Houston SaberCats

The Houston SaberCats are an American professional rugby union team based in Houston, Texas. The team was founded in 2017 and competes in Major League Rugby,^[1] the top-level rugby union competition in the United States and Canada that played its first season in 2018. 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.

Houston SaberCats

Full name	Houston SaberCats
Founded	2017; 7 years ago (2017)
Location	Houston, Texas
Ground(s)	SaberCats Stadium (Capacity: 4,000)
President	Mike Sheehan
Coach(es)	Pote Human
Captain(s)	Johan Momsen
Most caps	Zach Pangelinan (56)
Top scorer	Sam Windsor (432)
Most tries	Christian Dyer (19)
League(s)	Major League Rugby
2023	Elimination round 3rd (Western Conference)
Team kit
Official website
www.houstonsabercats.com

Home field

Main article: SaberCats Stadium

Houston plays their games in SaberCats Stadium, which was opened on April 13, 2019.^[2] 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.^[3] 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".^[4] 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^[5] 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.^[6] 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
2021			Lone Star College System
2022		Live Oak Vodka	None
2023			None

Players and personnel

Current squad

For player movements before and during the 2024 season, see List of 2023–24 Major League Rugby transfers § Houston SaberCats.

The Houston SaberCats squad for the 2024 Major League Rugby season is:^[7]

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 Brian Flamenco Hooker United States Seth Smith Hooker United States Sidney Tobias Hooker South Africa Rob Cobb Prop New Zealand Pono Davis Prop United States Frikkie de Beer* Prop South Africa Valdemar Lee-Lo Prop United States Ezekiel Lindenmuth Prop Samoa Maks van Dyk Prop South Africa LaRome White Prop United States Justin Basson Lock South Africa Nathan Den Hoedt Lock Australia Siaosi Mahoni Lock United States Johan Momsen (c) Lock South Africa Marno Redelinghuys Lock South Africa Tomiwa Agbongbon Back row United States Emmanuel Albert Back row United States Orrin Bizer 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 Gideon van Wyk Back row South Africa Anton Viera Back row United States

Player Position Union Devereaux Ferris Scrum-half United States Carlo de Nysschen* 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 Seimou Smith Centre United States Tautalatasi Tasi Centre Australia Louritz van der Schyff Centre South Africa Drake Davis Wing United States Christian Dyer Wing United States Gerrie Labuschagné Wing South Africa Jeremy Misailegalu Wing United States Line Latu Fullback United States 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)^[8]
• Paul Emerick (2019)^[9]
• Paul Healy (2020–2021)^[10]
• Pote Human (2022–Present)^[11]

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–)^[12]

Records

Season standings

Season	Conference	Regular season										Postseason
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[lower-alpha 1]	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			93	43	0	50	2,304	2,571	-267	56	228	3	0	3	75	117	-42	3 postseason appearances

Notes

1. 2020 regular season shortened and playoffs cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2018 season

Exhibition

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
November 18, 2017	Dallas Reds	Away	Won, 31–24
December 2, 2017	Dallas Harlequins	Away	Won, 125–0
December 9, 2017	Austin Blacks	Away	Won, 46–31
December 9, 2017	Austin Blacks	Away	Won, 55–14
December 16, 2017	Dallas Reds	Home	Won, 21–5
January 6, 2018	Seattle Saracens	Away	Won, 50–7
January 13, 2018	Vancouver Ravens	Away	Lost, 23–26
January 20, 2018	Uruguay National Team	Home	Lost, 24–32
January 27, 2018	James Bay Athletic Club	Home	Won, 42–13
February 3, 2018	Capital Selects	Home	Won, 49–3
February 10, 2018	Chicago Lions	Home	Won, 60–10
February 17, 2018	New York Athletic Club	Away	Won, 39–38
February 24, 2018	New Orleans Gold	Home	Won, 30–12
March 3, 2018	Ontario Arrows	Home	Draw, 28–28
March 24, 2018	New Orleans Gold	Away	Draw, 32–32
April 7, 2018	San Diego Legion	Away	Won, 33–17

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
April 21	New Orleans Gold	Home	Lost, 26–35
April 28	Austin Elite	Home	Won, 50–38
May 4	San Diego Legion	Away	Lost, 32–35
May 19	New Orleans Gold	Away	Lost, 26–35
May 26	Utah Warriors	Home	Lost, 30–36
June 2	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Lost, 7–20
June 9	Glendale Raptors	Away	Lost, 24–37
June 23	Utah Warriors	Away	Lost, 27–31

