# New Orleans Gold

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

## Home field
### Gold Mine on Airline

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.

### Joe Zimmerman Stadium

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.

## Broadcasts

Home games were previously shown on Cox Sports Television. Ian McNulty and Geoffrey Ormsby are the on air talent.
In 2025, the Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network became the official broadcast network of the team.

## Sponsorship

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.
| Season | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| 2018 | XBlades | None |
| 2019 | XBlades | Louisiana Tourism |
| 2020 | Paladin Sports | None |
| 2021 | Paladin Sports | None |
| 2022 | Paladin Sports | Louisiana Tourism |
| 2023 | Paladin Sports | LCMC Health |
| 2024 | Paladin Sports | LCMC Health |

## Players and personnel
### Current squad

The New Orleans Gold squad for the 2025 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 |
| Ale Lopeti | Hooker | United States |
| Pat O'Toole | Hooker | United States |
| Joe Taufeteʻe | Hooker | United States |
| Jarred Adams | Prop | Samoa |
| Matt Harmon | Prop | United States |
| James Irey | Prop | United States |
| Tyler Matchem | Prop | Canada |
| Paul Mullen | Prop | United States |
| Isaac Salmon | Prop | New Zealand |
| Bart Vermeulen | Prop | Belgium |
| Callum Botchar | Lock | Canada |
| Cam Dolan | Lock | United States |
| Kaden Duguid | Lock | Canada |
| William Waguespack | Lock | United States |
| Tupou Afungia | Back row | Tonga |
| Cian Darling* | Back row | Ireland |
| Kélian Galletier | Back row | France |
| Chase Jones | Back row | United States |
| Aidan King | Back row | United States |
| 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 |
| Ruben de Haas | Scrum-half | United States |
| Damian Stevens | Scrum-half | Namibia |
| Reece Botha* | Fly-half | South Africa |
| Luke Carty | Fly-half | United States |
| Dorian Jones | Fly-half | Wales |
| Dalton Musselman | Fly-half | United States |
| Ross Depperschmidt | Centre | United States |
| JP du Plessis | Centre | South Africa |
| Nikolai Foliaki | Centre | Tonga |
| Jordan Jackson-Hope | Centre | Australia |
| Isaac Te Tamaki | Centre | New Zealand |
| Ed Fidow | Wing | Samoa |
| Xavier Mignot | Wing | France |
| Julian Roberts | Wing | United States |
| Jack Webster | Wing | United States |
| Harley Wheeler | Wing | United States |
| Cooper Coats | Fullback | Canada |
| Caleb Makene | Fullback | New Zealand |
* 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

* Nate Osborne (2018–2021)
* Kane Thompson (2022–2023)
* Cory Brown (2024)
* Danny Lee (2025-)

### Assistant coaches

* Kane Thompson, forwards and defense (2019–2021, 2024-)
* Taylor Howden, backs (2022-)
* Nicolas Godignon, scrum, breakdown & director of player pathway (2024-)
* Carlos Spencer (2022)

### Captains

* Taylor Howden (2018)
* Eric Howard (2019–2020)
* Kyle Baillie (2021)
* Cam Dolan (2022–)

## Records
### Season standings

| Season | Conference | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Postseason | Postseason | Postseason | Postseason | Postseason | Postseason | Postseason |
| Season | Conference | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | +/− | BP | Pts | Pld | W | L | F | A | +/− | Result |
| 2018 | - | 6th | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 209 | 291 | -82 | 5 | 17 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Did not qualify |
| 2019 | - | 5th | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 463 | 403 | +60 | 17 | 53 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Did not qualify |
| 2020 | Eastern | 3rd | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 135 | 102 | +33 | 4 | 16 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Cancelled |
| 2021 | Eastern | 3rd | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 375 | 378 | -3 | 9 | 51 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Did not qualify |
| 2022 | Eastern | 5th | 16 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 358 | 517 | -159 | 6 | 25 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Did not qualify |
| 2023 | Eastern | 4th | 16 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 339 | 435 | -96 | 6 | 35 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Did not qualify |
| 2024 | Eastern | 2nd | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 410 | 349 | +61 | 10 | 50 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 45 | -24 | Lost Conference Semifinal (Chicago Hounds) 45–21 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 93 | 46 | 1 | 46 | 2,289 | 2,475 | -186 | 51 | 212 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 postseason appearance |

