# Austin Gilgronis

The Austin Gilgronis were a professional rugby union team based in Austin, Texas, United States. The team was founded in 2017 as the Austin Elite, and competed in Major League Rugby.

## History

On September 19, 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, although the eponymous cocktail appears to just be a negroni with a different name. The name was met with significant backlash 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 MLR for "violating league rules". In October 2022, MLR announced that the Gilgronis and the LA Giltinis (both owned by Adam Gilchrist) had been expelled from the league for unspecified reasons. It appears Gilchrist could no longer financially sustain ownership and that the teams have since folded.

## Home field

The team most recently played 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 | None |
| 2022 | Paladin Sports | Ascension Seton |

## Colors and logo

The Austin Gilgronis jersey was black, orange, and white. The mascot was a gray fox character named Austin Gray. Gray foxes inhabit central Texas, and Austin Gray's initials were 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 final name, Gilgronis, was supposedly the name of a cocktail created by the owners, but that cocktail doesn't seem to exist and the name was more likely an amalgamation of the owners name (Gilchrist) and the popular pre-existing cocktail called the negroni. The home kit was orange, and the away kit was white. The last logo was just the club's initials.

## Players and personnel
### Final squad

The Austin Gilgronis squad for the 2022 Major League Rugby season was:
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 |
| Jeff Steele | Prop | United States |
| Mika Felix | Prop | New Zealand |
| Sebastian de Chaves | Lock | South Africa |
| Cam Dodson* | Lock | England |
| Christian Ostberg | Lock | United States |
| Isaac Ross | Lock | New Zealand |
| Khalid Cannon | Lock | United States |
| 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 |
| Mende Carlton | Wing | United States |
| Nick Taylor | Wing | Canada |
| 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 (2021–2022)

### Assistant coaches

* Mark Gerrard (2021–2022)

### Captains

* Andrew Suniula (2018)
* Ben Mitchell (2019)
* Zinzan Elan-Puttick (2020)
* Bryce Campbell (2021–2022)

## 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 | - | 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 |
| 2020 | Western | 5th | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 104 | 155 | -51 | 1 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | Cancelled |
| 2021 | Western | 3rd | 16 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 389 | 317 | +72 | 11 | 47 | – | – | – | – | – | – | Did not qualify |
| 2022 | Western | 1st | 16 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 475 | 229 | +246 | 9 | 58 | – | – | – | – | – | – | Disqualified |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 57 | 25 | 1 | 35 | 1,455 | 1,421 | +34 | 32 | 135 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 postseason appearances |