Utah Back in the Win Column After Hot and Humid Battle in NOLA

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MLR Utah Warriors

Utah Back in the Win Column After Hot and Humid Battle in NOLA

May 26, 2025 - Major League Rugby (MLR)
Utah Warriors News Release


The Utah Warriors returned to their winning ways on Saturday with a 31-28 win over the NOLA Gold.

After incurring three straight losses, the Warriors regained a lot of the form they showed at the beginning of the season in taking a tough win in humid conditions against a NOLA team desperate to make a late run at a spot in the playoffs.

"It was hot and humid and against a team that probably couldn't afford to drop that match," said Warriors Coach Greg Cooper. "It was also the first time we've won at NOLA, so there were a lot of positives."

Utah has been at its best this season when scoring early, and set the pace on Saturday, scoring the game's first 19 points within the game's first 20 minutes.

Leading off the scoring was forward Dylan Nel dotting the ball down in the try zone with Joel Hodgson adding the conversion kick. Six minutes later saw Frank Lochore score a try which was made possible by a brilliant long run-out and off-load from Nolan Tuamoheloa. Topping off the early scoring was Liam Coltman scoring a try in the 17th minute off of a well-executed maul.

NOLA responded with a try before Tuamoheloa answered with a try of his own in the 22nd minute to give Utah a 26-7 lead.

Tuamoheloa was asked to play one of the wing positions due to several injuries and suspensions that kept standout backs like D'Angelo Leuila and Jordan Trainor out of the lineup. Tuamoheloa replaced Nic Benn at the No. 14 position while Benn replaced Trainor at the fullback spot.

"I thought the backs did remarkably well considering there was some inexperience there," Cooper said. "We obviously have a lot of players who have been missing for a while, and then we lost Jordy Trainor and D'Angelo and I thought all the players that came in there really performed well."

Cooper has stated throughout the season the pleasure he receives as a coach seeing seldom-used players step up when asked, which is exactly what he felt Tuamoheloa did on Saturday along with his other backs.

"It was nice to see Nolan on the wing have such a strong performance," Cooper said. "Nic hasn't played at fullback this year and all the backs really stood up when they needed to today."

Also playing strong was veteran Paul Lasike, who has been used primarily this season as a late substitute, but stepped up in place of Leuila at the No. 12 position to log a very strong 60 plus minutes of play.

Joel Hodgson topped off Utah's strong first half with a try scored in the 36th minute courtesy of a great long run and subsequent offload from Zion Going. The try gave the Warriors a commanding 31-14 lead at the half, which proved essential in order to come away with the win.

The second half saw Utah's overall execution prove not as effective as NOLA made a great run in scoring the game's final 14 points. But due to the brilliant play in the first half, Utah proved to have just enough to stave off the home team's run to come away with a five-point win.

"It's nice to come out on top of a game that's tight like this because we've had a couple go against us," Cooper said. "But that's rugby. It happens to a lot of teams and I've always said that what matters most is what happens at the end of the game and what the championship table is telling you."

With the win Utah improves to 9-5 on the season and tied with the Houston Sabercats on top of the Western Conference standings with just two games remaining on the season.



Major League Rugby Stories from May 26, 2025


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