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Reinforcements have arrived in Austin. The Gilgronis have confirmed the arrival of three World Cup players just in time for Saturday’s ‘Battle of Texas’ against the Houston SaberCats. Signed up are Samoa scrumhalf Pele Cowley, Tonga flyhalf Kurt Morath, and USA Eagles flyhalf Will Magie.
Cowley played backup to Utah Warriors captain Dwayne Polataivao with Manu Samoa in Japan. He appeared in three matches, bringing his total to 15 test caps since his debut in 2014. The 26-year-old has professional experience in New Zealand with Counties Manukau and Waikato, and spent 6 months with Cardiff Blues during the 2016-17 season.
Morath, 35, is well-known to American rugby fans having played for the San Diego Breakers during the 2016 PRO season and Utah in their inaugural 2018 campaign. He started one game for the Ikale Tahi at the World Cup – his third – before injury ended his tournament early. The goal kicking specialist is Tonga’s all-time leading scorer in test rugby.
Magie is an unusual addition given he was already under contract with London Scottish in the RFU Championship, whom he played for his past weekend against Yorkshire Carnegie. The 28-year-old has 26 caps for the Eagles, making one appearance in Japan. He played for the Glendale (now Colorado) Raptors during the 2018 and 2019 Major League Rugby seasons.
The additions follow former All Blacks Jamie Mackintosh and Frank Halai to the club. Australian duo Maclean Jones and Adam Ashley-Cooper are among those still to arrive. Austin recently snapped a 20-game losing streak but have not won a game in MLR competition since June 2018.