## 2018 season
### Exhibitions

| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Result |
| January 20 | Capital Selects | Home | Won, 68–15 |
| February 24 | Houston SaberCats | Away | Won, 30–12 |
| March 10 | Glendale Raptors | Home | Lost, 14–38 |
| March 28 | Houston SaberCats | Home | Draw, 32–32 |
| March 31 | Austin Elite | Home | Won, 48–17 |
| April 7 | Austin Elite | Away | Won, 38–10 |

### Regular season

| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Result |
| April 21 | Houston SaberCats | Away | Won, 35–26 |
| May 3 | Austin Elite | Away | Lost, 17–30 |
| May 12 | Seattle Seawolves | Home | Lost, 29–31 |
| May 19 | Houston SaberCats | Home | Won, 24–20 |
| May 27 | Seattle Seawolves | Away | Lost, 26–55 |
| June 3 | Glendale Raptors | Home | Lost, 10–41 |
| June 9 | San Diego Legion | Home | Lost, 22–39 |
| June 16 | Utah Warriors | Away | Won, 46–43 |

## 2019 season
### Exhibitions

| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Result |
| December 8, 2018 | USA South Panthers | Home | Won, 45–10 |
| December 15, 2018 | Stars Rugby | Home | Won, 113–0 |
| January 5, 2019 | Midwest Selects | Home | Won, 74–0 |
| January 12, 2019 | Dallas Reds | Home | Won, 72–0 |

### Regular season

| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Result |
| January 26 | Toronto Arrows | Home | Won, 36-31 |
| February 2 | Glendale Raptors | Home | Won, 40-31 |
| February 10 | Seattle Seawolves | Home | Won, 41-31 |
| February 16 | Rugby United New York | Home | Lost, 24–27 |
| March 2 | Utah Warriors | Away | Won, 21-19 |
| March 16 | Houston SaberCats | Away | Won, 49-11 |
| March 23 | Austin Elite | Home | Won, 35–31 |
| March 30 | Glendale Raptors | Away | Lost, 33-34 |
| April 7 | Toronto Arrows | Away | Won, 35-31 |
| April 13 | Utah Warriors | Home | Won, 28-19 |
| April 21 | Seattle Seawolves | Away | Lost, 24–25 |
| May 4 | Austin Elite | Away | Won, 26-14 |
| May 11 | San Diego Legion | Home | Lost, 19–26 |
| May 18 | Houston SaberCats | Home | Lost, 20–27 |
| May 26 | Rugby United New York | Away | Lost, 22-24 |
| June 2 | San Diego Legion | Away | Lost, 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. One week later (March 19), MLR announced that it had canceled the rest of the 2020 season.

### Regular season

| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Result |
| February 8 | Old Glory DC | Home | Won, 46–13 |
| February 16 | Rugby ATL | Home | Lost, 10–22 |
| February 22 | Colorado Raptors | Away | Won, 27–20 |
| February 29 | San Diego Legion | Home | Lost, 21–25 |
| March 7 | New England Free Jacks | Home | Won, 31–22 |
| March 13 | Utah Warriors | Away | Postponed, later canceled |
| March 28 | Toronto Arrows | Home | Canceled |
| April 5 | Rugby ATL | Away | Canceled |
| April 11 | Old Glory DC | Away | Canceled |
| April 18 | Rugby United New York | Home | Canceled |
| April 25 | New England Free Jacks | Away | Canceled |
| May 3 | Toronto Arrows | Away | Canceled |
| May 9 | Houston SaberCats | Home | Canceled |
| May 17 | Seattle Seawolves | Away | Canceled |
| May 23 | Austin Gilgronis | Home | Canceled |
| May 30 | Rugby United New York | Away | Canceled |

## 2021 season
### Regular season

| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Result |
| March 21 | Old Glory DC | Home | Draw, 26–26 |
| March 27 | Rugby United New York | Home | Won, 51–28 |
| April 10 | Austin Gilgronis | Home | Lost, 15–18 |
| April 17 | New England Free Jacks | Home | Won 30-29 |
| April 24 | Rugby ATL | Away | Lost, 28-38 |
| May 2 | Toronto Arrows | Home | Won, 22-14 |
| May 8 | Houston SaberCats | Away | Won, 28-26 |
| May 15 | San Diego Legion | Away | Lost, 17-43 |
| May 22 | Utah Warriors | Home | Won, 29-24 |
| June 5 | Rugby ATL | Home | Lost, 7-8 |
| June 12 | Old Glory DC | Away | Won, 25-21 |
| June 20 | Toronto Arrows | Away | Won, 18-12 |
| June 27 | New England Free Jacks | Away | Won, 17-9 |
| July 4 | LA Giltinis | Away | Won, 21-20 |
| July 11 | Seattle Seawolves | Away | Lost, 6-30 |
| July 17 | Rugby United New York | Away | Won, 35-32 |

