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# Herbst Lands Last-Minute Try to Beat Utah, Keeps Seawolves Playoff Hopes Alive
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/herbst-lands-last-minute-try-keeps-seawolf-playoff-hopes-alive/
- Published: 2025-05-13T23:13:30.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:59:27.000Z
- Author: Callaghan Bluechel
- Tags: Seawolves, Nick Boyer, Malembe Mpofu, Ina Futi, Toni Pulu, Rhyno Herbst, Rodney Iona, Dewald Kotze

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="4943"\]

![  Seattle Seawolves flanker Devin Short is lifted off his feet on a breakdown during a game against the Utah Warriors on March 22, 2025. Though Seattle lost that home match, they had a comeback win on May 12 on the road against the Warriors. Credit: Punkus Arnett/Seattle Seawolves.  ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/image001-format-original-2.jpg)

Seattle Seawolves flanker Devin Short is lifted off his feet on a breakdown during a game against the Utah Warriors on March 22, 2025\. Though Seattle lost that home match, they had a comeback win on May 12 on the road against the Warriors. Credit: Punkus Arnett/Seattle Seawolves. \[/caption\]

HERRIMAN, Utah — Even for the usually breezy Zions Bank Stadium, Monday was an especially windy one. While the air in Herriman roared consistently from one side of the pitch to the other, the wind seemed to swap sides at the drop of a hat.

Despite being on the road against one of the toughest teams in Major League Rugby, the Seattle Seawolves edged out a last-minute win that proves two things – there’s a lot of parity in 2025’s MLR standings, and Seattle is not out of the playoff conversation just yet.

Both teams dealt with serious issues throughout the match. For the Utah Warriors, it was the lineout – the home side won just a third of their home lineouts (four for twelve), with the only consistency being that they lost it in some way, by throwing too far or being on the business end of a well-placed Seawolf tip. The Seawolves, meanwhile, continued their season-long bad habit of knock-ons, suffering them both in ruck breakdowns and during passes. The visitors had many a deep drive that ended feet from the posts due to the issue.

Still, the Seawolves searched for the right balance between the extremes of predictable phases and overly risky offloads. Risky ball handling paid off for Seattle in the first half, with right wing Ina Futi’s fourth try coming off a quick ball from new scrumhalf Nick Boyer – but the Warriors had also brought one of Seattle’s quick passes all the way back a few minutes prior.

### Warriors Edge Forward in First Half

With a howling wind moving from end to end of Zions Bank, Seattle opted to have the winds behind them during the first forty minutes of the game. This ended up being a bit of a mixed blessing. Utah had trouble kicking, dropping two conversions as kicks got tossed around by the gusts, but Seattle conceded a few Utah scrums in Seawolves territory due to distance kicks shooting so far over mark that they went beyond the try zone.

The home side started off in the front seat on Monday, with an early try setting the tone and then a takeaway try off an unlucky turnover enhanced the down note. But the fear of the Warriors piling on in the early minutes did not come to pass. Instead, Seattle kept the match close going into the half.

Utah won a penalty off a high tackle in the first minute and kicked for lineout – but the wind appeared in force and nearly knocked it all the way back. The Warriors took the lineout into maul and kicked, but Seattle lost the ball to a Iona knock-on in the tackle.

The Warriors pushed at midfield the Seattle half as the fifth minute dawned and won a not rolling away penalty from the visitors that gave Utah a kick, though the wind kept the gain short. The lineout went into a maul that pushed forward a few meters before Utah scrumhalf Zion Going picked it out of the pack and rushed past Seattle scrumhalf Nick Boyer and hooker Dewald Kotze for the try. Inside center D’Angelo Leuila’s kick flew far to the right with the wind, so the score was 5-0.

It seemed like Matt Jensen would double down, but Seawolves flyhalf Rodney Iona prevented a try and Seattle won some of its first ruck spells of the game just meters from their own goal, but Iona booted a kick to midfield.

Seattle had a scrum in the 10th minute that Utah stole away before Seattle center Dan Kriel stole it right back. The Warriors won the ball back and took a lineout, but lost the ball and Seattle brought it into phases down the line.

