The New Orleans Gold, stylized as NOLA Gold, is a professional
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
team based in
. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in
Major League Rugby.
[ 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
The New Orleans metropolitan area, designated the New Orleans–Metairie metropolitan statistical area by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, or simply Greater New Orleans (french: Grande Nouvelle-Orléans, es, Gran Nueva Orleans), is a me ...
.
Joe Zimmerman Stadium
For the first two seasons of Major League Rugby in 2018 and 2019, the team played at Joe Zimmerman Stadium
Joe Zimmerman Stadium is a 3,000-seat natural turf football/multipurpose stadium located on the campus of Archbishop Shaw High School. It is the home stadium for Archbishop Shaw athletics in addition to hosting sporting events for multiple area s ...
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
Marrero is a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. Marrero is on the south side (referred to as the "West Bank") of the Mississippi River, within the New Orleans– Metairie–Kenner metropolitan stat ...
.
Broadcasts
Home games are shown on Cox Sports Television
Cox Sports Television ( a.k.a. CST; sometimes referred to as Cox Sports TV) was an American regional sports cable and satellite television channel owned by Cox Communications. The channel, which serves the Gulf South region of the United State ...
. 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.
Players and personnel
Current squad
The New Orleans Gold squad for the 2022 Major League Rugby season
The 2022 Major League Rugby season is the fifth season of Major League Rugby, the professional rugby union competition sanctioned by USA Rugby. The regular season began on February 5, 2022.
The Dallas Jackals made their debut this season, h ...
is:
* Senior 15s internationally capped players are listed in bold.
* * denotes players qualified to play for the 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
Kane Gregory Thompson (born 9 January 1982) is a New Zealand-born Samoan rugby union player. He played for Taranaki in the Mitre 10 Cup. He currently plays for NOLA Gold in Major League Rugby (MLR).
Professional rugby career
He debuted for t ...
(2022–)
Assistant coaches
* Kane Thompson, forwards and defense (2019–2021)
* Taylor Howden (2022)
* Carlos Spencer
Carlos James Spencer (born 14 October 1975) is a former New Zealand rugby union player and previously the head coach of the and the . He is currently an assistant coach for the New Orleans Gold of Major League Rugby (MLR).
During his playing ...
(2022)
Captains
*Taylor Howden (2018)
*Eric Howard
Eric Gerald Howard (born September 5, 1993) is a Canadian rugby union player. He plays as a hooker for the NOLA Gold of Major League Rugby (MLR) and the Canadian national team.
Howard started his rugby career with the Ottawa Beavers, before j ...
(2019–2020)
*Kyle Baillie
Kyle Baillie (born April 7, 1991) is a Canadian rugby union player. He plays as a flanker or lock for the Canadian national team and Old Glory DC in Major League Rugby (MLR).
He previously played for NOLA Gold and the Toronto Arrows in the ML ...
(2021)
*Cam Dolan
Cameron Dolan (born March 7, 1990) is an American rugby union player who normally plays at the Number 8 position. He currently plays professionally for the NOLA Gold, since 2018, in the Major League Rugby (MLR). Dolan previously played rugby outs ...
(2022–)
Records
Season standings
2018 season
° = Exhibition game
2019 season
Exhibitions
Regular season
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
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. One week later (March 19), MLR announced that it had canceled the rest of the 2020 season.
Regular season
2021 season
Regular season
2022 season
Regular season
References
External links
Official site
{{New Orleans Gold squad
Major League Rugby teams
Rugby union teams in Louisiana
Sports teams in New Orleans
Rugby clubs established in 2017
2017 establishments in Louisiana