Kyle Breytenbach has made a surprise return to Austin. The Gilgronis announced that the former Elite lock, who moved to Houston last season, has re-joined the club following an agreement with the SaberCats to release his rights.
It’s an unexpected turn of events as Breytenbach had initially opted out of the 2021 Major League Rugby season for family reasons. Houston then acquired Kody O’Neil from the withdrawn Dallas Jackals in the supplementary draft as a replacement.
Breytenbach’s arrival for Austin is timely as a number of injuries have depleted their second row stocks. Reegan O’Gorman is recovering from a knee injury while Christian Ostberg was ruled out of their opening match against Utah on Saturday. Cam Dodson came off at halftime during that game, leaving flanker Michael de Waal to fill in at lock. Isaac Ross has yet to arrive from New Zealand.
The SaberCats have meanwhile made the arrivals of Lucas Albornoz and Gabe Farley official. Albornoz is Canadian-born but raised in Argentina. The lock or loose forward has one cap for Canada and recently returned from a spell with Northland in New Zealand. Farley, the former USA u20 and AG’s inside center, was acquired in a trade with NOLA in exchange for financial considerations.