New Orleans Gold

The New Orleans Gold (also known as NOLA Gold) is a professional rugby union team based in New Orleans. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby.[1] Since January 2020, French rugby power ASM Clermont Auvergne has owned a minority stake in the team.[2]

New Orleans Gold
Founded2017
LocationMetairie, Louisiana
Ground(s)Gold Mine (Capacity: 10,000)
Coach(es)Nate Osborne
Captain(s)Kyle Baillie
Top scorerJP Eloff (206)
Most triesTristan Blewett (12)
League(s)Major League Rugby
20195th place (regular season)
1st kit
2nd kit
Official website
www.nolagoldrugby.com

Home field

The team plays at the Gold Mine, also known as Shrine on Airline, in Metairie, Louisiana, on the East Bank of the New Orleans metropolitan area.[3]

For the first two seasons of Major League Rugby in 2018 and 2019, the team played at Joe Zimmerman Stadium under the branding of Gold Stadium. The natural turf field with grandstand seating for up to 3,000 people is located on the West Bank at Marrero, Louisiana.[4][5]

Broadcasts

2019 home games were shown on Cox Sports Television. Ian McNulty and Scott Alexander were the on air talent.

Sponsorship
Season Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2018 XBlades None
2019 Louisiana Tourism
2020–present Paladin Sports None

Players and personnel

Current squad
For player movements before and during the 2021 season, see List of 2020–21 Major League Rugby transfers § New Orleans Gold.

The New Orleans Gold squad for the 2021 Major League Rugby season is:[6]

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
Eric Howard Hooker Canada
Stephen McLeish Hooker United States
Kevin O’Connor Hooker United States
Pat O'Toole Hooker United States
Cam Falcon Prop United States
Matt Harmon Prop United States
James Irey Prop United States
Brian Nault Prop United States
Kavika Peniata Prop United States
Kevin Sullivan Prop United States
Ben Tarr Prop United States
Dino Waldren Prop United States
Kyle Baillie (c) Lock Canada
Ignacio Dotti Lock Uruguay
Billy Stewart Lock United States
Kane Thompson Lock Samoa
William Waguespack Lock United States
Andrew Guerra Flanker United States
Malcolm May Flanker United States
Devin Short Flanker United States
Moni Tonga’uiha Flanker United States
Nikola Bursic Number 8 Chile
Cam Dolan Number 8 United States
Player Position Union
Cian Barry Scrum-half United States
Damian Stevens Scrum-half Namibia
Holden Yungert Scrum-half United States
Robbie Coleman Fly-half Australia
Nick Feakes* Fly-half Australia
Juan Cappiello Centre Argentina
Ross Depperschmidt Centre United States
JP du Plessis Centre South Africa
Gabriel Farley Centre United States
Carl Meyer Centre South Africa
Julián Domínguez Wing Argentina
Tim Maupin Wing United States
Joeli Tikoisuva Wing United States
Jack Webster Wing United States
JP Eloff Fullback United States
Kyle Rogers Fullback United States
Cameron Troxler 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.

Head coaches

Captains

Records

Season standings
Year Pos Pld W D L F A +/− BP Pts   Playoffs
2018 6th 8305209291-82517   Did not qualify
2019 5th 16907463403+601753   Did not qualify
2020 4th 5302135102+33416  Season cut short due to Coronavirus Pandemic

2018 season
DateOpponentHome/AwayResult
January 20Capital Selects°HomeWon, 68–15
February 24Houston SaberCats°AwayWon, 30–12
March 10Glendale Raptors°HomeLost, 14–38
March 28Houston SaberCats°HomeDraw, 32–32
March 31Austin Elite°HomeWon, 48–17
April 7Austin Elite°AwayWon, 38–10
April 21Houston SaberCatsAwayWon, 35–26
May 3Austin EliteAwayLost, 17–30
May 12Seattle SeawolvesHomeLost, 29–31
May 19Houston SaberCatsHomeWon, 24–20
May 27Seattle SeawolvesAwayLost, 26–55
June 3Glendale RaptorsHomeLost, 10–41
June 9San Diego LegionHomeLost, 22–39
June 16Utah WarriorsAwayWon, 46–43