2019 season

Exhibition

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
December 1, 2018	Austin Blacks	Away	Won, 78–12
December 8, 2018	Dallas Reds	Away	Won, 34–8
January 11, 2019	Austin Elite	Home	Lost, 10–14
January 19, 2019	Glendale Raptors	Home	Lost, 21–36

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Venue	Result
January 26	Austin Elite	Away	Dell Diamond	Won, 21–20
February 9	San Diego Legion	Away	Torero Stadium	Lost, 13–17
February 22	Toronto Arrows	Home	Constellation Field	Lost, 27–44
March 2	Rugby United New York	Home	Constellation Field	Lost, 8–35
March 10	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Starfire Sports	Lost, 14–27
March 16	New Orleans Gold	Home	Constellation Field	Lost, 11–49
March 23	Utah Warriors	Home	Constellation Field	Won, 29–27
April 6	Glendale Raptors	Away	Infinity Park	Lost, 44–52
April 13	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Aveva Stadium	Lost, 12–52
April 21	Toronto Arrows	Away	York Stadium	Lost, 21–35
April 27	San Diego Legion	Home	Dyer Stadium	Lost, 19–41
May 5	Rugby United New York	Away	MCU Park	Lost, 0–21
May 18	New Orleans Gold	Away	Archbishop Shaw Stadium	Won, 27–20
May 25	Austin Elite	Home	Aveva Stadium	Won, 36–15
May 29	Glendale Raptors	Home	Aveva Stadium	Won, 32–17
June 1	Utah Warriors	Away	Zions Bank Stadium	Won, 31–27

2020 season

On March 12, 2020, MLR announced the season would go on hiatus immediately for 30 days due to fears surrounding the 2019–2020 coronavirus pandemic.^[13] It was cancelled the following week^[14]

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
February 8	Colorado Raptors	Home	Aveva Stadium	Won, 21–12
February 16	Toronto Arrows	Neutral	Las Vegas Ballpark	Lost, 22–27
February 22	Old Glory DC	Home	Aveva Stadium	Lost, 13–22
March 1	Rugby United New York	Home	Aveva Stadium	Lost, 23–31
March 7	Austin Gilgronis	Home	Aveva Stadium	Lost, 20–24
March 14	New England Free Jacks	Away	Union Point Sports Complex	Cancelled
March 21	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Starfire Stadium	Cancelled
April 5	San Diego Legion	Away	Torero Stadium	Cancelled
April 11	Utah Warriors	Home	Aveva Stadium	Cancelled
April 18	Colorado Raptors	Away	Infinity Park	Cancelled
April 26	Austin Gilgronis	Away	Round Rock Multipurpose Complex	Cancelled
May 2	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Aveva Stadium	Cancelled
May 9	New Orleans Gold	Away	Gold Mine	Cancelled
May 16	San Diego Legion	Home	Aveva Stadium	Cancelled
May 23	Rugby ATL	Home	Aveva Stadium	Cancelled
May 30	Utah Warriors	Away	Zions Bank Stadium	Cancelled

2021 season

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
March 20	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Won, 30–24
March 27	New England Free Jacks	Home	Lost, 0–32
April 3	Austin Gilgronis	Away	Lost, 0–26
April 10	San Diego Legion	Home	Won, 34–32
April 17	LA Giltinis	Home	Lost, 48–33
April 24	Utah Warriors	Away	Lost, 50–43
May 8	New Orleans Gold	Away	Lost, 26–28
May 15	Toronto Arrows	Home	Lost, 10–19
May 22	Old Glory DC	Home	Lost, 13–21
May 29	San Diego Legion	Away	Lost, 11–39
June 5	Austin Gilgronis	Home	Lost, 9–28
June 13	LA Giltinis	Away	Lost, 5–52
June 19	Rugby ATL	Away	Lost, 15–33
June 26	Utah Warriors	Home	Lost, 5–24
July 10	Rugby United New York	Away	Lost, 19–54
July 15	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Lost, 21-40

2022 season

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
February 5	LA Giltinis	Home	Won, 21–11
February 12	Rugby New York	Home	Lost, 7-10
February 19	Dallas Jackals	Away	Won, 38–33
February 26	San Diego Legion	Home	Lost, 20-31
March 5	Rugby ATL	Away	Lost, 22-29
March 12	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Won 21-19
March 26	Utah Warriors	Away	Won, 28-12
April 3	Austin Gilgronis	Away	Lost, 5-45
April 9	Dallas Jackals	Home	Won, 31-6
April 16	LA Giltinis	Away	Lost, 12-17
April 23	Toronto Arrows	Home	Won, 29-17
May 8	San Diego Legion	Away	Won, 34-24
May 14	Utah Warriors	Home	Won, 31-27
May 21	Old Glory DC	Away	Won, 59-42
May 27	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Lost, 36-43
June 3	Austin Gilgronis	Home	Lost, 14-29

