Major League Rugby: Five takeaways as New Zealander helps Utah Warriors ‘realise their potential’ while wild weather causes Playoff first
Frank Lochore is embraced by Utah forwards coach Robbie Abel. (Image credits Davey Wilson and Oscar Herrera)
As first weekends of knockout rugby go, the Major League Rugby (MLR) Conference Semifinals certainly brought a bit of everything.
Over three days the Chicago Hounds, Utah Warriors, New England Free Jacks and Houston SaberCats staked their claim in the competition’s final four.
With the Conference Finals now on the horizon, here are five takeaways as professional North American rugby got more intense.
Free Jacks ooze class on way to fourth Conference Final
For a fourth year in a row the New England Free Jacks will host the Eastern Conference Final.
On Sunday night the back-to-back champions beat the Miami Sharks 32-10 at Veterans Memorial Stadium to ensure their hopes of winning an unprecedented treble remained alive.
Ryan Martin’s side opened the scoring after just 20 seconds after the team retained the ball from the kick-off and a Ben LeSage break led to Paula Balekana scoring his 12th try of 2025.
It was not all New England’s way. Miami gave a more than admirable account of themselves in their postseason debut but were unable to compete with the Free Jacks’ familiarity with knockout rugby.
Able to consistently absorb Sharks pressure and snuff out attacks for the try-line, it was a masterclass from these giants of knockout rugby to lock up another week at home.
Warriors flourish to register first postseason win
The Utah Warriors’ first ever Playoff game was nothing short of a fairytale.
Greg Cooper’s top seeds registered a 23-21 win over the Seattle Seawolves at Zions Bank Stadium to not only wrap up their first Playoffs win, but a return home for the Western Conference Final.
Jordan Trainor’s brace of tries went a long way to securing the win, while the kicking of former Newcastle Falcons playmaker, Joel Hodgson, and Samoa international, D’Angelo Leuila, did the rest of the work.
It did not all go Utah’s way as second-half yellow cards for Trainor and Spencer Jones opened the door to a Lauina Futi double.
For a team that has consistently proved themselves to have the talent, a lot of it produced locally, in many ways it was a relief to see Utah progress and finally start realising their potential.
Hounds set up date with New England
Chris Latham’s Chicago Hounds enjoyed a dominant second half to beat Old Glory DC 27-16 at SeatGeek Stadium.
Having trailed 16-10 at half-time, second-half tries from Charlie Abel and Ignacio Peculo, and Chris Hilsenbeck’s accuracy from the tee, put the Midwesterners out of sight.
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For a second year in a row Chicago will contend with New England for the chance to become Eastern Conference champions.
Losers of that contest 23-17 a year ago, it is safe to say that the Hounds can take plenty of heart from that performance and are now a better team.
You could argue there is an element of New England about them. They possess a depth where any player in the squad is capable of stepping into the first XV, a team spirit that carries the side or supreme confidence, it adds up to a mouthwatering clash next Saturday.
Wild weather makes life difficult
On Sunday night a Playoff game was postponed for the first time in MLR history.
When a storm system set in over the Houston SaberCats’ SaberCats Stadium ahead of the Texans’ clash with Rugby Football Club Los Angeles, the heavy rain and lightning strikes ultimately led to the game being postponed and hosted just shy of 24 hours later.
The reason that this has made this article is; if this game was being hosted anywhere else, just how the game would have taken place is unclear.
In what is still a developing competition the majority of teams do not own their own stadiums.
In the case of Houston they own the second purpose-built rugby stadium in the USA and were able to host the fixture the next day. For a team that does not have that ability, things could have been a nightmare.
SaberCats finally get Playoff win with physical performance
After dealing with a 22-hour kick-off delay the Houston SaberCats got their first postseason win against Rugby Football Club Los Angeles.
Playing on a heavy field that had been battered with rain the day before, it was hard going at times for both teams, but it was Houston that live to fight another day thanks to a 27-21 win.
Remarkably it is the first time that Pote Human’s team had ever picked up a postseason win at the fourth time of asking.
Calling on the physicality that helped them to second place in the Western Conference in the regular season, the Texas club saw Pita Anae-Ah Sue dot down twice, as did Rufus McLean and Max Schumacher.
With a date against the Utah Warriors coming on Saturday in the Western Conference Final, the SaberCats’ next challenge is recovering quickly for another big game.