HERRIMAN — For the Utah Warriors, a storm began brewing Saturday night: the first of three matches in eight days as part of a seven-match, 35-day stretch previously unprecedented in the club’s history called “storm week.”
But first, a storm was brewing in the Warriors’ halftime locker room.
Joey Mano scored a hat trick, and Utah scored 29-unanswered points after the break to rally from a 31-12 deficit to take a 41-31 victory Saturday night over the Chicago Hounds in front of close to 5,000 fans at Zions Bank Stadium.
Mano ended the night with a match-high 15 points, D’Angelo Leuila contributed 8 points on conversion kicks, and Nic Benn totaled 5 to help the Warriors (7-2, 36 points) to their third straight win and fifth victory in the last six matches.
“When he’s on, he’s on. The crowd gets behind him, and he’s a pretty special player,” Benn said of Mano. “It’s pretty special to be on the field with a player like that, who can just turn it on.”
But first, Utah (7-2, 36 points) had to rally in 32-year-old Warriors original Angus Maclellan’s 100th cap in Major League Rugby. After Mano and Phil Bradford helped the hosts to a 12-0 lead before the12th minute, the Hounds responded with a fury.
Maclean Jones scored two tries, and the Hounds (7-3, 34 points) scored 31 straight to end the first half with a 31-12 advantage.
And the Warriors were just getting started — after a chat.
“There were a few choice words, some pretty stern words, to be honest,” Utah coach Greg Cooper said of the halftime locker room. “We started the game so well, then had some moments again. And we were pretty honest; we just asked, those last 20 minutes, was that us?
“Everybody agreed; that wasn’t us. So I asked the question, what do you want to do about it? And we did something about it.”
Tu Vugakoto helped the Warriors open the second half with three straight scores, picking up a well-executed lineup and rounding a bruising maul for a try in the 46th minute.
Moments later, Mano scored back-to-back tries in the second half, taking an offload from Joel Hodgson for one before carrying a defender over the try line for a hat trick that put Utah up 33-31 on D’Angelo Leuila’s 61st-minute conversion kick.
Benn added a try when Le’uila offloaded the ball to him near the 15-meter line in the 64th minute, and Hodgson sealed the 10-point win with a kick with two minutes left in regulation.
“When we got those two quick scores, we definitely felt the momentum shift back in our favor,” Benn said. “It’s pretty special to be able to get a good win like that against a top team, one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.
“That was probably one of the most competitive and nerve-wracking games I’ve been a part of,” he added. “You couldn’t switch off at any stage. It was pretty fast flowing, as well.”
It also may be two of the top teams in the league, and two that could be vying for a spot in the Major League Rugby championship June 28 in Rhode Island. The Hounds entered the match in second place in the Eastern Conference, just 2 points behind East-leading New England, while Utah remains just 1 point behind West-leading Houston with a game in hand.
Utah entered the season with the highest-scoring offense in the league. Chicago had the stingiest defense. And If the regular season ended today, both teams would be hosting first-round playoff games.
“It was pressure rugby. I think it went right to the end, as well,” Cooper said. “Everyone deserves a pat on the back, but for Joel Hodgson to step up in the 78th minute and kick that pressure goal — he really took the game away. Joel is an absolutely fighter, but that took a ton of courage. And he delivered.”
Utah is back home Wednesday night to host the San Diego Legion. Kickoff from Zions Bank Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m. MDT on KJZZ and ESPN+.
The Warriors then hit the road four days later, facing Old Glory DC next Sunday, May 4.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
