead of Houston (8-4, 42 points) for first place in Major League Rugby's Western Conference. The Warriors and Sabercats meet Saturday with everything to gain at 6 p.m. MDT in Houston.

But before that, Utah hosted the Seawolves, who ranked fifth out of five teams in the West with just 28 points on a 4-6-1 overall record.

Make that 5-6-1 now and just 2 points behind RFC Los Angeles for fourth.

"Obviously, there's a bit of disappointment and frustration as well," said Warriors back Joel Hodgson, who scored one of Utah's four tries in the club's second-straight loss. "It was pretty windy today, and I thought the first half in terms of what we produced and the game plan was pretty faultless, at times. But it kept them within touching distance.

"In the second half, we just couldn't get our game going. Our set piece, which is normally so consistent for us, just couldn't get that into the game. All credit to Seattle; they stuck in it, held out, and managed to get us at the end."

Zion Going opened the scoring less than six minutes into the match, breaking a tackle around the 30-meter line and sprinting near the left corner before dotting it down.

Malembe Mpofu scored off a penalty in the 13th minute, scoring under the post for an automatic conversion that put the Seawolves up 7-5.

The Warriors responded with back-to-back tries, first from Joey Mano off a turnover in the 23rd minute before Lance Williams found Jordan Trainor with an offload 10 minutes later to go up 17-7.

But first-half wind gusts as strong as 50 miles per hour led directly to two missed conversions for Utah, and Lauina Futi scored less than five minutes before the end of the half to cut Seattle's deficit to 17-14 at the break.

Hodgson jumped a pass for an interception and returned it like a cornerback running faster than the wind in the 46th minute for a try.

"I was just lucky that their No. 9 fumbled it a bit and then tried to still throw the pass," Hodgson said. "I was able to get the pick; if it was 10 more meters, I'm not sure I would've got there. But thankfully it was the distance it was, and I managed to get over the whitewash for the score."

After a yellow card sent Utah's Cole Semu to the Sin Bin for 10 minutes, Toni Pulu scored and Rod Iona converted to pull the Seawolves back within three, 24-21 in the 52nd minute.

The final 20 minutes included a goal-line drop penalty against Seattle in the 67th minute and the visitors advancing into the attacking third with less than five minutes to play, which led to Herbst's try in the seconds to give the Seawolves five points to stay within striking distance of their own playoff hopes with four matches to play.

"Now it's just an opportunity to get ourselves right," Hodgson said, "and go after Houston next week and get back on the horse that way."

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