Gideon van Wyk

South African back row Gideon van Wyk played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2024, representing the Houston SaberCats for his entire MLR career.

Van Wyk’s original signing was announced in December 2021 ahead of the 2022 MLR season, with the then-20yo joined from the Cheetah’s organisation where he primarily played with the Free State Cheetahs side in the Currie Cup, having also played with the University of Free State. Van Wyk earned 13 caps (4 starts) during his debut MLR season, scoring 5 tries for the SaberCats on the way to their first ever Championship Series appearance, a 27-46 loss to the Seattle Seawolves in the Western Conference Final.

Gideon van Wyk followed up a solid debut season in MLR with a very impressive second year which earned him a All-MLR 2nd XV selection, gaining over 500m and scoring 11 tries in 10 games (8 starts) including a hattrick in Round 14’s 34-28 loss to the Utah Warriors, the 3rd hattrick in SaberCats club history. 10 of his 11 tries (in only 10 games) came in the regular season, finishing T-4th in the league. He earned more Team of the Week selections in 2023 than any other SaberCats player, with 3.

On 9th October 2023, the Houston SaberCats announced the return of Gideon van Wyk for the 2024 MLR season in which he played a smaller role, scoring 2 tries in 5 games (all starts) as the SaberCats finished top of the Western Conference with a league-best 14-2 record, and qualified to face the Dallas Jackals in the Quarter-Finals

Achievements

All-MLR Second XV Selection – 2023
T-4th in MLR Scoring: 2023 (11)
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 15
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 14
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 2
MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Round 14

Aaron Mitchell

Danny Barrett

American back row forward Danny Barrett represented the Houston SaberCats in Major League Rugby between 2022-2023.

A capped USA Eagle at both 7s and 15s levels, Barrett represented his country at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and at over 50 World Sevens Series events and the 2016 and 2021 Olympic Games. He also played in the inaugural season of the US’s professional sevens League in 2021, the Premier Rugby Sevens. Barrett’s signing was announced by the SaberCats shortly after, in December 2021.

Across his 2 seasons with the ‘Cats, Barrett earned 28 MLR caps including 20 starts, scoring 5 tries. He also captained the Texas side 5 times, 4 of which came in 2022. He appeared in both of the ‘Cats first 2 Championship Series games, the 2nd of which ended with him attempting a conversion following a last minute consolation score.

In early August 2023, Barrett announced the end of his professional playing career. He moves on to the administrative side of the game, accepting a position as Executive Director with the Golden Eagles, a philanthropic group supporting the Men’s and Women’s USA Sevens.

Achievements:

MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Week 3

Emmanuel Albert

Minnesota native Emmanuel Albert played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2026. He has represented the Houston SaberCats (2022-2025) and the Chicago Hounds (2026).

A product of Lindenwood University, Emmanuel Albert was selected 2nd overall by the Houston SaberCats in the 2021 MLR Draft, and signed with the team ahead of the 2022 season. He earned 13 MLR caps and his first start for Houston in his rookie year in 2022, also scoring his first MLR try. He followed this up with a 16-cap season in his sophomore year, racking up over 250m gained and 115 successful tackles as well as his first Team of the Week selection in Round 16. Having earned 29 caps through his first 2 years in MLR, the Houston SaberCats announced the return of Emmanuel Albert for the 2024 season on 17th November 2023. Albert equalled his high of 16 appearances in 2024, but earned a PB 6 starts and scored 2 tries as the SaberCats finished with the best record in MLR during the 2024 regular season, 14-2. Albert came off the bench as the SaberCats were stunned by the Dallas Jackals in the Western Conference Semifinal, ending their season far earlier than they would’ve hoped.