Then the Seawolves ran forward in the 12th with a Duncan Matthews run. Seattle tighthead Juan Pablo Zeiss brought it forward some more and then wing Toni Pulu ran it almost to the try line. The Seawolves won a scrum in the 13th inside Utah’s 22 meter line and won a scrum penalty that Boyer immediately went into play with. Seawolf lock Malembe Mpofu picked it out of the ruck and jumped into the try zone to make it 7-5 Seattle.

The Warriors won a 17th minute scrum off a Iona kick that flew all the way past the try zone. The home crew crashed into a couple rucks before Boyer stole the ball off a kick. Rossouw sent a long kick that Warrior wing Nic Benn knocked on to give the Seawolves a scrum.

The visitors brought it into phases a little inside Utah territory before Iona dropped the ball on the pass and Utah had a short run of possession. Then Seattle won the ball back and took a couple lineouts, pushing forward into phases before Utah stole a Iona pass intended for Futi.

After the water break, Utah took a scrum and started pushing ahead toward midfield, and then the Seawolves took the ball away and phased it to the openside for outside center Divan Rossouw. The Seawolf meter leader had the chance for a breakaway, but then he dropped the ball while running. Warrior wing Joe Mano grabbed the loose pill and rushed into the try zone. Leuila missed the kick, so the Warrior lead was 10-7.

Seattle won a scrum almost at the try line off the kickoff due to Utah being unable to keep the ball that flew all the way to the end of the zone. Eightman OJ Noa picked it out of the scrum and rushed into the try zone, but a pile of Utah men prevented Noa from dotting it down.

The pill passed between teams over the next few minutes, going from Utah to Seattle to Utah in a series of breakdowns and scrums. Then the Warriors brought it forward to the Seawolves half with a Mano run up the side but lost it on the breakdown.

Seattle had a lineout, then lost it, then won it back, and then lost it to a knock-on in the 32nd. Leuila thundered up the field and went down in Seattle territory, dumping off to eightman Lance Williams, who sent it to fullback Jordan Trainor – who ran up the touchline into the try zone and touched it down behind the posts. Third time was the charm for Leuila, who sunk the chip shot to expand Utah’s lead to 17-7.

Seattle had a 35th minute scrum to restart after lead ref Peter Martin stepped in to stop a tussle between the sides. Boyer barely kept Going from picking the ball and then flipped it to Futi, who broke past the red and black jerseys beside him and flew into the try zone. Iona made the conversion to bring Seattle within three.

Seattle flanker Riekert Hattingh stole the ball out of a Utah lineout in the 39th and brought it across the field but conceded a late tackle penalty that allowed Utah to opt for a scrum. Nothing came from the possession despite another scrum at the end of the half — Joel Hodgson tried to send a long kick to the try zone, but it went beyond the zone and ended the half with the score Warriors 17, Seawolves 14.

### Seawolves Crash, Crash, Finally Break Through in 80th

Despite kicking into the wind for the back forty, the second half saw the Seawolves take the vast majority of the possession and the territory. Early tries by each team gave way to a 30 minute twilight period of Seattle getting one strong look in the deep attacking zone after another, but each one ending due to a ball handling error from the visitors. Aside from Utah’s 46th minute try, the home side only had one brief spell of possession deep in Seawolf territory and only one more spell of pressure. Otherwise, all the action was between midfield and the Utah five meter line.

The Warriors opened the second half by winning a penalty around midfield and launching a kick well past the 22 into touch for a lineout, but the Seawolves stole the ball away on the throw – beginning a five minute long stretch of chaotic play that ultimately ended in Utah’s favor. 

Iona kicked for some distance and Utah once again had the ball, but Seattle stole it away in a counter-ruck and then Rossouw kicked it downfield, looking for charging fullback Duncan Matthews. Benn caught up to it but never found his footing, and Seattle briefly got the ball back with another counter-ruck before Boyer lost it on a risky pass.

After a kick by Hodgson, Seattle again approached the posts with a more sustained run of ruck crashes and phases in the 43rd. Matthews charged forward, then Iona – but as loosehead Cameron Orr went down in the tackle, Williams ripped the ball back to the Warriors’ possession. The Utah kick went downfield but rolled beyond the Seattle try zone, so the ball went the other way once more for a Seattle scrum. 

