All in! RFCLA head to Utah to clinch Top seed
With a playoff berth already secured, Rugby Football Club Los Angeles (RFCLA) travel to Zions Bank Stadium this Saturday, June 7, for a Western Conference showdown with the Utah Warriors. The stakes remain high: a win in this final regular season fixture will set the stage for a home playoff match, and the top seed in the West.
RFCLA earned their spot in the postseason last weekend with a 43-32 victory over Old Glory DC in a high-octane clash on the East Coast. Despite early injuries and windy conditions that made kicking tough, the LA side surged ahead with seven tries from six different players, underlining the squad’s depth, power, and attacking creativity.
“It’s always a big goal to make the finals,” said Head Coach Steve Hoiles after the win. “But now we’ve got the chance to take it further. A win this weekend gives us the opportunity to host in front of our fans, which is massive.”
Billy Meakes guided the midfield with experience and control, while Andrew Coe and Reece Macdonald continued to shine in both attack and defense and are all on the roster for this week.
“I think it's a lot more than that.” Says Assistant Coach Sam Harris when being asked if putting up a strong team against Utah is about taking the number 1 spot and securing home ground advantages for week one of the playoffs.
“Like that's one prize on the mantle for it, but you know, it's also to continue the momentum that we have. The travel to Utah is not huge for us, we've managed the weeks well with training load and I don't think there's any question of us running out of steam even if we go into this game full noise.
"So we definitely want to finish as high as we can. We definitely want a home final. We definitely want the mental edge over Utah going into the finals. There's a lot there's a lot that goes into it and there's a lot at stake, but at the end of the day, we just want to get the W and we want to give ourselves the best chance to finish well in the finals.”
RFCLA currently sit second in the West, with the potential to finish as high as first or as low as third depending on results across the league. This final matchup against Utah, who currently lead the conference, is more than just a formality - it’s a potential playoff preview and a chance to make a statement before the knockout rounds begin
RFCLA Team to face the Utah Warriors, Saturday, June 7 at 6PM PST, at Zion Stadium, Utah
- Franco Van Den Berg
- Mike Sosene Fengai
- Maliu Niuafe
- Jason Damm
- Jurie Van Vuuren
- Timothy Anstee
- Matt Heaton
- Ben Houston
- Gonzalo Bertranou
- Christian Leali'ifano
- Seth Purdy
- William Meakes
- Nicholas Chan
- Andrew Coe
- Reece Macdonald
- Ben Sugars
- Tim Ohlwein
- Dan Zander
- Reegan Ogorman
- Semi Kunitani
- Tas Smith
- Christian Dyer
- Matias Jenson
Join Club 24! A new membership offering of RFCLA which was founded in '24! Find out more!
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