Utah Warriors face Houston in MLR Western Conference Finals after historic playoff win

Orem • It started with 20-pound vests and a snowy hike up Ensign Peak one day in January.

The players of the Utah Warriors — the state’s Major League Rugby team — were tasked with running up the trail, a 380-foot climb over about a mile, to an overlook of the Salt Lake Valley.

Some found the trek easy. Others struggled to make it up the peak.

“We have some big boys,” Warriors head coach Greg Cooper said.

But, with a bit of camaraderie, everyone made it to the top.

“The other players that are smaller were actually grabbing [people’s] vests and helping [them] up there,” Cooper recounted.

Six months later, the Warriors are climbing another mountain.

Utah will face the Houston SaberCats in the MLR Western Conference Finals on Saturday, one win away from the championship game. The Warriors won their first franchise playoff game in the quarterfinals last week.

Cooper saw this coming in the offseason.

“We focused heavily on the unity of the people that will come together and fight for the team, fight for the community, fight for Utah,” he said. “[We want to] create a bit of history.”

The players say their motivation stems from their disappointing 5-11 record in 2024.

“I think the main thing was getting three to four main players who could get the team to start bonding well,” 32-year-old prop Aki Seiuli said.

Tonga Kofe, another Utah player, added: “All those activities just made us go to a dark place and get tired. When you’re that tired, the only thing you can do is look to your left and right and rely on each other.”

Utah is now in the playoffs, set to face a Houston team it lost twice to during the MLR regular season.

“They had a fast start in both games,” Kofe said. “But we can’t think we’re out of it. We have to stay in the game, keep our head down and work.”

Cooper says it’s rewarding to have another chance to take down Houston in an elimination game.

“Doing this well, it’s a reward for the hard work,” he said. “There’s some lessons we learned out of that, too. So we know that we’ll be better for it.

“We’ve got to win more battles. We’ve got to stay in more battles. If we get into a position of control ... then it’s about maintaining that control.”

With a championship berth on the line, the Warriors hope to make some more history with a win, using the same formula that got them up Ensign Peak.

“I think all this hard work we’ve put in is finally going to be put to the test,” Kofe said. “I’m confident in our team. If we’re able to nail our details, I think we’ll have a positive outcome.”