The Seawolves had an excellent chance up front, but Noa struggled to get a good grip on the ball from the pick and Boyer rushed a pass to Iona on the openside – but Hodgson leapt in front of Iona, intercepted the ball, and thundered three-quarters of the way down the pitch for a 46th minute try, as one side finally got burned in the early second half’s run of chaos. Leuila made the conversion, so it was back to a 10 point lead for the Warriors.

Seattle came back with some phases past midfield in the 48th before winning an advantage in the early 49th. Utah outside center Cole Semu was sinbinned for failing to give ten meters after the advantage, and so Seattle was now a man up. 

But the game’s chaos was not over. Openside flanker Charles Elton took it in a tap-and-go, but Williams again took it away with Utah’s backs to their own posts. The Warriors took a lineout in Seattle territory but lost it on the throw, and the visitors quickly whirled it down to the openside for wing Toni Pulu, who raced up the touchline to bring it past the 22 meter line.

The Seawolves nearly lost it on a bad pass in the 51st, with Futi and Hattingh preventing the ball from going into touch. Then the visitors pushed forward once more as Cam Orr brought it almost to the ten meter line. Boyer took it out of a following scrum and sent it to Iona, then Matthews, who hurled it to Pulu on the touchline. Pulu stiff-armed Trainor on his way to the try zone in the 52nd, and Iona – a week after finding the bad side of a doink – knocked it off the left post and through the uprights for a conversion to make it a three-point game.

The score would remain at 24-21 for most of the rest of the match – but Seattle would get look after look as the minutes wore on, each thwarted by a knock-on by the Seawolves or a quick jackal by Utah.

Both teams traded knock-ons around midfield in the 55th and the Seawolves took a 56th minute scrum to the openside where Futi had a good look – but lost the ball on an attempted offload as he went down. The teams traded kicks, and Utah’s caromed past the try zone to give Seattle a scrum in the 57th. Noa picked it out and barreled to within a meter of the try line to begin a brief set of phases at goal – but prop Dewald Donald knocked it on to give Utah a scrum.

After the ensuing water break, the Seawolves again brought the ball into Utah territory, crashing forward beyond the 22 meter line by the end of the 60th. But again, the Warriors caught a break from a Seattle knock-on, this time by Hattingh as he was tackled down. 

Then Utah took a scrum – and although facing a refreshed visiting pack that brought on Devin Short for Hattingh and CC Mahoni for Mpofu – still came out with a scrum penalty. Both teams traded possession over the next few minutes with knock-ons by Seattle and bad lineouts and field play from Utah, until Trainor sent a speedy dribbling kick to the try zone in the 65th intended for Benn – but the wind sent it further forward and Matthews had to touch it down to prevent a try.

The following kick got caught in the wind and so Utah finally had a run of phases beyond Seattle’s 22 meter line in the 67th. But as Utah flanker Frank Lochore went down in the tackle, Donald pulled off a jackal to regain possession in the team’s own territory – keeping it in spite of two Utah lineouts as the last ten minutes began.

The visitors shoved past midfield before sending it to Malacchi Esdale – who had come on for Pulu due to injury after his try – on the wing. Esdale tried to send a squib kick forward but was blocked by Leuila. Utah soon won a scrum around midfield and sent it down the pitch, putting play into Seattle territory.

But Utah’s lineout chickens came home to roost in the final minutes. The home side lost another lineout – this one around Seattle’s 22 – and then the visitors whipped it around to the openside. Matthews launched a kick past the Warriors’ 22, where a pressured Trainor had to kick to touch. The Seawolf pack took the lineout into maul and then brought it through phases in the Utah danger zone. The visitors crashed through some rucks and then won a penalty advantage, which became a corner lineout in the 79th minute.

The lineout went into maul near the touchline, and Utah’s defense went into one last desperate defense. Pick-and-go play ensued at the touchline – first Short tried to barrel through but was stopped. Then it was substitute tighthead Mason Pedersen, then Kriel, then Iona. Boyer charged across and was stopped. 

About twenty seconds before time expired, Seawolf lock Rhyno Herbst picked it out of the ruck and found an opening to his left. He charged towards the zone under two Utah men and dotted it down. Though the win was already sealed, Iona made the conversion anyway.

