Struggling Seawolves Seek Turnaround Against Tough Warriors
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Several Seawolves pile together in a ruck during a 27-24 win against the New England Free Jacks on March 8, 2025. Credit: Punkus Arnett [/caption]
The 2025 season has not started well for the Seattle Seawolves. The first game of the season saw Seattle thumped by the San Diego Legion, while the second was a back-and-forth match that slipped through the Seawolves’ fingers in the last 10 minutes. Seattle came back with a roaring win at home against the New England Free Jacks in their third game, but then lost a winnable game on the road against RFC Los Angeles.
Seattle has struggled to replace some of its notable offseason losses, with a newfound inconsistency at flyhalf and hooker with the departure of Mack Mason and Joe Taufete’e. The Seawolves have also played whack-a-mole with a smorgasbord of other struggles in 2025, from struggling at the try line and letting through destructive breakaways to inconsistent lineouts and muffed kicks. Seattle has caromed between undermanned rucks and overcrowded rucks and been hampered by subpar passing accuracy.
However, there have been several bright spots. Despite inconsistent passing in the lineouts, the Seawolves have done well in the mauls, gaining significant yardage through them and converting several into tries. In the scrum, Seattle has done its job, making other teams pay for sloppy play by winning the scrums when they have the put-in.
Seattle also has several standout players despite the rough start. Loosehead prop Cam Orr already has three tries in four starts and was named to the MLR Team of the Week in Week 4. Devin Short has been a stalwart flanker with 52 tackles (leading the Seawolves and 16th in MLR) and a try in four starts, while his counterpart Huw Taylor has been solid with 45 tackles and a try of his own. Divan Rossouw is following up on his standout 2024 campaign with the beginnings of another strong season – he is fourth in MLR in meters gained with 277 and already has two tries. Duncan Matthews is as solid as ever, with 146 meters gained and a try in three games.
The last time the Warriors fought the Seawolves, it was a 68-29 10-try massacre at Starfire. Historically, Seattle has Utah’s number, with 8 wins, 1 draw, and 3 losses against the Warriors. However, Utah has started the 2025 season on a hot streak. After missing the playoffs in 2024, Utah brought on multiple new players from overseas – including from some of the top leagues in the world – to bolster the roster. It has paid off so far, with the Warriors sporting a 3-1 record and scoring 153 points while giving up 108. They currently sit at second in the Western Conference with 15 table points, only behind the undefeated San Diego Legion.
The Warriors’ roster is headlined by several standouts. At hooker, journeyman Liam Coltman, who played in 10 Super Rugby seasons from 2013 through 2022 for the Highlanders before moving to Lyon OU Rugby for two seasons, is getting the start for Utah. Next to him are props Aki Seiuli, a loosehead who played in five United Rugby Championship seasons before coming to Utah, as well as Tonga Kofe, a mountainous tighthead in his second season with the Warriors. Utah’s engine room pairs Frank Lochore, whose 221 tackles were the second-most of all MLR players in 2024, with Gavin Thornbury, a 6-8 Irishman who is in his first year with Utah after seven seasons with Connacht in the United Rugby Championship.
Moving to the back row, the flankers are Bailey Wilson, who has accumulated 2074 meters in 70 games since 2020 with Utah, and Kalisi Moli, a second-year Warrior who has started each of Utah’s first four games. Rounding out the forward pack is eightman Dylan Nel, who played in Japan, Super Rugby, and the National Provincial Championship (NPC) before coming to the Warriors in 2024 and putting up 759 meters, 128 tackles, and 2 tries in 11 games. Though up-to-date weights for Utah’s players are not listed, the Warriors’ forward pack weighs an estimated 2,015 pounds (914 kilograms).
The Warriors’ backs are headlined by the pair of flyhalf Joel Hodgson, who racked up 100-tackle, 100-point years in both his previous seasons with the Warriors, and inside center D’Angelo Leuila, an internationally capped Samoan who played three years for Moana Pasifika in Super Rugby before joining Utah in 2025. Leuila currently has 11 conversions and two penalty kicks in his inaugural Warriors season, starting the first three games at flyhalf before moving to inside center last week. At outside center is Kyle Brown, who signed with Utah in 2025 after some seasons in the NPC.
The scrumhalf will be Zion Going, who has played 38 games with Utah since 2022. Utah’s pair of wings are Joe Mano, a journeyman Warrior with 30 tries (1 automatic conversion), 3088 meters gained, and 200 tackles in 42 games over five seasons – including a league-leading 5 tries in 2025 – and Nic Benn, who has also started 2025 hot with 3 tries, 149 meters gained, and 23 tackles in four matches and three starts. Finishing out the backs is fullback Jordan Trainor, whose three tries and 352 meters gained in four games and three starts in 2025 put him on pace for a standout year.
On the bench, the Warriors will have hooker Tuvere Vugakoto (wearing #16), props Fred Apulu (#17) and Angus MacLellan (#18), lock Matt Jensen (#19), former Seawolf Reid Davis (#20) for flanker or lock, scrumhalf Logan Crowley (#21), and centers Paul Lasike (#22) and Spencer Jones (#23).
In the front row for Seattle, the props will be Cam Orr at loosehead and JP Zeiss at tighthead, while Kerron van Vuuren will be the starting hooker. Rhyno Herbst and Malembe Mpofu are in the Seawolves engine room, while the back row will consist of flankers Huw Taylor and Devin Short as well as eightman and captain Riekert Hattingh to round out the forward pack, which has a combined weight of 1,978 pounds (897 kilograms).
JP Smith, as usual, will be the starting scrumhalf for the Seawolves. In a reversal of the previous three matches, Rodney Iona will be the flyhalf while Eddie Fouché will get the start at inside center. Divan Rossouw will be the outside center, while the starting wings will be Mika Kruse and Toni Pulu, the latter of which is getting his first 2025 start. Matthews will round out the starting lineup at fullback.
Available as substitutions will be hooker Dewald Kotze (#16), props Dewald Donald (#17) and Mason Pedersen (#18), lock Isaiah Lotawa (#19), Olajuwon Noa (#20) for the back row, scrumhalf Brock Gallagher (#21), center David Busby (#22) and wing Malacchi Esdale (#23). Dan Kriel, longtime powerhouse center for the Seawolves who has not been part of the available 23 since playing all eighty minutes in the first game of 2025 – is still absent from the lineup.
The Seawolves have several sore points that they will need to iron out in order to beat the Warriors. On the rucks, the Seawolves have struggled to find the sweet spot. Early on in the season, they undermanned the rucks, resulting in the players getting pushed around and risking losing the ball. In recent games, they have struggled with overmanning the rucks, taking a long time to get the ball out – all while still lacking the cohesion to keep the opponent from shoving the team backwards. They will need to clean up their play here, especially in the face of the Warriors’ 2000-pound forward pack.
Seattle has also struggled with accuracy on the lineouts and kicks. Both van Vuuren and Kotze have had issues with throwing accurate lineouts – and both have had games where they’ve been on the money. Kicking has also been a nagging problem that doesn’t present an obvious solution, with both Iona and Fouché having rough days and solid ones. In total, Seattle has muffed six conversions and two penalties, losing 18 potential points.
Needless to say, the stronger parts of the Seawolves’ game – scrums, mauls, and individual standouts – will be tested much further by the Warriors than they have been since Seattle’s loss to the Legion in Round 1. But if Seattle is going to make it back to the playoffs, they will have to turn the season around soon – and Saturday would be a good time to start shifting momentum.