° = Exhibition game

2019 season

Exhibitions
DateOpponentHome/AwayResult
December 8, 2018USA South PanthersHomeWon, 45–10
December 15, 2018Stars Rugby[8]HomeWon, 113–0
January 5, 2019Midwest SelectsHomeWon, 74–0
January 12, 2019Dallas RedsHomeWon, 72–0

Regular season
DateOpponentHome/AwayResult
January 26Toronto ArrowsHomeWon, 36-31
February 2Glendale RaptorsHomeWon, 40-31
February 10Seattle SeawolvesHomeWon, 41-31
February 16Rugby United New YorkHomeLost, 24–27
March 2Utah WarriorsAwayWon, 21-19
March 16Houston SaberCatsAwayWon, 49-11
March 23Austin EliteHomeWon, 35–31
March 30Glendale RaptorsAwayLost, 33-34
April 7Toronto ArrowsAwayWon, 35-31
April 13Utah WarriorsHomeWon, 28-19
April 21Seattle SeawolvesAwayLost, 24–25
May 4Austin EliteAwayWon, 26-14
May 11San Diego LegionHomeLost, 19–26
May 18Houston SaberCatsHomeLost, 20–27
May 26Rugby United New YorkAwayLost, 22-24
June 2San Diego LegionAwayLost, 10-22

2020 season

On March 12, 2020, MLR announced the season would go on hiatus immediately for 30 days due to fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.[9] One week later (March 19), MLR announced that it had canceled the rest of the 2020 season.[10]

Regular season
DateOpponentHome/AwayResult
February 8Old Glory DCHomeWon, 46–13
February 16Rugby ATLHomeLost, 10–22
February 22Colorado RaptorsAwayWon, 27–20
February 29San Diego LegionHomeLost, 21–25
March 7New England Free JacksHomeWon, 31–22
March 13Utah WarriorsAwayPostponed, later canceled
March 28Toronto ArrowsHomeCanceled
April 5Rugby ATLAwayCanceled
April 11Old Glory DCAwayCanceled
April 18Rugby United New YorkHomeCanceled
April 25New England Free JacksAwayCanceled
May 3Toronto ArrowsAwayCanceled
May 9Houston SaberCatsHomeCanceled
May 17Seattle SeawolvesAwayCanceled
May 23Austin GilgronisHomeCanceled
May 30Rugby United New YorkAwayCanceled

References
  1. "New Orleans Confirms Major League Rugby Plans". This is American Rugby. 2017-05-25. Archived from the original on 2018-02-05. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
  2. Williams, Bob (January 30, 2020). "Austin MLR team gains new name and owners, NOLA Gold partners with Clermont Auvergne". SportBusiness. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  3. Mackel, Travers (August 30, 2019). "When Baby Cakes leave, what happens to "Shrine On Airline?'". WDSU. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  4. "Major League Rugby Stadiums". This is American Rugby. 2017-12-27. Archived from the original on 2018-02-05. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  5. Songy, Marielle (2017). "Archbishop Shaw High School Breaks Ground on New Stadium". The West Bank Beacon. New Orleans. Archived from the original on 2018-02-05. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  6. "NOLA Gold". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  7. "Nate Osborne To Coach New Orleans Gold". DJ Coil Rugby. 2017-06-16. Archived from the original on 2017-10-19.
  8. https://www.facebook.com/StarsRugby7s/posts/2037785909642813?comment_id=2071278522960218&reply_comment_id=2071340742953996&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R1%22%7D
  9. "Major League Rugby Suspends 2020 Season for 30 Days" (Press release). Major League Rugby. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  10. "Major League Rugby Has Decided to Cancel the Remainder of the 2020 Season and Turn Attention to 2021" (Press release). Major League Rugby. March 19, 2020. Retrieved June 8, 2020.


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