Despite the Seawolves trying and failing time after time in front of the posts, they landed the one try they needed when it mattered most to finish off a 28-24 win.

### Nick Boyer Goes Full Eighty

Two days before the match began, the Seawolves brought on scrumhalf Nick Boyer, who had not played a minute in 2025\. The new man, a seven-year MLR veteran who had been brought on due to injuries on both scrumhalves, was immediately given the task of playing scrum during a do-or-die match – and he largely succeeded.

Other than a few slip-ups (mostly early in the match), Boyer had good coordination with his teammates and kept on his toes both against ruck defense and scrum pick attempts from the Utah side. He played for all 80 minutes of the match, and his presence in the goal line rucks as the game wound down was a key factor in the team getting the ball over the line.

Boyer’s first Seattle cap was his 76th in MLR and his 36th career start. He racked up 91 passes and two offloads.

### Seattle Dominates Lineouts, Shaky in Scrums

To say that the Warriors had a bad day in the lineout would be an understatement – usually teams that struggle from the throw-in set piece still make over half the throws. But not the Warriors, who kept just one out of every three of their lineouts. Seattle’s pack did an excellent job taking the throw away, with neither Liam Coltman nor Tu Vugakoto able to consistently keep it on the Utah side – though Vugakoto’s second half performance was shakier than Coltman’s in the first.

As always happens when an opposing team cannot sort their lineout, the Seawolves were able to use their trust in their set piece defense to gain late meters through kicks. The wind, although still too heavy for anyone to try a fully kicking-focused game plan, had calmed enough to allow some aerial play, which the Seawolves expertly used in their final drive – a drive that showcased the team’s versatility and improvements on offense.

The scrums, however, were less of a strong suit for Seattle. Although the Seawolves went with a relatively heavy forward pack (1,990 pounds or 903 kilograms), the Warriors’ front eight were still 45 pounds (20 kilograms) heavier. But it was not necessarily weight that the Seawolves struggled against, as the team’s decent showing in lineouts and mauls showed.

Seattle still, as usual, won the vast majority of their scrums, but the Warriors stole one off of the Seawolves and a couple more were awfully shaky on the visitors’ part – including the one that led to Utah’s 46th minute breakaway.

### Inside 22 Attack Clears Bar Closely

The Seawolves had possession for a little under two thirds of the match and won three quarters of the territory battle, yet only barely managed to beat the Warriors.

The primary reason for this is an issue that Seattle has fought all year – namely, losing the ball during attacking play. Some games it is penalties as well, but each match, it seems that the knock-ons are the struggle point. Most of the second half was a loop of the Seawolves putting together a promising drive, crashing forward for a few, going up the side for a few, and getting closer to the posts, only for the ball to slip out. A couple of times was due to a Warrior picking the ball in the breakdown, but most of the giveaways were simply knock-ons.

Luckily for the Seawolves, the Warriors also kept losing the ball. Their issues were different – the aforementioned lineouts were joined by a not insignificant amount of knock-ons of their own, as well as some timely Seattle jackals that ended Warrior drives. The Utah issue, however, was more that they struggled to put any meaningful attacking zone pressure on the Seawolves. When a team has to spend all their time clawing the opponent away from the goal line, eventually, there will be a leak.

And the visiting side did manage to put together a leak in the Utah shield, though it took until one of the last possible moments. 

### Rough Seas Still Ahead

The Seawolves felled their opponent in what looked like one of the toughest games on the 2025 calendar, but crunch time is not over. The team, now 5-6-1 with 33 table points, returns for a two-game homestand against the San Diego Legion on May 17 and the Houston SaberCats on May 23 – both equally tough teams to Utah, though the home field advantage will be welcome.

Not only are those two games both must-win contests (that is, unless RFCLA collapses), they must be completed shorthanded. Not only are Smith and Gallagher out at scrumhalf (though Boyer has stepped in nicely), both starting wings for Seattle – Pulu and Futi – sustained knocks before the second half water break, adding more questions to an already stretched Seawolves side. While Seattle could be looking at the return of outside back Mika Kruse from injury in the upcoming matches, these injuries are not good signs going into the last four games with slim playoff odds.