Kyle Breytenbach

South African born lock Kyle Breytenbach played in Major League Rugby from 2018-2022, and again in 2024. He represented the Austin Elite/Gilgronis from 2018-2019 and again from 2021-2022, the Houston SaberCats (2020), and the Dallas Jackals (2024).

Born and raised in South Africa, Breytenbach moved to Austin, Texas in 2016 and played with the Austin Huns until professional rugby arrived in the Lone Star State in 2018. He played with his adopted hometown team the Austin Elite for 2 seasons, earning 23 caps (18 starts) for Austin before moving to Houston to play with the SaberCats for the 2020 season. Breytenbach started all 5 games of the 2020 season before it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was signed to the SaberCats for the 2021 season but returned to Austin when his wife became pregnant.

Breytenbach spent another two seasons playing with Austin (now the Gilgronis) between 2021-2022, earning another 15 caps (8 starts) and scoring 2 tries in his 2nd stint with the AGs. In total, he earned 38 caps with Austin, starting 26 times and scoring 2 tries. During his second stint in Austin he also represented the USA Selects XV in Uruguay. With 1 match to go in the 2022 regular season, and with the Austin Gilgronis sitting top of the Western Conference, MLR announced that the team had been disqualified from the post-season for alleged breaches of the salary cap. The team would fold in the 2022 off season and as of 2024, pro rugby has yet to return to Austin.

Breytenbach still sits as the 3rd most capped Austin player of all time, and has 43 MLR caps in total with his time in Houston added in. He sat out the 2023 MLR season but was signed by the Dallas Jackals on 13th May 2024 (the signing deadline) for the remainder of the 2024 season, in place of Jackals Captain Sam Golla who missed a large chunk of the season due to injury. By signing for Dallas, Breytenbach enters an exclusive club of MLR players who have represented all 3 Texas clubs in MLR.

Victor Comptat

Victor Comptat, an American-born lock of French origin, was a real journeyman of Major League Rugby. He played in the competition from 2018-2022, representing 4 teams in that time: Austin (2018), Houston (2019-2020), San Diego (2021), and Seattle (2021-2022). In 2021, Comptat was traded mid-season from San Diego to Seattle, so appeared for both sides that season.

In total, Comptat earned 36 caps in MLR, starting 21 times. His only try in the competition came for the Seattle Seawolves in 2021.

On June 26th, 2022 it was announced that Comptat had signed for Nationale 2 side, US Seynoise, in the 4th tier of French Rugby.

MLR Honours:

2020 Team of the Week – Round 1
2021 Team of the Week – Round 18
2022 MLR Runner-up – Seattle Seawolves

Ben Mitchell

English born, Irish raised lock Ben Mitchell played in Major League Rugby between 2018-2024. He represented the Austin Gilgronis (2018-2019), the San Diego Legion (2020-2022) Seattle Seawolves (2023) and Rugby FC LA (2024).

Born in Nottingham, Mitchell moved to Ireland with his family when he was 6, and began playing youth rugby with Youghal RFC in Cork. He played centre and fullback through high school and was selected to the Munster School’s team in 2011, before attending UC Cork in 2012 and playing with UCC RFC where he was moved from the backs into the second row. Mitchell initially played with the U20 side but earned his All-Ireland League debut in 2014 where he played through the 2017/18 season during which time UCC RFC was promoted from Div 2 to Div 1.

Mitchell signed with the Austin Elite in 2017, ahead of MLR’s inaugural season the following year, earned 23 appearances (all starts) for Austin through the first 2 seasons of MLR, scoring 4 tries and completing 289 tackles. He Captained the Elite for his entire time there, and earned All-MLR selections in both seasons. Mitchell moved from Austin to San Diego ahead of the truncated 2020 season, appearing in 4 games (2 starts) as the Legion recorded a 5-0 record before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Mitchell earned 31 appearances for the Legion in total (27 starts) between 2020-2022, scoring 3 tries and becoming the 14th player in league history to earn 50 MLR caps, which he achieved in 2022. Mitchell then headed up the west coast to join the Seawolves in Seattle for the 2023 season, recording another 11 appearances, before returning to California with the newly relocated and rebranded Rugby FC LA, where he earned 2 starts in 2 games during their inaugural MLR season in 2024.