New Orleans Gold

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
Top scorer	JP Eloff (206)
Most tries	Tristan Blewett (12)
League(s)	Major League Rugby
2023	4th (Eastern Conference)
1st kit	2nd kit
Official website
	www.nolagoldrugby.com

The New Orleans Gold, stylized 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]

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.^[3]

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.^[4]

Broadcasts

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

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.^[3]

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

Players and personnel

Current squad

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	New Zealand
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
Domingo Saavedra	Centre	Chile
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.

Head coaches

Nate Osborne (2018–2021) ^[6]
Kane Thompson (2022–2023)^[7]
Cory Brown (2024-)^[8]

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)^[9]

Captains

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

Records

Season standings

Season	Conference	Regular season										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^[a]	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			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^[10]	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.^[11] One week later (March 19), MLR announced that it had canceled the rest of the 2020 season.^[12]

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.^[13]

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

Notes

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

References

^ "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.
^ Williams, Bob (January 30, 2020). "Austin MLR team gains new name and owners, NOLA Gold partners with Clermont Auvergne". SportBusiness. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
^ ^a ^b Mackel, Travers (August 30, 2019). "When Baby Cakes leave, what happens to "Shrine On Airline?'". WDSU. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
^ "Archbishop Shaw High School Breaks Ground on New Stadium". wbbeacon.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
^ "NOLA Gold". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
^ "Nate Osborne To Coach New Orleans Gold". DJ Coil Rugby. 2017-06-16. Archived from the original on 2017-10-19.
^ "NOLA Gold Names Kane Thompson as Head Coach".
^ "NOLA Gold hire Cory Brown as new Head Coach". Americas Rugby News. 2 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.
^ "Former All Black Carlos Spencer Joins NOLA Gold as Assistant Coach".
^ "Stars Rugby 7s on Facebook". Facebook. Archived from the original on 2022-04-30.^{[user-generated source]}
^ "Major League Rugby Suspends 2020 Season for 30 Days" (Press release). Major League Rugby. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
^ "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.
^ "Strong second half sees Chicago past NOLA into East Final". Americas Rugby News. 22 July 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2024.

External links

Official website

[COVID-10] 2020 regular season shortened and playoffs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[tiar-Oct-17-2017-1] "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.

[WDSU2019-3] Mackel, Travers (August 30, 2019). "When Baby Cakes leave, what happens to "Shrine On Airline?'". WDSU. Retrieved October 4, 2019.

[GrndBrk-4] "Archbishop Shaw High School Breaks Ground on New Stadium". wbbeacon.com. Archived from the original on February 5, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2020.

[NOLA_Gold-5] "NOLA Gold". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved 31 December 2023.

[nola-coach-2018-6] "Nate Osborne To Coach New Orleans Gold". DJ Coil Rugby. 2017-06-16. Archived from the original on 2017-10-19.

[7] "NOLA Gold Names Kane Thompson as Head Coach".

[8] "NOLA Gold hire Cory Brown as new Head Coach". Americas Rugby News. 2 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.

[9] "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.

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v t e New Orleans Gold
Founded 2017 Based in Marrero, Louisiana
Coach(es)	Cory Brown
Players	Team captain: Cam Dolan Current squad
Stadium	Joe Zimmerman Stadium (2018–2019) Gold Mine (2020–present)
Seasons	2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Final appearances	(0)

v t e Sports teams based in Louisiana
Basketball	NBA New Orleans Pelicans
Football	NFL New Orleans Saints AFL Louisiana VooDoo
Hockey	NAHL Shreveport Mudbugs FPHL Baton Rouge Zydeco
Rugby	MLR New Orleans Gold
Soccer	NPSL New Orleans Jesters USL2 Louisiana Krewe FC
College athletics (NCAA Division I)	Grambling State Louisiana Louisiana–Monroe Louisiana Tech LSU McNeese New Orleans Nicholls Northwestern State Southeastern Louisiana Southern Tulane

v t e New Orleans Gold – current squad
Forwards	Jarred Adams Augusto Böhme Callum Botchar Fintan Coleman Cian Darling Cam Dolan Tom Florence Diego Fortuny Matt Harmon James Irey Chase Jones Sam Klimkowski Maciu Koroi Ale Lopeti Jonah Mau'u Malcolm May Olajuwon Noa Pat O'Toole Sean Paranihi Trent Rogers Isaac Salmon George Sharpe Moni Tongaʻuiha Osaiasi Tongaʻuiha Abe Turpen Bart Vermeulen William Waguespack
Backs	Reece Botha Luke Campbell Ross Depperschmidt JP du Plessis Nick Feakes Ed Fidow Dougie Fife Taniela Filimone Rodney Iona Jordan Jackson-Hope Dorian Jones Christian Olney Julian Roberts Domingo Saavedra Damian Stevens Sebastiano Villani Jack Webster Harley Wheeler
Coach	Cory Brown