# Houston SaberCats

The Houston SaberCats are an American professional rugby union team based in Houston, Texas, that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team was founded in 2017. The SaberCats organization was born from one of the founding amateur rugby clubs that pooled resources to emerge professionally, and were the first in MLR membership to build a rugby-specific stadium intended for MLR competition.

## Home field

Houston plays their games in SaberCats Stadium, which was opened on April 13, 2019. In February 2018, the City of Houston agreed to fund $3.2 million of the $15.25 million needed to build a permanent rugby stadium for use by the Houston SaberCats at Houston Sports Park. On July 17, the SaberCats announced that a three-year naming rights were awarded to British multinational software and technology company Aveva, and that it would be initially known as "Aveva Stadium". Following this deal, the venue became known as "SaberCats Stadium".
Houston Sports Park is also the permanent training ground for Major League Soccer soccer team Houston Dynamo as well as the Houston Dash women's soccer team.
During the 2018 regular season, the SaberCats played their home matches at Dyer Stadium and trained at Athlete Training and Health in Houston. The team also played at Constellation Field, home of the Sugar Land Skeeters, for part of the 2019 season, and for their exhibition matches in 2017 and 2018. Also, in April 2019, while the new pitch at SaberCats Stadium healed, the team returned to Dyer Stadium to play one match against San Diego before returning to SaberCats Stadium.
| Stadium | Capacity | Location | Year(s) |
| Dyer Stadium | 6,000 | Houston, Texas | 2018 |
| Constellation Field | 7,500 | Sugar Land, Texas | 2018–2019 |
| SaberCats Stadium | 4,000 | Houston, Texas | 2019–present |

## Broadcasts

* 2019 home games were shown on KUBE-TV an independent station in Houston.

## Sponsorship

| Season | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | Other Shirt sponsor(s) |
| 2018–2019 | XBlades | Aveva | None |
| 2020 | Paladin Sports | Aveva | None |
| 2021 | Paladin Sports | Aveva | Lone Star College System |
| 2022 | Paladin Sports | Live Oak Vodka | None |
| 2023 | Paladin Sports | Live Oak Vodka | None |

## Players and personnel
### Current squad

The Houston SaberCats 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 |
| Pita Anae Ah-Sue | Hooker | Samoa |
| Tiaan Erasmus* | Hooker | South Africa |
| Seth Smith | Hooker | United States |
| Pono Davis | Prop | United States |
| Valdemar Lee-Lo | Prop | United States |
| Ezekiel Lindenmuth | Prop | Samoa |
| Jacob Merklinger | Prop | United States |
| Wilton Rebolo | Prop | Brazil |
| Michael Scott | Prop | Scotland |
| LaRome White | Prop | United States |
| Justin Basson | Lock | South Africa |
| Nathan Den Hoedt | Lock | Australia |
| Javon Camp | Lock | United States |
| Johan Momsen (c) | Lock | South Africa |
| Marno Redelinghuys | Lock | South Africa |
| Alex Aguero | Back row | United States |
| Emmanuel Albert | Back row | United States |
| Asa Carter | Back row | United States |
| Aiden Kerr | Back row | United States |
| Ronan Murphy | Back row | United States |
| Keni Nasoqeqe | Back row | United States |
| Sam Tuifua | Back row | New Zealand |
| Player | Position | Union |
| Evan Conlon | Scrum-half | United States |
| Juan-Dee Oliver | Scrum-half | South Africa |
| Jay Renton | Scrum-half | New Zealand |
| André Warner | Scrum-half | South Africa |
| AJ Alatimu | Fly-half | Samoa |
| Davy Coetzer | Fly-half | South Africa |
| Max Schumacher | Fly-half | United States |
| Dom Akina | Centre | United States |
| Sam Hill | Centre | England |
| Tautalatasi Tasi | Centre | Australia |
| Louritz van der Schyff | Centre | South Africa |
| Gerrie Labuschagné | Wing | South Africa |
| Jeremy Misailegalu | Wing | United States |
| Jake Negrete | Wing | United States |
| Seimou Smith | Wing | United States |
| Rufus McLean* | Fullback | Scotland |
| Drew Wild | 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.

### Current coaching staff

* Pote Human (Head Coach)
* Vic Meyer (Assistant Coach - Attack)
* Ryan Nell (Assistant Coach – backs)
* Mike Brown (Assistant Coach)
* Jon Hood (Strength & Conditioning Coach)

### Head coaches

* Justin Fitzpatrick (2017–2019)
* Paul Emerick (2019)
* Paul Healy (2020–2021)
* Pote Human (2022–Present)

### Former assistant coaches

* Sam Windsor (Backs – 2017–2019)
* Paul Emerick (Backs – 2017–2020)
* Matt Trouville (Lineouts – 2017–2019)
* Neil Kelly (Defense – 2019)
* Darren Morris (Forwards – 2019)

### Captains

* Kyle Sumsion (2018)
* Matt Trouville (2019)
* De Wet Roos (2020)
* Luke Beauchamp (2021) (co-captain)
* De Wet Roos (2021) (co-captain)
* Dean Muir (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 | - | 7th | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 216 | 256 | −40 | 7 | 11 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Did not qualify |
| 2019 | - | 7th | 16 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 345 | 496 | −151 | 6 | 30 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Did not qualify |
| 2020 | Western | 6th | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 99 | 116 | −17 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Cancelled |
| 2021 | Western | 6th | 16 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 274 | 550 | -276 | 5 | 13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Did not qualify |
| 2022 | Western | 3rd | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 408 | 393 | +15 | 12 | 48 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 46 | -19 | Lost West Conference Final (Seattle Seawolves) 27–46 |
| 2023 | Western | 3rd | 16 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 484 | 413 | +71 | 13 | 53 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 37 | -11 | Lost West Conference Eliminator Game (Seattle Seawolves) 26-37 |
| 2024 | Western | 1st | 16 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 478 | 347 | +131 | 11 | 67 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 34 | -12 | Lost West Conference Eliminator Game (Dallas Jackals) 22-34 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 93 | 43 | 0 | 50 | 2,304 | 2,571 | -267 | 56 | 228 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 75 | 117 | -42 | 3 postseason appearances |