Austin Gilgronis

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

Austin Gilgronis

Full name	Austin Gilgronis
Nickname(s)	AG's
Founded	Austin Elite (2017–2019) Austin Herd (2019–2020) Austin Gilgronis (2020–2022)
Disbanded	2022
Location	Austin, Texas
Ground(s)	Bold Stadium (Capacity: 5,036)
Coach(es)	Sam Harris
Captain(s)	Bryce Campbell
Top scorer	Mack Mason (118)
Most tries	Hugh Roach (8)
League(s)	Major League Rugby
2022	1st (Western Conference)
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.gilgronis.com
Current season

History

 

Historical Austin Elite logo 2017–2019.

On September 19, 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 LLC purchased the team and renamed it the Gilgronis, a reference to a yet-to-be-produced cocktail based on the Negroni, although the eponymous cocktail appears to just be a negroni with a different name. The name was met with significant backlash from fans.^[3] Under Gilchrist's ownership, the team's record improved and the team clinched a playoff berth in its 2022 season before being disqualified from the postseason by MLR for "violating league rules".^[4] In October 2022, MLR announced that the Gilgronis and the LA Giltinis (both owned by Adam Gilchrist) had been expelled from the league for unspecified reasons.^[5] It appears Gilchrist could no longer financially sustain ownership and that the teams have since folded.

Home field

The team most recently played 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.^[6]

Broadcasts

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

Sponsorship

Season	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2018–2019	XBlades	None
2020–2021	Paladin Sports
2022		Ascension Seton

Colors and logo

The Austin Gilgronis jersey was black, orange, and white. The mascot was a gray fox character named Austin Gray. Gray foxes inhabit central Texas, and Austin Gray's initials were AG; matching that of the team.

The Austin Herd 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 was a bull-like character named Dozer.^[7]

The team's final name, Gilgronis, was supposedly the name of a cocktail created by the owners, but that cocktail doesn't seem to exist and the name was more likely an amalgamation of the owners name (Gilchrist) and the popular pre-existing cocktail called the negroni.^[8] The home kit was orange, and the away kit was white. The last logo was just the club's initials.

Players and personnel

Current squad

For player movements before and during the 2022 season, see List of 2021–22 Major League Rugby transfers § Austin Gilgronis.

The Austin Gilgronis squad for the 2022 Major League Rugby season was:^[9]

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union Robbie Coetzee Hooker   South Africa Mason Koch Hooker   United States Hugh Roach Hooker   Australia Mason Pedersen Prop   United States Fakaʻosi Pifeleti Prop   United States Payton Telea-Ilalio Prop   United States Jake Turnbull Prop   United States Namatahi Waa Prop   New Zealand LaRome White Prop   United States Jeff Steele Prop   United States Mika Felix Prop   New Zealand Sebastian de Chaves Lock   South Africa Cam Dodson* Lock   England Christian Ostberg Lock   United States Isaac Ross Lock   New Zealand Khalid Cannon Lock   United States Luke Beauchamp Back row   Australia Kyle Breytenbach Back row   United States Michael de Waal* Back row   South Africa Maclean Jones Back row   Australia Lachlan McCaffrey Back row   Australia Casey McDermott Vai Back row   New Zealand Ronan Murphy Back row   United States

Player Position Union Pele Cowley Scrum-half   Samoa Ryan Louwrens Scrum-half   South Africa Sidney Shoop Scrum-half   United States Will Magie Fly-half   United States Mack Mason Fly-half   Australia Dominic Akina Centre   United States Bryce Campbell (c) Centre   United States Chris Mattina Centre   United States Mark O'Keeffe* Centre   Ireland Julián Domínguez Wing   Argentina Conner Mooneyham Wing   United States Caleb Strum Wing   United States Mende Carlton Wing   United States Nick Taylor Wing   Canada Marcel Brache Fullback   United States Zinzan Elan-Puttick* Fullback   South Africa

• Senior 15s 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.

Head coaches

•   Alain Hyardet (2018–2019) ^[10]
•   Brent Semmons (2020)
•   Sam Harris (2021–2022)

Assistant coaches

•   Mark Gerrard (2021–2022)

Captains

• Andrew Suniula (2018)
• Ben Mitchell (2019)
• Zinzan Elan-Puttick (2020)
• Bryce Campbell (2021–2022)

Records

Season standings

Season	Conference	Regular season										Postseason
		Pos	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	+/−	BP	Pts	Pld	W	L	F	A	+/−	Result
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
2020^[a]	Western	5th	5	1	1	3	104	155	-51	1	7	–	–	–	–	–	–	Cancelled
2021	Western	3rd	16	9	0	7	389	317	+72	11	47	–	–	–	–	–	–	Did not qualify
2022	Western	1st	16	12	0	4	475	229	+246	9	58	–	–	–	–	–	–	Disqualified ^[11]
Totals			57	25	1	35	1,455	1,421	+34	32	135	0	0	0	0	0	0	0 postseason appearances

Notes

1. 2020 regular season shortened and playoffs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

1. "Austin Elite, new U.S. pro rugby league lure major TV contract". Austin American-Statesman. November 7, 2017. from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
2. [1] “Austin changes name to Herd” September 19, 2019
3. Vinicombe, Tom (January 29, 2020). "The Austin MLR team have rebranded and fans can't get over the absurd new name". RugbyPass. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
4. Judd, Brandon (June 3, 2022). "This pro sports league just disqualified a team right before the playoffs". Deseret News. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
5. Pengelly, Martin (October 26, 2022). "LA and Austin out of MLR as US rugby faces further uncertainty". The Guardian. Retrieved October 28, 2022.
6. "Austin Elite rugby franchise plans to play home games in Round Rock". Austin Statesman. April 13, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
7. Lyttle, Kevin (May 4, 2018). "Austin Elite home opener both a success and a work in progress". Austin American-Statesman. from the original on May 5, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
8. Dart, Tom (February 10, 2020). "Austin Gilgronis: why would a US rugby club name itself after a cocktail?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
9. "Austin Gilgronis". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
10. . Austin Elite Rugby. September 12, 2017. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
11. "Major League Rugby in crisis as LA and Austin disqualified from playoffs". The Guardian. June 7, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.

External links

• at the Wayback Machine (archived May 18, 2019)
• at the Wayback Machine (archived January 28, 2020)