On December 21st, 2024, the Houston SaberCats announced the return of Emmanuel Albert for his 4th MLR season in 2025, where he will continue his role as a stalwart in the SaberCats pack. During Round 6 of that season, Albert earned his 50th MLR appearance in a high-scoring, 45-46 victory over Anthem RC. Albert is the first MLR Draftee to reach 50 Appearances in the competition. Albert’s previous career high for starts before 2025 was 6, but he started 16 of his 17 appearances for the SaberCats in 2025 as they finished the regular season 2nd in the Western Conference before earning their first postseason victories by defeating Rugby FC LA and the Utah Warriors to claim the Western Conference Title, before falling to the New England Free Jacks in the 2025 Championship Game in Rhode Island. As well as recording a career high in starts, Albert set new career highs in Metres Gained (311m) and finished T-10 League-wide in tackles Completed, with 206.

Following the surprise withdrawal of the Houston SaberCats from Major League Rugby, Emmanuel Albert headed north and signed with the Chicago Hounds on 22nd December, 2025.

Achievements:

2025 Western Conference Champion – Houston SaberCats
T-10th in MLR Tackling: 2025 (206)
MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 17
First MLR Draftee to reach 50 Appearances
MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 6
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 5
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Rd 16
2021 MLR Draftee: 2nd Overall (1st Rd) – Houston SaberCats

Juan Pablo Zeiss

Argentinian prop Juan Pablo ‘JP’ Zeiss played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2025. He represented the Houston SaberCats (2022), the Dallas Jackals (2023-2024), and the Seattle Seawolves (2025).

Prior to joining MLR, Zeiss had represented Los Matreros in Argentina’s URBA Top 14 since 2011, and spent 2017-19 with the Jaguares in Super Rugby. He earned 7 caps for Los Pumas between 2018-2020. Zeiss’ signing was announced in January 2022 by the Houston SaberCats and he made 14 appearances during his debut MLR season, earning 13 starts and scoring 2 tries in a season that saw the SaberCats’ qualify for the post-season for the first time in club history. Zeiss started their first Championship Series game, a 27-46 loss to the Seattle Seawolves in the Western Conference Final. He was selected in the All-MLR First XV for the 2022 season after being nominated for the MLR Team of the Week 4 times.

Following his debut MLR season, Zeiss moved up the I-45 and signed with the Dallas Jackals in February 2023. He appeared in all 16 Jackals games that season, starting 15 times and scoring 3 tries. He delivered 135 successful tackles, high for a prop. Zeiss impressed in his first season with the Jackals and was selected as part of the All-MLR First XV for 2023, the 2nd year in a row after again being selected for the MLR Team of the Week 4 more times. On 3rd October 2023 the Dallas Jackals announced the return of JP Zeiss for the 2024 season where he earned another 16 appearances (all starts) for the Jackals as they qualified for the playoffs as 4th in the West, and shocked the top-seeded Houston SaberCats (Zeiss’ former club) on the road, before falling to the Seattle Seawolves. For the 3rd season in a row, Zeiss was named to an All-MLR team, this time the Second XV.

Following the withdrawal of the Dallas Jackals from the 2025 season, Zeiss was selected 16th overall in the subsequent Dispersal Draft by Old Glory DC, but was quickly traded to the Seattle Seawolves in exchange for 2025 Salary Cap Considerations (unknown) on September 25th, 2024, the believed date of the Dispersal Draft. The Seattle Seawolves confirmed the signing of JP Zeiss when they revealed their full 2025 roster on January 14th, 2025.

Achievements:

2024 All-MLR Second XV
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 10
2023 All-MLR First XV
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Rd 14
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Rd 13
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Rd 7
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Rd 2
2022 All-MLR First XV
MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Rd 15
MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Rd 14
MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Rd 12
MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Rd 1

Davy Coetzer

South African Fly-half Davy Coetzer played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2026. He represented the Houston SaberCats (2022-2025) and the Seattle Seawolves (2026).

a 22yo Coetzer joined the SaberCats from the University of Pretoria in December 2021 ahead of the 2022 MLR season. He earned 15 caps (all starts) for Houston in his debut season, filling the considerable gap left by Sam Windsor who moved to Rugby New York (later the Rugby New York Ironworkers). Coetzer scored 79pts in his first season in North America, placing him T-7th in the league in a season where Houston earned their first ever playoff appearance, actually finishing in the #1 spot in the Western Conference following the disqualification of the LA Giltinis and Austin Gilgronis. The SaberCats fell to the Seattle Seawolves in the 2022 Western Conference Final by a score of 27-46.

