The Houston Strikers have announced the hiring of former US Eagles Assistant Coach Justin Fitzpatrick as their Head Coach for the 2018 Major League Rugby season. Currently Director of Rugby at Seattle Saracens, Fitzpatrick will head south after four years in charge. In doing so he leaves behind an established club with numerous international players on the roster for a team that currently has no players and has yet to play a single match.

Fitzpatrick, 43, joins the team with a strong rugby CV. The former London Irish, Castres, and Ulster prop won 26 caps for Ireland over a five-year span starting in 1998 and was part of the 1999 World Cup squad. Upon retirement in 2010 he joined Dungannon as Head Coach in 2011, leading them to an All-Ireland Cup final in his first year. He moved state-side to take up the Head Coach role with Seattle in 2013, combining his time with a role as Assistant Coach with the US Eagles under Mike Tolkin. Fitzpatrick was elevated to Director of Rugby at Seattle in 2015 and accompanied the Eagles to the World Cup in England.

Both Seattle and Houston will be part of a new professional rugby competition in the United States in 2018. Major League rugby has now added a 10th team – yet to be revealed – to its roster and is building slowly towards a formal announcement later this year, revealing a new logo on social media earlier today with branded merchandise now available on an updated website. The Strikers are the only side named among the founding teams not currently in operation, a startup backed by local investors who last month revealed plans to build an 11,000 seat stadium near Houston Sports Park.