AG Signs Super Rugby Hooker Hugh Roach

AUSTIN, TX (January 26th, 2021) The AGs are delighted to announce the signing of Australian spark plug hooker, Hugh Roach. The 28-year-old comes to the AGs from Super Rugby juggernaut Crusaders; bringing professional rugby experience from the top league and teams in the world.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge of earning the respect of a new fan base, new teammates, and new coaches,” says Roach. “It takes working hard at training and committing myself to the gym and playing field. With that, I’m also excited to experience a new culture in America and a new way of life, so that will be a learning process that I’ll enjoy taking on.”

From 2013 to 2020 Hugh Roach scored ten tries in 50 Super Rugby appearances. All ten tries came in his 41 appearances with the Waratahs, but Roach has found success in a handful of systems throughout his career. The hooker brings additional experience from two other Super Rugby outfits (8 appearances with the Rebels, and 1 in 2020 with the Crusaders), along with 16 appearances with the Greater Sydney Rams of the Australian Rugby Championship and 10 more with the Tasman Mako of the Mitre Ten Cup competition.

AGs head coach Sam Harris actually coached Hugh Roach in high school and knew exactly the kind of high work-rate player he was getting in Roach. “Hugh brings success to the AGs - our team went undefeated in high school, he’s a Super Rugby Champion, and now an undefeated Mitre 10 champion,” says Harris. “So he’ll bring a winning mentality, but also a lot of confidence to our lineout.”

In 2014, Roach was a part of the Super Rugby champions Waratahs squad. Then in October 2019, Hugh Roach helped the Tasman Mako to an undefeated 10-0 record and had an opportunity at another championship title. Roach came on in the 60th minute of the Mitre 10 premiership final and helped the Mako to a long-awaited victory. Last October, Roach alongside his Tasman Mako teammates paraded the Mitre 10 cup down Trafalgar St in Nelson, New Zealand; one of the proudest moments of his career. Then in March of 2020, Roach was rushed into the Crusaders squad as a late injury cover to take on the Sunwolves with just one week’s turnaround. The Crusaders would go on to win the 2020 Super Rugby Aoteroa title.

Today his signing marks his pursuit for another trophy in the shape of a shield; only seven and a half thousand miles away from home. “The overall goal is simple, win the competition,” says Roach adamantly. “My goal is to help my team win the championship by committing myself to preparation each week to put myself in the best position to be successful so the team can win.”

Offseason hooker additions of Hugh Roach, Robbie Coetzee and draftee Mason Koch join Brendan Rams in the AGs hooker depth chart. A position unit now set up with a bit of dept; ripe for a position battle. Harris admits, “Hooker will be our most hotly contested position; with a rotation policy likely.”

Coetzee and Roach both made the move from Super Rugby to the MLR. Harris attests that both guys are weapons in attack and defense, both jackal like openside flankers and break the line regularly. Brendan Rams has been hard at work in the gym this offseason and will have a clear size and strength advantage at the position. 22-year-old American draftee Mason Koch will have his work cut out for him to earn the job, but will undoubtedly earn a fast-tracked education of the hooker position this season alongside Roach, Coetzee, and Rams.

Roach is chomping at the bit to join the team this January and battle it out for the #2 jersey.

“This is a really exciting opportunity with a new team and a relatively young competition and I’m really looking forward to testing myself in a new setting and getting to know the team,” says Roach.

Welcome to the AGs, Hugh Roach!