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MLR - 2018/Austin Elite

ftf82

By ftf82
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ftf82

ftf82 486

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Major League Rugby kicks off its inaugural season today with three matches, including the Austin Elites v Glendale Raptors. That match is the game of the week and will be televised live on CBSSN at 4pm CDT. Longhorn rugby head coach Zac Mizell is on the roster and likely starting at fullback. US National team great Todd Clever plays flanker for the Austin side. Elite homes matches will be played at the Round Rock sportsplex in Old Settlers Park. Schedule is at the link.

 

Elite Schedule

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ftf82

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Elite play in Salt Lake this Friday night.  Match will be on CBSSN. Next home game is last weekend in May. Not sure what individual game tickets cost.  My son bought us season tickets as a Xmas present. 

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ftf82

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Longhorn Rugby started season practice today. Conditioning for an hour in the morning (apparently was brutal) and then 2 hours of work late afternoon. They now have a full time paid coach (Zach). Season schedule:

9/14 - Orange vs Black Scrimmage
9/22- @ TAMU (1st and 2nd Side)
9/29- Ark State & Alumni @ IM Fields (1st and 2nd Side)
10/5 - vs OU in Dallas (1st and 2nd Side)
10/13- Baylor (1st and 2nd Side)
10/27- @ LSU (1st Side Only)
11/2- vs TXST @ IM Fields (Mixed Side)
11/10- UTEP (2nd side Only)
11/17- LSU (1st side only)
12/1- UT HS Rugby Camp (HS Students Only)
1/26- TAMU (1st and 2nd Side)
2/9- @ Univ of Arkansas (1st Side Only)
2/16- @ Baylor (1st and 2nd Side)
2/23- Red River Championship (1st side only)
3/16- @ Arizona (Spring Break Trip) (Squad of 25)
3/23- @ Arizona State (Spring Break Trip) (Squad of 25)

Most matches will be at the Huns/Elite fields off Nixon but a some of the preseason matches will be at the intramural fields. 

 

 

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Hpara759

Hpara759 1780

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38 minutes ago, futureman said:

are they taking over dell as their home field for the season?  or just for this saturday?

I looked at their schedule and it looks like they play at Del Diamond abound 6 times. I also know that on Feb. 22nd (Friday) they play at Del Diamond and then Saturday 23rd team USA plays team Brazil at Del Diamond

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ftf82

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MLR Championship match on CBS right now. San Diego V Seattle. Scott Green from Austin is the head referee. He also calls a few HS matches around town, which is kind of incredible when you think about it. But great for the HS kids who get to play when he's calling games. Great ref.

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futureman

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On 6/16/2019 at 4:40 PM, ftf82 said:

MLR Championship match on CBS right now. San Diego V Seattle. Scott Green from Austin is the head referee. He also calls a few HS matches around town, which is kind of incredible when you think about it. But great for the HS kids who get to play when he's calling games. Great ref.

played with scott on the blacks.  he was a vicious kiwi sob on the pitch.  great dude off it.  happy for him. 

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ftf82

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Austin Herd (née Elite) are now the Austin Gilgronis (?) and will be playing their matches this year at COTA.  First match is Feb 9. Season schedule is here:

Schedule (Ignore Round Rock Multiuse, Matches are COTA)

 MLR Vegas Weekend is Feb 15-16 (with one match on the 9th). Austin plays on the 15th. My son and I are going. Matches were originally at the Las Vegas Ballpark, but have been moved to Sam Boyd. Probably because of weak ticket sales. But still. Vegas.

MLR Vegas Weekend Schedule

 And best news is Six Nations kicks off this weekend.

Six Nations Fixtures

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CooterBrown

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What's a Gilgroni?
It's all about a cocktail. The Gilgroni, which is probably a little like a Negroni, is or will be an alcoholic mixed drink that will have a non-alcoholic version. It's name is a combination of the Negroni and a play on the name of Adam Gilchrist, co-owner of F45 Gyms and the major money behind the deal. (Gilchrist is known to new MLR commissioner George Killebrew because they worked a sponsorship deal with the NBA's Dallas Mavericks back when Killebrew worked there.)

What it is hasn't been finalized (the implication is that the company is finalizing deals with specific spirits companies), but the drink is more about a lifestyle. The company had to finalize the deal and change the uniforms and the names NOW because the season was about to start.

"You're right that it is going to be a cocktail that has ingredients that other people can replicate, but this is about finding something that resonates with our target audience and fits with the city," said Burgess. Austin is a city that likes going out and having a drink and getting together as a group of friends. That's what the city is about, so it makes sense to have a brand that's about that, too, he added.

The Gilgroni cocktail itself will be unveiled eventually, but launching everything else had to be done right now.

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ftf82

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Vegas weekend report.  MLR set up a dual weekend for rugby matches in Vegas and lined up teams from all over North America to come.  

Good news:   My son and I flew in Friday so we got to see some of the players and former players including Todd Clever, and hang out with other fans and players,   Had drinks with Ben Mitchell’s parents (lock for SD Legion from England and previously an Austin Elite/Herd/Gilgroni). They’d flown in from the UK for the weekend. Shared an Uber with them from the hotel to the match which was great to get their opinion of US rugby (more optimistic about it than me)  

Former Eagle, Austin Elite and UT rugby forwards coach Pete Malcolm also plays for Legion now which is head and shoulders better than anyone else in the MLR (albeit their game v Colorado née Glendale was prettly sloppy but an easy win). really fun to see Ma’a Nonu play for the Legion in person again (saw him play against the Eagles at Soldier Field in ‘16 as an All Black).  He didn’t have the best game but had a beautiful move to score a try midway through the first half for the Legion, kind of a text book side step/Euro step kind of thing.   The 8 for the Legion is also a beast   They should win the league this year.  If I didn’t live in Austin I’d support their side.

Lastly got a free Gilgronis hat from the new CEO of the team as he told me to “swap out my gear” when he saw me with my Elite hat on  

bad stuff

crowd   There were probably less than  10 people from Austin that made the trip in support not counting ownership.  The few that we met were fantastic fans, including the president of the Gilgronis fan club (shout out if you’re on Shaggy)

At best, there were 1000 people for the each game.  Pitch sucked (artificial).

As far as the matches, Austin is not good. Backs are decent, but the forwards are a mess. They’ll be lucky to win a match. 

But still go to COTA if you get a chance and support them.  

Good clean fun.

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ftf82

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Holy shit. The end of the US Sevens tournament was incredible. Fiji dominates the entire match until two minutes to go when the Springboks score two trys to go to extra time for the golden point, helped by a yellow card and man off to Fiji at the end. Fiji had won every match until then.

Also, crowds in LA looked like shit. They better move this back to Vegas next year when Raidrers stadium is built.

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ftf82

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MLR has disqualified the Austin and LA rugby teams for the 2033 season, a move that likely means no more professional rugby in Austin for a while. Both teams have been for sale.  Players will be dispersed throughout the league in an upcoming draft.  Both teams were also disqualified from the playoffs last year for violation of league rules, speculation being violation of salary caps. 

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wood

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7 hours ago, ftf82 said:

MLR has disqualified the Austin and LA rugby teams for the 2033 season, a move that likely means no more professional rugby in Austin for a while. Both teams have been for sale.  Players will be dispersed throughout the league in an upcoming draft.  Both teams were also disqualified from the playoffs last year for violation of league rules, speculation being violation of salary caps. 

Yeah I saw that. Shocking that an organization associated with Bobby Epstein would be done for financial impropriety. Shocking, I tell you. 

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