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	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

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.

History

Historical Austin Elite logo 2017–2019.

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. 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. The name received some negative reactions from fans. 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 the MLR for unspecified reasons.

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.

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 is black, orange, and white. The mascot is a gray fox character named Austin Gray. Gray foxes inhabit central Texas, and Austin Gray's initials are 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.

The team's current name, Gilgronis, is the name of a cocktail created by the owners. The home kit is orange, and the away kit is white. The current logo is 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 is:

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 Sebastian de Chaves Lock South Africa Cam Dodson* Lock England Christian Ostberg Lock United States Isaac Ross Lock New Zealand 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 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) 
• Brent Semmons (2020)
• Sam Harris (2021–present)

Assistant coaches

• Mark Gerrard (2020–present)

Captains

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

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
2021	7th	15	9	0	7	389	317	+8	11	47	Did not qualify
2022	TBD	16	12	4	0	475	229	+246		58	Disqualified

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. It was cancelled the following week

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
March 20	Utah Warriors	Home	Lost, 28–30
March 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

2022 season

In the first 17 weeks, the Gilgronis amassed a record of 11 victories and 4 defeats, qualifying them for a playoff berth. On June 3, the MLR announced on social media that the Gilgronis were disqualified from the postseason. No explanation was given. Later that day, the Gilgronis defeated the Houston SaberCats in Houston. On June 10th the MLR provided an update on the reasoning for Austin's disqualification, stating via social media, that the team management failed to cooperate with a league investigation into potential violations pertaining to player compensation.

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
February 5	Dallas Jackals	Home	Won, 43-7
February 12	Old Glory DC	Home	Won, 57-12
February 19	Utah Warriors	Home	Won, 24-10
February 26	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Won, 25-18
March 5	LA Giltinis	Home	Won, 22-9
March 12	Rugby ATL	Away	Lost, 14-29
March 19	New England Free Jacks	Home	Lost, 17-25
April 3	Houston SaberCats	Home	Won, 43-5
April 10	San Diego Legion	Away	Won, 35-21
April 16	Dallas Jackals	Away	Won, 55-3
April 23	New Orleans Gold	Away	Won, 32-10
May 1	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Won, 17-6
May 8	LA Giltinis	Away	Lost, 8-10
May 21	Utah Warriors	Away	Lost, 8-22
May 28	San Diego Legion	Home	Won, 44-28
June 3	Houston SaberCats	Away	Won, 29-14

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)