Austin Gilgronis

Austin Gilgronis

Full name	Austin Gilgronis
Nickname(s)	AG's
Founded	Austin Elite (2017–2019) Austin Herd (2019–2020) Austin Gilgronis (2020–present)
Location	Austin, Texas
Ground(s)	Bold Stadium (Capacity: 5,036)
Coach(es)	Sam Harris
Captain(s)	Bryce Campbell
Top scorer	Timothée Guillimin (113)
Most tries	Hanco Germishuys (6)
League(s)	Major League Rugby
2020	11th place (regular season)
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.gilgronis.com

The Austin Gilgronis is a professional rugby union team based in Austin, Texas, United States. The team was founded in 2017 as the Austin Elite, and competes in Major League Rugby.^[1]

History[]

On 19 September 2019 after extensive polling at the end of the 2019 campaign, the team opted to rename itself the Herd. The logo remained the same although the orange color action was removed indicating a shift away from using orange for the upcoming season.^[2] Prior to the 2020 season, Adam Gilchrist and Loyals purchased the rename and renamed it the Gilgronis. The name received some negative reactions from fans.^[3]

Home field[]

The team currently plays at the Circuit of the Americas in Bold Stadium, having previously played at Dell Diamond and the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex in Round Rock, Texas.^[4]

Broadcasts[]

2021 home games are shown on KBVO. Lincoln Rose and Kit McConnico are the on-air talent.

Sponsorship[]

Season	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2018–2019	XBlades	None
2020–present

Colors and logo[]

As the Austin Herd the jersey was sky blue, black and white. The initial team logo features the stylized head of a Texas Longhorn bull with a Lone Star on its forehead. The mascot is a bull-like character named Dozer.^[5]

The team's current name, Gilgronis, is the name of a cocktail created by the owners.^[6] The home kit is orange, and the away kit is white. The current logo is the club's initials, followed by an "'s".

Players and personnel[]

Current squad[]

The Austin Gilgronis squad for the 2021 Major League Rugby season is:^[7]

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Robbie Coetzee Hooker South Africa Mason Koch Hooker United States Brendan Rams* Hooker South Africa Hugh Roach Hooker Australia Phil Hanson Prop United States Jamie Mackintosh Prop New Zealand Mason Pedersen Prop United States Paddy Ryan Prop United States Jake Turnbull Prop United States LaRome White Prop United States Kyle Breytenbach Lock South Africa Sebastian de Chaves Lock South Africa Reegan O'Gorman Lock Canada Christian Ostberg Lock United States Isaac Ross Lock New Zealand Moe Abdelmonem Flanker Canada Dom Bailey Flanker United States Michael de Waal* Flanker South Africa Maclean Jones Flanker Australia Dominic Akina Number 8 United States Cam Dodson* Number 8 England Lachlan McCaffrey Number 8 Australia

Player Position Union Pele Cowley Scrum-half Samoa Ruben de Haas Scrum-half United States Sidney Shoop Scrum-half United States Marcelo Torrealba Scrum-half Chile Will Magie Fly-half United States Kurt Morath Fly-half Tonga Bryce Campbell (c) Centre United States Ned Hodson* Centre Ireland Mack Mason Centre Australia Lui Sitama Centre United States Cole Davis Wing Canada Frank Halai Wing New Zealand Jeff Hassler Wing Canada Nick Johnson Wing United States Rodrick Waters Wing United States Zinzan Elan-Puttick* Fullback South Africa Conner Mooneyham Fullback United States David Still Fullback United States

• Senior 15s and senior 7s internationally capped players are listed in bold.
• * denotes players qualified to play for the United States on dual nationality or residency grounds.
• MLR teams are allowed to field up to ten overseas players per match.

