During a sunny afternoon in City Park, our Crusader Rugby club got the opportunity to team up with NOLA Gold Rugby, New Orleans’ first-ever major league rugby team. Rugby is very well-known for their tight-knit community and it comes as no surprise that there is already a connection within our very own Crusader Rugby club with NOLA Gold Rugby. Coach & Moderator Gary Giepert ’80 played with the owner of NOLA Gold Rugby at LSU.
With the relationship already established, NOLA Gold reached out to Coach Giepert about working with the Brother Martin Rugby team. Our Crusaders are excited to be working with NOLA Gold, as this is NOLA Gold’s inaugural season for major league rugby in New Orleans. During the practice, five players, the general manager and the head coach of NOLA Gold were in attendance.
The five rugby players from NOLA Gold came with an international knowledge and experience of the sport. Joining the Crusaders was Head Coach Nate Osbourne, General Manager Ryan Fitzgerald, Taylor Howden from New Zealand, Eric Howard from Canada, Ratu Peceli Rinakama from Fiji, and Zack Stryffeler from the U.S. The NOLA Gold players went over new techniques and fundamentals of the game. Our Crusader Rugby team has benefited greatly from the practice with these major league players, while they remain undefeated in their season, 4-0.
A special thank you to NOLA Gold Rugby for taking the time to practice with our Crusader Rugby team!
Rugby Practice with NOLA Gold Rugby