## 2022 season
### Regular season

| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Result |
| February 5 | New England Free Jacks | Home | Lost, 13-24 |
| February 12 | Rugby ATL | Home | Lost, 9-14 |
| February 19 | Toronto Arrows | Home | Lost, 23-24 |
| March 4 | Seattle Seawolves | Away | Won, 25-24 |
| March 12 | Dallas Jackals | Away | Won, 32-26 |
| March 19 | Rugby New York | Home | Lost, 19-30 |
| March 26 | Old Glory DC | Away | Won, 31-22 |
| April 2 | New England Free Jacks | Away | Lost, 29-33 |
| April 9 | Rugby ATL | Home | Lost, 17-34 |
| April 16 | Toronto Arrows | Away | Lost, 36-53 |
| April 23 | Austin Gilgronis | Home | Lost, 10-32 |
| May 1 | Rugby United NY | Away | Lost, 28-36 |
| May 14 | Old Glory DC | Home | Won, 50-21 |
| May 21 | San Diego Legion | Home | Lost, 12-42 |
| May 29 | New England Free Jacks | Away | Lost, 5-57 |
| June 3 | Rugby ATL | Away | Lost, 19-45 |

## 2023 season
### Regular season

| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Location | Result |
| February 17 | New England Free Jacks | Home | The Gold Mine | Lost, 36-12 |
| February 25 | Houston SaberCats | Away | SaberCats Stadium | Lost, 35-14 |
| March 4 | Rugby ATL | Away | Silverbacks Park | Lost, 29-16 |
| March 12 | New York Ironworkers | Home | The Gold Mine | Won, 31-5 |
| March 18 | Utah Warriors | Home | The Gold Mine | Won, 37-14 |
| March 25 | Old Glory DC | Away | Segra Field | Won, 20-17 |
| April 2 | Seattle Seawolves | Home | The Gold Mine | Lost, 36-35 |
| April 15 | Rugby ATL | Home | The Gold Mine | Lost, 23-7 |
| April 23 | Chicago Hounds | Away | SeatGeek Stadium | Won, 37-24 |
| April 30 | Toronto Arrows | Home | The Gold Mine | Won, 40-24 |
| May 7 | New York Ironworkers | Away | Memorial Field | Lost, 54-19 |
| May 13 | San Diego Legion | Home | The Gold Mine | Lost, 26-12 |
| May 21 | New England Free Jacks | Away | Veterans Memorial Stadium | Lost, 50-3 |
| June 3 | Old Glory DC | Home | The Gold Mine | Lost, 28-15 |
| June 10 | Dallas Jackals | Away | Choctaw Stadium | Won, 15-10 |
| June 17 | Toronto Arrows | Away | York Lions Stadium | Won, 26-24 |

## 2024 season

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.

### Regular season

| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Location | Result |
| March 2 | Old Glory DC | Home | Gold Mine | Won, 18-6 |
| March 9 | Anthem RC | Home | Gold Mine | Won, 34–19 |
| March 16 | New England Free Jacks | Away | Veterans Memorial Stadium | Lost, 27–21 |
| March 23 | Dallas Jackals | Away | Choctaw Stadium | Won, 35–22 |
| April 4 | Chicago Hounds | Home | Gold Mine | Lost, 38–21 |
| April 14 | San Diego Legion | Away | Snapdragon Stadium | Lost, 33–20 |
| April 20 | Miami Sharks | Home | Gold Mine | Lost, 42–27 |
| April 27 | Anthem RC | Away | Truist Point | Won, 40–5 |
| May 11 | Seattle Seawolves | Home | Gold Mine | Won, 32–31 |
| May 18 | Utah Warriors | Home | Gold Mine | Won, 21–14 |
| May 26 | Chicago Hounds | Away | SeatGeek Stadium | Won, 25–13 |
| June 1 | Houston SaberCats | Home | Gold Mine | Lost, 21–7 |
| June 9 | Miami Sharks | Away | Chase Stadium | Won, 20-13 |
| June 16 | RFC Los Angeles | Away | Dignity Health Sports Park | Won, 38-21 |
| June 22 | New England Free Jacks | Home | Gold Mine | Won, 27-17 |
| June 29 | Old Glory DC | Away | Maryland Soccerplex | Lost, 27–24 |

### Postseason

| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Location | Result |
| July 21 | Chicago Hounds | Home | Gold Mine | Lost, 45-21 |