New Orleans Gold (original) (raw)

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Professional rugby union team from New Orleans, Louisiana

Rugby team

New Orleans Gold

Founded	2017
Location	Metairie, Louisiana
Ground(s)	Gold Mine on Airline (Capacity: 10,000)
Coach(es)	Cory Brown
Captain(s)	Moni Tongaʻuiha
Most caps	Moni Tongaʻuiha (88)
Top scorer	JP Eloff (219)
Most tries	3 players (15)
League(s)	Major League Rugby
2024	Conference Semifinals 2nd (Eastern Conference)
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.nolagoldrugby.com

The New Orleans Gold (stylized as NOLA Gold) are an American professional rugby union team based in New Orleans, Louisiana, that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team was founded in 2017.[1] Since January 2020, French rugby power ASM Clermont Auvergne has owned a minority stake in the team.[2]

Gold Mine on Airline

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

Joe Zimmerman Stadium

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For the first two seasons of Major League Rugby in 2018 and 2019, the team played at Joe Zimmerman Stadium at Archbishop Shaw High School 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]

Home games are shown on Cox Sports Television. Ian McNulty and Geoffrey Ormsby are the on air talent.

For the 2022 season, NOLA Gold partnered with local Louisiana, Port Orleans Brewing Company to make "GOLDen Ale". These 16-ounce cans will be available for purchase in the brewery's tap room and on tap at the start of the season. It will also be sold throughout the season in the team's home stadium, the Shrine on Airline.[3]

Players and personnel

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The New Orleans Gold squad for the 2024 Major League Rugby season is:[5]

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

Player Position Union Augusto Böhme Hooker Chile Diego Fortuny Hooker Argentina Ale Lopeti Hooker United States Pat O'Toole Hooker United States George Sharpe Hooker United States Jarred Adams Prop Samoa Matt Harmon Prop United States James Irey Prop United States Sam Klimkowski Prop United States Sean Paranihi Prop New Zealand Trent Rogers Prop United States Isaac Salmon Prop New Zealand Bart Vermeulen Prop Belgium Callum Botchar Lock Canada Cam Dolan Lock United States Chase Jones Lock United States Olajuwon Noa Lock Samoa William Waguespack Lock United States Fintan Coleman* Back row Ireland Cian Darling* Back row Ireland Tom Florence Back row New Zealand Maciu Koroi* Back row Fiji Jonah Mau'u Back row Samoa Malcolm May Back row United States Moni Tongaʻuiha (c) Back row United States Osaiasi Tongaʻuiha Back row United States Abe Turpen Back row United States

Player Position Union Luke Campbell Scrum-half New Zealand Damian Stevens Scrum-half Namibia Sebastiano Villani* Scrum-half Italy Reece Botha* Fly-half South Africa Rodney Iona Fly-half Samoa Dorian Jones Fly-half Wales Ross Depperschmidt Centre United States JP du Plessis Centre South Africa Taniela Filimone Centre Tonga Jordan Jackson-Hope Centre Australia Nick Feakes* Wing Australia Ed Fidow Wing Samoa Julian Roberts Wing United States Jack Webster Wing United States Harley Wheeler Wing United States Dougie Fife Fullback Scotland Christian Olney 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.
• Taylor Howden (2018)
• Eric Howard (2019–2020)
• Kyle Baillie (2021)
• Cam Dolan (2022–)

On March 12, 2020, MLR announced the season would go on hiatus immediately for 30 days due to fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.[11] One week later (March 19), MLR announced that it had canceled the rest of the 2020 season.[12]

NOLA Gold played 16 games in the 2024 regular season, with all eight home games played at the Gold Mine. The team finished the regular season 10–6 and qualified for its first playoff berth, losing to the Chicago Hounds 45-21 in the Eastern Conference semifinal.[13]

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

2. ^ "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.

3. ^ Williams, Bob (January 30, 2020). "Austin MLR team gains new name and owners, NOLA Gold partners with Clermont Auvergne". SportBusiness. Retrieved February 22, 2020.

4. ^ a b Mackel, Travers (August 30, 2019). "When Baby Cakes leave, what happens to "Shrine On Airline?'". WDSU. Retrieved October 4, 2019.

5. ^ "Archbishop Shaw High School Breaks Ground on New Stadium". wbbeacon.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2020.

6. ^ "NOLA Gold". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved 31 December 2023.

7. ^ "Nate Osborne To Coach New Orleans Gold". DJ Coil Rugby. 2017-06-16. Archived from the original on 2017-10-19.

8. ^ "NOLA Gold Names Kane Thompson as Head Coach".

9. ^ "NOLA Gold hire Cory Brown as new Head Coach". Americas Rugby News. 2 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.

10. ^ "Former All Black Carlos Spencer Joins NOLA Gold as Assistant Coach".

11. ^ "Stars Rugby 7s on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on 2022-04-30.[_user-generated source_]

12. ^ "Major League Rugby Suspends 2020 Season for 30 Days" (Press release). Major League Rugby. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2020.

13. ^ "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.

14. ^ "Strong second half sees Chicago past NOLA into East Final". Americas Rugby News. 22 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.

• Official website