Houston SaberCats Re-Signs Taylor Howden

The Houston SaberCats re-signed Taylor Howden for the 2021 Major League Rugby season. The 34-year-old inside center/flyhalf is 6’0″ and 221 lbs.

Taylor played 208 minutes in the five matches of the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, starting twice and scoring a try. He is the team’s Director of Youth Development. In November he was the head coach of the Ohio Aviators 10s team in the World Tens Series in Bermuda.

Taylor was the Academy Director for NOLA Gold in 2018 and 2019 and his leadership on the team has been invaluable both on and off the field. In 2019 he played in 13 matches for 668 minutes, had 46 carries for 446 meters, and had 4 tries.

Following the 2019 season, he was a player-coach for the New Orleans Sevens team and coached NOLA Gold to a third-place finish at the 2019 Rugbytown Sevens. During the Fall 2019 USA Rugby Club Elite season, he played for the Kansas City Blues.

During the 2018 season, he played 678 minutes, starting all 8 matches, and scored 16 points from a try, a penalty goal, and 4 conversions.

Following the conclusion of the 2018 MLR season, Taylor played in the USA Rugby Club 7s Nationals with New Orleans Rugby Club and was named to the Dream Team. He then played at the Rugbytown7s for Tiger Rugby. Taylor is part of the Tiger Rugby family and is a coach within the organization.

Taylor Howden & Rugby

Taylor is from Auckland, New Zealand, and played rugby union at the Auckland Grammar School. He also played club rugby with Belmont Shore Rugby Club, the Denver Barbarians where he was a player/coach. for the Ohio Aviators in 2016 in the first professional rugby league in the U.S., as well as for the Columbus/Scioto Valley Rugby Club, where he was match secretary and nicknamed “The General.”

Taylor discusses playing professional rugby in the YouTube interview below.

Taylor also played for the Maccabi USA team at the 2013 and 2017 Maccabiah Games. The 2013 team won the Gold Medal in 7s and the bronze medal in rugby 15s. In 2017 the team finished out of the medal round for the first time in rugby 7s but won the Gold Medal for the first time in 20 years in the 15s.

Taylor played Rugby League from 2014-2016. In 2014 he played outside the center for the Birmingham & Solihull Rugby Club. The Bees were a National League 2 Midlands side. In 2015 he played for the Midwest team, the “Stockyarders,” and was part of the Rugby League World Cup Qualifiers with the USA Hawks. In 2016 he played with Ohio Rugby USARL Hawks in the Colonial Cup Series. This was a three-game round-robin tournament between the USA, Canada, and Jamaica. He then played in September 2016 in the Rugby League Americas Championship.

In 2015 Taylor also played for the Classic Eagles at the World Rugby Classic in Bermuda and scored a try against France. World Rugby Classic 2015

Taylor is also a rugby 7s player. He played for the Tiger Rugby 1823 sevens team as both a player and a player/coach. In 2014 the team participated in the Cancun 7s. He also played for Tiger Rugby at the Melrose 7s, Shanghai 7s, Central Coast 7s, and Safarican in Kenya.

Taylor has also played rugby at the Rugbytown 7s. In 2014 he played for Denver and in 2017 & 2018 for Tiger Rugby. In 2015 he played for San Francisco at the Limerick World Club Sevens.

Taylor has also been a coach with the Tiger Rugby Academy in Columbus, Ohio. Tiger Rugby is an Olympic Development Academy in the U.S. and has also collaborated with the Northeast Academy for coaching clinics and camps. Most recently this was done at the IMG Academy in Florida in June 2017.

Taylor also was an organizer of the Rugby Ohio Collegiate All-Stars vs. the Legacy Rugby Academy (Michigan) matches. This Is Ohio Rugby article indicated that “The purpose of the team is to create a pathway or players looking to represent their country,” said Taylor Howden, flyhalf for Columbus Rugby and primary scout during the trials.