Addition of Nicklas Boyer Was Key to Seawolves’ Unlikely Playoff Push
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Seawolves scrumhalf Nicklas Boyer lands a key try in Seattle’s 14-9 win over the Houston SaberCats on May 23, 2025. Credit: Punkus Arnett/Seattle Seawolves. [/caption]
For much of his career, Nicklas Boyer was on the losing end of late Seawolves magic. This season, he was instrumental in creating it. Boyer, 32, has played in every MLR season since the beginning of the league in 2018.
Boyer’s first season culminated in the MLR playoff game on June 30, 2018, as he went all eighty minutes for his San Diego Legion in the Semifinal against the Seattle Seawolves. Seattle won that match 38-24 to book their winning ticket to the inaugural MLR final.
The very next year, Boyer again faced off against Seattle in a win-or-go-home playoff game — this time the MLR final. He played as the Legion’s left wing and again went all eighty minutes, scoring a try in the 52nd minute on the way to a 20-14 Legion lead going into the last ten minutes.
But in one of, if not the most exciting outcomes in MLR history, Seattle struck back. First came a Riekert Hattingh try to get within one. After Legion flyhalf Joe Pietersen kicked a drop goal to widen the lead, Seattle lock Brad Tucker scored a legendary last-minute try to confirm Seattle’s second straight MLR championship.
Boyer played the COVID-shortened 2020 season with the Raptors before notching three seasons with the Houston SaberCats and returning to the Legion for the 2024 season. But for the first twelve weeks of the 2025 season, he was unsigned by any MLR team.
This was despite being a strong player. He is an aggressive scrumhalf who often takes a few extra yards on his own runs coming out of the ruck, with a good ability to utilize chaos and break tackles.
According to Seawolves head coach Allen Clarke, he had been looking for a potential third scrumhalf as reinforcement and potential injury cover for JP Smith and Brock Gallagher for some time during the season. But the talks heated up rapidly after both Smith and Gallagher suffered injuries during Seattle’s 26-26 tie against Los Angeles on May 2.
“Clarkie called my agent about March, maybe, to say he might be interested in bringing me in,” Boyer said. “I didn’t hear back for a couple months, then all of a sudden, Clarkie started talking to me [again] that week where JP and Brock both went down.”
Boyer flew into Seattle on Wednesday, May 7, in time for a couple of training sessions with the Seawolves. He and the team had a scare immediately, with Boyer suffering some hamstring tightness coming off the plane.
But the scrumhalf recovered quickly during training and was officially signed to the Seawolves on Saturday, May 10, just two days before a do-or-die road match against the powerful Utah Warriors. At this point in the season, the Seawolves were 4-6-1 with 28 points in the table, far enough below the other four Western sides to need a massive winning streak to go back into the playoffs.
That Monday, May 12, was a tremendously windy evening in Herriman. Seattle’s new signing was now the starting nine on the roster. He surprised Utah with an intense, quick, and at times chaotic (though not uncontrolled) play style. Boyer’s creativity on the ball wore down the Warriors as minutes passed, the scrumhalf not losing a beat as he tore through all eighty minutes of that game.
In at the death with his new team down three points, Boyer found himself and the Seawolves fiercely knocking on the door. He organized a last-minute push, looking to chase the Warrior defense into breaking just enough for a comeback-sealing try. And with less than a minute left, Rhyno Herbst, the big lock, was able to pick and run into the try zone to win it.
Boyer meshed very quickly with his new teammates, something he credits to the confidence of his teammates in the face of their long odds as well as the organizational culture of the Seawolves.
“We were bottom of the table. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but all the guys had their tails high. I saw the quality in the team immediately,” Boyer said. “When you have guys like that around you, it’s really easy to step in, just do your job — and that’s all I did. I said, ‘I’m gonna come in, I’m gonna move the ball quickly and let these boys play.’”
And the Seawolves went on the thunder run they needed to. First, they pounced on a slipping San Diego Legion team for a 29-25 win at home. Boyer started that game too, playing the first 73 minutes before being subbed out for a now-healthy Gallagher. Then he played 67 minutes of the next match, scoring a try in Seattle’s close 14-9 win against the Houston SaberCats.
At this point, Seattle was close to catching the Legion for fourth place in the West. Two more matches remained, but the first shaped up to be a gauntlet: Going on the road to face the defending (and eventual three-peat) MLR champion New England Free Jacks.
JP Smith was back in the lineup for that match, but Boyer was on the gameday roster and played much of it. Seattle went down 31-15 by the 60th minute, but Boyer once again provided a spark to the offense as they got the score to 37-30 by the final whistle. Not enough for a win, but enough for the two points to inch ahead of San Diego by one point in the table with one week left.
The Legion got all five points from their game and had the tiebreaker over Seattle, so the Seawolves had to return the favor with a win and four tries at home against the Miami Sharks. And from a first-minute try by lock Malembe Mpofu to Boyer touching the ball down in the 78th, that’s what they did, working through some penalties and yellow cards on the way to a resounding 42-17 victory to win the final playoff spot. Boyer, who came on in the 68th minute for center Divan Rossouw, noted the buzzing atmosphere in the locker room before the deciding game.
“It’s always a good thing when you control your own destiny, and we knew we had our playoff chances in our own hands,” Boyer said. “I’m very happy to come on, make an impact, and be able to close that game out.”
In the Western Conference semifinals, however, Seattle’s luck ran out. Utah ran up a 17-0 lead at halftime and Seattle’s valiant comeback attempt fell short by two points as the final drive ended on a bad lineout throw.
Boyer played just six matches for the Seattle Seawolves this season, but that had no dampening effect on his enjoyment of the team.
“Every team is different, and it’s tough to replicate a culture across a different team. I will say, this is probably one of my favorite cultures to be a part of, and I’ve played a lot of rugby,” Boyer said. “Everyone is just themselves. The reason why I was able to fit in and help the team have some success early on is because these guys made it easy.”
Although it is currently unknown if Boyer will return to the Seawolves for 2026, it’s undeniable that the 2025 team owes much of its final stretch to Boyer’s arrival.