Post season

See also: 2022 Major League Rugby playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
West Conference Finals	June 18	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Lost, 27-46

2023 season

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
February 19	Dallas Jackals	Away	Won, 33-12
February 25	NOLA Gold	Home	Won, 35-14
March 5	San Diego Legion	Home	Won, 31-26
March 11	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Lost, 12-24
March 25	Rugby ATL	Home	Won, 40-28
April 2	Chicago Hounds	Away	Won, 38-21
April 8	Utah Warriors	Home	Lost, 24-30
April 15	Dallas Jackals	Home	Won, 33-21
April 23	New York Ironworkers	Away	Won, 34-27
April 30	San Diego Legion	Away	Lost, 16-29
May 13	Seattle Seawolves	Home	Lost, 17-34
May 20	Utah Warriors	Away	Lost, 28-34
May 27	Chicago Hounds	Home	Won, 40-33
June 3	Toronto Arrows	Away	Won, 48-26
June 9	Old Glory DC	Home	Won, 31-7
June 18	New England Free Jacks	Away	Lost, 24-47

Post season

Round	Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
West Conference Eliminator Round	June 24	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Lost, 26-37

2024 season

Regular season

Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Location	Result
March 2	Utah Warriors	Home	SaberCats Stadium	Won, 22-15
March 10	Rugby Football Club Los Angeles	Away	Dignity Health Sports Park	Won, 27-12
March 16	Miami Sharks	Home	SaberCats Stadium	Won, 30-19
March 22	Seattle Seawolves	Away	Starfire Sports Complex	Won, 42-40
March 29	Dallas Jackals	Away	Choctaw Stadium	Won, 30-27
April 13	New England Free Jacks	Home	SaberCats Stadium	Lost, 47-35
April 20	Old Glory DC	Away	Maryland SoccerPlex	Won, 38-17
April 27	San Diego Legion	Home	SaberCats Stadium	Won, 33-0
May 4	Utah Warriors	Away	Zions Bank Stadium	Won, 29-24
May 10	Anthem RC	Away	American Legion Memorial Stadium	Won, 38-15
May 18	Chicago Hounds	Home	SaberCats Stadium	Won, 23-22
June 1	NOLA Gold	Away	The Gold Mine	Won, 21-7
June 8	Rugby Football Club Los Angeles	Home	SaberCats Stadium	Won, 29-12
June 15	Seattle Seawolves	Home	SaberCats Stadium	Won, 28-25
June 23	San Diego Legion	Away	Snapdragon Stadium	Lost, 37-24
June 29	Dallas Jackals	Away	SaberCats Stadium	Won, 29-28

Post season

Round	Date	Opponent	Home/Away	Result
West Conference Semi-Final	July 20	Dallas Jackals	Home	Lost, 34-22

Notes

References

1. "Major League Rugby – As It Stands". Americas Rugby News. 2017-08-01. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
2. "SaberCats fall to Seawolves in first match played at AVEVA Stadium". Houston Chronicle. April 13, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
3. Schneider, Andrew (2018-02-07). "Houston City Council Approved $3.2 Million Deal To Build A New Rugby Stadium". Houston Public Media. Retrieved 2018-04-07.
4. "SaberCats, city to break ground on new AVEVA Stadium late July". KHOU. July 19, 2018. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
5. Gorman, Jack (2018-03-05). "Houston SaberCats Announce New Temporary Home". Houston Press. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
6. Dart, Tom (2018-01-22). "Houston? No problem – SaberCats bullish about latest US rugby venture". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2018-01-23. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
7. "Houston SaberCats". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
8. "Houston? No problem – SaberCats bullish about latest US rugby venture". The Guardian. January 22, 2018. Retrieved January 22, 2018.
9. "Paul Emerick takes helm of SaberCats". Houston Chronicle. May 2, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
10. "New Coach Announced Ahead of 2020 Season". August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
11. "Pote Human to join Heyneke Meyer at American Major League outfit". Sport24. September 6, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
12. "MLR 2022 - Houston SaberCats vs LA Giltinis - ARN Guide". Americas Rugby News. 2022-02-04. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
13. "Anonymous, "MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY SUSPENDS 2020 SEASON FOR 30 DAYS," www.majorleague.rugby, March 12, 2020 Retrieved March 14, 2020". Archived from the original on March 14, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
14. "Major League Rugby cancels remainder of 2020 campaign". Yahoo! Sports. AFP. March 19, 2020. Archived from the original on March 19, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2020.

External links

• Official website