Warriors to face Hounds in Home Opener

HERRIMAN, Utah (8 March 2024)— Following a tough 22-15 loss at Houston to open the 2024 Major League Rugby season, Utah Warriors coaches and players look forward to turning things around at home versus the Chicago Hounds this Saturday.

For Warriors flyhalf Joel Hodgson, the atmosphere provided by the home fans is uniquely beneficial — a fact not lost on most of his teammates.

“The boys are super excited to get out there in front of the Warrior faithful,” Hodgson said. “I’m proud to say that I haven’t experienced the level of support (in the MLR) that we have at Zions Bank (Stadium), so to be back in front of that is hugely encouraging for the boys. I don’t think the fans realize how much of a lift they can give us. It’s like we have 16 players out there.”

Joining the Warrior faithful this weekend will be Hodgson’s father, Steve Hodgson, who traveled from England last week to watch his son play versus the Sabercats and will be at Zions Bank Stadium this weekend.

“He’s probably been my biggest supporter throughout my career,” Hodgson said. “He’s the one that got me into rugby and he’s always followed me wherever I go, so it means a lot for him to make the trip over…It’s great having family here.”

Hodgson and his teammates aim to continue with the momentum they forged in the second half versus Houston, which saw them close to overcoming a 22-3 deficit. It was accomplished by tightening up their execution in set pieces, primarily, along with benefitting from the focus of better team-conditioning throughout the offseason.

“We need to get quality set pieces that we can operate out of,” said Warriors coach Greg Cooper. “And then we need to fire our punches — fire our weapons. We’ve got weapons, and we just need to fire them.”

Utah will have to make due without the services of electric backs Joe Mano and Mika Kruse this weekend, due to both players being injured, and will also likely be without newcomers Michael Manson and Spencer Jones for the same reason. While taking the field without such quality players isn’t ideal, it also presents an opportunity for those players behind them to rise to the challenge.

“I get excited about the players coming in,” Cooper said. “...We’ve got a bunch of exciting young players against a well-regarded team, and that’s the exciting thing, for me.”

Cooper is perhaps particularly excited to see how local players rise to the challenge like Kalisi Moli, Sione Mahe, Tomasi Tonga along with other players such as Jesse Hamilton.

Cooper believes the challenge presented by visiting Chicago will be a formidable one. The Hounds took it on the chin last season in their first season as a franchise, but look much improved on film, according to Cooper.

“They’re strong across the board, so we’re going to have to be on top of our game,” Cooper said. “So we’re going to have to show the fight, and the determination, and hold our ground.”

Cooper believes his team is equal to the task of holding their ground, not only versus Chicago this week, but during the week after when a very familiar Seattle Seawolves team comes to town.

“We pride ourselves (when) playing at home in our conditions,” Cooper said. “So we’re looking forward to getting a strong performance against a very good Chicago side this weekend, and then back that up against Seattle the following week.”

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UTAH WARRIORS VS CHICAGO HOUNDS

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DATE: March 9

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TIME: 2PM MST

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WHERE: ZIONS BANK STADIUM

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HOW TO WATCH: KMYU, The Rugby Network

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