He followed up a 79pt season with a fantastic 135pt season in 2023, finishing 2nd in the league behind New England’s Jayson Potroz The SaberCats returned to the playoffs in 2023 but were unable to make it past the Western Eliminator, falling to the Seawolves once more by a score of 37-26. As of the conclusion of the 2024 season, Coetzer had scored 291pts in MLR, placing him 8th All-Time for scoring, the same position he finished in 2024 scoring, tied with Chicago’s Adriaan Carelse on 77pts that year, as the SaberCats suffered an upset defeat to their Texas rivals the Dallas Jackals in the Western Conference semifinals following a brilliant 14-2 regular season. Coetzer was named to the All-MLR Honorable Mention XV for his play in 2024.

On September 9, 2023, Wasserman, the agency representing Coetzer, announced that he had extended his contract with the SaberCats into 2024. On April 24th, 2024, Wasserman announced that Davy Coetzer had committed to the SaberCats long term, signing a contract with the club through the 2027 MLR season and on 4th November 2024, the Houston SaberCats announced Coetzer’s return for 2025. Coetzer’s season was badly affected by injury in 2025 but despite this, he scored 67pts including 2 tries and started 8 of his 9 appearances that season, and now sits as MLR’s 7th highest points scorer with 358pts in his 51 appearances with the SaberCats between 2022-2025, and was a key part of the Houston team that finished as MLR runners-up following defeat to the New England Free Jacks in the 2025 Championship Game.

Following the shock news in September 2025 that the Houston SaberCats would be withdrawing from Major League Rugby, Davy Coetzer explored the open market as a free agent, and on 20th November 2025 the Seattle Seawolves announced the signing of the South African fly-half, who has expressed his interest in representing the USA in the future.

Achievements:

2025 Western Conference Champion: Houston SaberCats
MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 7
MLR Team of the Week: 2025 – Rd 4
2024 All-MLR Honorable Mention XV
T-8th in MLR Scoring: 2024 (77pts)
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 18
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 15
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 5
MLR Team of the Week: 2024 – Rd 2
2023 All-MLR Second XV
2nd in MLR Scoring: 2023 (135pts)
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Rd 6
MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Rd 15
MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Rd 8

Christian Dyer

California native Christian Dyer played in Major League Rugby between 2022-25. He represented the Houston SaberCats (2022-2024), and Rugby FC LA (2025).

The UC Berkeley centre played football and rugby through high school and university, making his international debut for the sevens program in 2021, followed by a debut for the USA Eagles as #539 shortly after.

Originally involved with the Dallas Jackals, once they deferred their entry to 2022 Christian Dyer was selected in the supplementary draft by Rugby New York but did not join the Roosters for the 2021 season. Dyer’s signing was announced by the SaberCats in January 2022, and he started 16 of Houston’s 17 games in his debut MLR season including the first Championship Series game in club history. He scored 7 tries in his first season in MLR, and followed this with a 9 try season in 15 appearances (all starts) in 2023, finishing T-9th in MLR try scoring that year. As of the conclusion of the 2024 season, his 19 tries for Houston made him the SaberCats all time leading try scorer, a record that still stood at the end of the 2025 season.

On September 12, 2023, Wasserman, the agency representing Dyer, announced that he had extended his contract with the SaberCats for the 2024 MLR season. On 27th November 2023, the Houston SaberCats confirmed this. On 29th July 2024, Dyer indicated on his Instagram that his time with the SaberCats has come to an end after 3 seasons and 45 appearances for the club. On November 25th 2024, Californian Dyer was the first player announced by Rugby FC LA ahead of their 2025 season. Dyer played a depth role for RFCLA in 2025, scoring 2 tries and 12pts to take his career try total to 21 and his points total over 100. He started 4 of his 6 games for LA, helping them to qualify for the postseason for the first time in club history, where they fell to Dyer’s former side the Houston SaberCats in the Western Conference Semifinal.