Records[]

Season standings[]

Year	Pos	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	+/−	BP	Pts	Playoffs
Austin Elite
2018	5th	8	3	0	5	224	238	−14	6	18	Did not qualify
2019	9th	16	0	0	16	263	482	−219	5	5	Did not qualify
Austin Gilgronis
2020	11th	5	1	1	3	104	155	-6	1	7	Season cut short due to Coronavirus Pandemic

2018 season[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
March 25	San Diego Legion°	Home	Lost, 24–32
March 31	New Orleans Gold°	Away	Lost, 17–48
April 7	New Orleans Gold°	Home	Lost, 10–38
April 21	Glendale Raptors	Away	Lost, 26–41
April 28	Houston SaberCats	Away	Lost, 38–50
May 3	New Orleans Gold	Home	Won, 30–17
May 11	Utah Warriors	Away	Lost, 22–41
May 25	San Diego Legion	Home	Won, 31–5
June 1	Utah Warriors	Home	Won, 41–33
June 8	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Lost, 19–20
June 17	San Diego Legion	Away	Lost, 10–24

° = Exhibition games

2019 season[]

Exhibition[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
January 11	Houston SaberCats	Away	Won, 14–10
January 19	Dallas Reds	Away	Postponed

Regular season[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
January 26	Houston SaberCats	Home	Lost, 20–21
February 1	Utah Warriors	Home	Lost, 9–17
February 8	Toronto Arrows	Home	Lost, 19–23
February 17	Glendale Raptors	Home	Lost, 13–24
February 23	San Diego Legion	Home	Lost, 17–45
March 9	Glendale Raptors	Away	Lost, 19–38
March 16	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Lost, 17–29
March 23	New Orleans Gold	Away	Lost, 31–35
March 30	Rugby United New York	Home	Lost, 11–19
April 7	San Diego Legion	Away	Lost, 15–45
April 27	Utah Warriors	Away	Lost, 19–35
May 4	New Orleans Gold	Home	Lost, 14–26
May 9	Toronto Arrows	Away	Lost, 13–24
May 19	Rugby United New York	Away	Lost, 7–27
May 25	Houston SaberCats	Away	Lost, 15–36
June 2	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Lost, 26–38

2020 season[]

On March 12, 2020, MLR announced the season would go on hiatus immediately for 30 days due to fears surrounding the 2019–2020 coronavirus pandemic.^[9] It was cancelled the following week^[10]

Regular season[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
February 9	Toronto Arrows	Home	Lost, 10–38
February 15	Rugby United New York	Away	Lost, 31–49
February 22	Utah Warriors	Home	Draw, 20–20
February 29	Old Glory DC	Home	Lost, 19–28
March 7	Houston SaberCats	Away	Won, 24–20
March 15	San Diego Legion	Home	Cancelled
March 21	Colorado Raptors	Away	Cancelled
March 28	Rugby ATL	Home	Cancelled
April 4	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Cancelled
April 18	Utah Warriors	Away	Cancelled
April 26	Houston SaberCats	Home	Cancelled
May 3	San Diego Legion	Away	Cancelled
May 9	New England Free Jacks	Away	Cancelled
May 17	Colorado Raptors	Home	Cancelled
May 23	New Orleans Gold	Away	Cancelled
May 31	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Cancelled

2021 season[]

Regular season[]

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
Match 20	Utah Warriors	Home	Lost, 28–30
Match 28	San Diego Legion	Home	Lost, 11–14
April 3	Houston SaberCats	Home	Won, 26–0
April 10	New Orleans Gold	Away	Won, 18–15
April 17	Rugby ATL	Home	Won, 17-15
April 25	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Won, 42-15
May 8	New England Free Jacks	Away	Lost, 18-22
May 15	Rugby United New York	Home	Won, 16-9
May 19	LA Giltinis	Home	Lost, 3-17
May 29	Utah Warriors	Away	Lost, 24-45
June 5	Houston SaberCats	Away	Won, 28-9
June 12	Toronto Arrows	Home	Won, 47-21
June 20	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Won, 36-31
June 26	San Diego Legion	Away	Won, 33-14
July 10	LA Giltinis	Away	Lost, 17-31
July 17	Old Glory DC	Away	Lost, 25-29

References[]

External links[]

• Former Austin Elite official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 2019-05-18)
• Former Austin Herd official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 2020-01-28)