Robert Drummond

Texas native Robert Drummond played in Major League Rugby during the inaugural 2018 season. He represented the Austin Elite for his entire MLR career.

A native of Austin, TX, University of Texas graduate Robert Drummond played his club rugby with the Austin Huns before signing with the Austin Elite when professional rugby arrived in Texas ahead of the inaugural MLR season in 2018. He earned 6 professional appearances from the bench in the 2018 season, gaining 10m with ball in hand and completing 11 tackles.

Mason Pedersen

Californian prop Mason Pedersen played in Major League Rugby between 2018-2026. He represented the Austin Gilgronis (2018-2019, 2021-2022) and the Seattle Seawolves (2020, 2023-2026).

Mason Pedersen was raised in Long Beach, CA and attended Woodrow Wilson High School before enrolling at the University of Arizona from 2014. Following his graduation, he joined the Austin Huns in 2017 where he helped the team to a D1 Championship before signing with the Austin Elite for Major League Rugby’s inaugural season in 2018 where he earned 5 starts in 6 games. Following the season he played with the Vancouver Rowing Club in British Columbia before returning to the Elite for the 2019 season where he scored his first MLR try. After a breif spell with the Seattle Seawolves for the truncated 2020 season where he scored 2 tries in 5 games (starting 4), Pedersen returned to Austin with the new look Gilgronis for two seasons from 2021-2022. In total, Pedersen earned 29 starts in 43 games for Austin, scoring 3 tries in total and completing a career high 89 tackles in 2022.

Following the disqualification of the Austin Gilgronis from the 2022 season and their subsequent cessation of operations, Pedersen re-joined the Seattle Seawolves for 2023, and earned 3 starts in 17 games in his first full season in the Pacific Northwest. He picked up an injury which ruled him out of the following season, but on January 14th, 2025, Mason Pedersen was included on the Seattle Seawolves roster for their 2025 season, his 8th in MLR. He bounced back in 2025, earning 2 starts and completing 84 tackles in 15 games, as well as passing 1000m gained in his 80 game career and earning his first career Team of the Week selection in Rd 10. Pedersen would return for a 5th season with the Seattle Seawolves in 2026, as the team announced his return on 19th December, 2025.

achievements

Hanco Germishuys

South African born American Hanco Germishuys played in Major League Rugby between 2018-2023. He represented the Austin Elite (2018), the Glendale Raptors (2019), Rugby United New York (2020-2021), the LA Giltinis (2022) and the Houston SaberCats (2023).

Born in the Northern Cape of South Africa, Germishuys moves to Omaha, Nebraska in 2004 with his father. He played rugby through high school and captained the USA U18 side at the Youth Olympics, having played for the U18 side since he was 14, and played with the U20s in both 2015 & 2016, also being named a high-school All-American for 4 years. In 2016 he competed in the short lived PRO rugby competition (the spritual predecessor to MLR), representing the Denver Stampede before winning a USA Club Rugby Division 1 National Championship with the Austin Huns in 2017. Germishuys earned his full international debut as Eagle #489 against Brazil in February 2016 and has earned 29 test caps to date including representing the USA at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

Germishuys remained in Austin for the inaugural MLR season in 2018, representing the Austin Elite and scoring 6 tries in 6 games as well as gaining over 500m as a forward. Since his entry into MLR, Germishuys has represented 5 different teams over 6 seasons, gaining over 500m in 4 separate seasons and earning 46 appearances in total (39 starts) including a season-high of 13 for New York in 2021. He scored a PB of 8 tries for the LA Giltinis in 2022, finishing among the top 10 for tries scored. For the 2023 season he joined the South African-heavy Houston SaberCats where he scored 1 try in 7 games (5 starts), and seems to have quietly retired following the season.

achievements
  • T-7th in MLR Try Scoring: 2022 (8)