On 23rd July, 2025, Christian Dyer announced his retirement on instagram after 4 seasons in Major League Rugby. He scored 21 tries and 109pts in 51 games (48 starts), representing the Houston SaberCats for 3 seasons, and Rugby FC LA for his final year. Dyer earned 14 test caps as a USA Eagle. During the 2026 season, Dyer was a part of the Sunday Night Rugby team as a pundit.

Achievements

T-9th in MLR Try Scoring: 2023 (9)
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 17
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 3
MLR Team of the Week: 2023 – Round 2

Dillon Smit

South African scrum-half Dillon Smit played in Major League Rugby between 2022-2023. He represented the Houston SaberCats.

Smit’s signing was announced by the Houston SaberCats in December of 2021 ahead of the 2022 MLR season, he joined from the Lions organisation in South Africa where he was playing in the Currie Cup competition since 2016. He appeared in 15 of Houston’s 16 regular season games, as well as the SaberCats’ first ever Championship Series game in the 2022 playoffs, a 27-46 loss in the Western Conference Final to the Seattle Seawolves. His 3 MLR tries all came during the 2022 season, including a try just 13 seconds into Houston’s Round 5 game against Rugby ATL which was the fastest try in MLR history at the time (since surpassed by Conner Mooneyham in 2023).

Smit was re-signed for the 2023 season in January of 2023 and was in and out of the lineup primarily due to injury. He earned another 7 MLR caps (all starts again) to bring his total to 23 over his 2 seasons with Houston, gaining 115m and completing 42 tackles. On 27th September, 2023, Hoerskool Waterkloof, a high school in South Africa, announced that Dillon Smit had joined their staff as Rugby High Performance Manager in January 2024. While Smit has not announced an end of his playing career, this will most likely rule Smit out of returning for the 2024 MLR season.

Achievements:

MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Round 3

Dean Muir

South African hooker Dean Muir played in Major League Rugby between 2019-2023. He represented the San Diego Legion (2019-2021) and the Houston SaberCats (2022-2023).

Muir came up in the Sharks system between 2006-2008, playing with the U18 side at Craven Week in 2006 & 2007, and the U19s in 2008. He spent much of his playing career in South Africa, playing with Varsity Cup side TUT Vikings in 2010 before returning to the Sharks for the 2012 season. He spent the 2013/14 Currie Cup season playing with the Border Bulldogs, and the UKZN Impi in 2014. Between 2014-2016 he played with the Falcons (Valke) before heading over to New York to play with Old Blue in the 2016 Fall ARP season. He returned to South Africa and played with the Western Province in the 2017/18 season before earning his Super Rugby debut for the Stormers later in 2018, before heading to Japan to play with the Kintetsu Liners that same year.

Muir again travelled to the USA, this time signing with the San Diego Legion for the 2019 MLR season. He earned 13 appearances (10 starts) in his debut pro season in North America, scoring 2 tries as the Legion advanced to the Championship Final before falling to the Seattle Seawolves 23-26 in a game which Muir played. He would score 3 tries in 5 games (4 starts) for the Legion in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the season down. Muir was T-6th in League try scoring at the point the season stopped. Muir earned 33 appearances for the Legion (25 starts) between 2019-2021, scoring 8 tries in total.

Ahead of the 2022 season, Muir signed with the South African-heavy Houston SaberCats and enjoyed a standout season. He captained the club and earned a PB 16 appearances (all starts), scoring 10 tries (T-2nd in MLR that season with Seattle’s Riekert Hattingh) in total including 4 tries in one game in Round 16, an MLR record that stood until Dallas Jackals’ Dewald Kotze scored 5 in a game in 2024. Muir played with Houston for 2 seasons, earning scoring 14 tries in 24 games (all starts). He became the 38th player in MLR history to reach 50 caps in the league on 25th March 2023.

Muir missed a chunk of the 2023 season due to the birth of his Daughter, and returned to South Africa following the conclusion of the season.