Life Off the Pitch with Houston's Diego Magno

When Diego Magno signed for Houston ahead of the 2019 season, he came with quite the resume.

Diego has represented Uruguay since 2008 and is now his country’s record appearance holder, representing Los Teros on over 90 occasions and at two Rugby World Cups.

Arriving in Texas with bags of experience, Diego quickly became a key performer for the SaberCats.

Playing on 12 occasions in 2019, the forward made 96 tackles and carried the ball on 77 occasions, making 339 meters in the process. Signing up for 2020 season after representing Uruguay at the 2019 World Cup, Diego would play in four of the five Houston games that took place in 2020.

Like many players across Major League Rugby, Diego marries his time as a professional rugby player with work away from the rugby field. This is no new thing for the 31-year-old, who set up his first business in 2007.

A mobile application and website designing service, Solcre gave Diego an insight into exactly what running a start-up business would be like. It is experience that is serving him well now with his latest venture; Kankay - Texas.

Launching a range of traditional South American barbeques, Diego has setup the business with Argentine prop, and SaberCats teammate, Nicolás Solveyra, each hoping to bring a taste of their homelands to North America.

Among a group of other Uruguayans and Argentinians in Houston, they have attempted recreation of asados. An age-old tradition in South America, Magno says that he and his teammates found it hard at first not to experience one of their favorite past-time’s in the traditional way.

“We always used what we had, which was charcoals and the common barbeques,” Diego started. “It was a little bit tough for us because we weren’t used to it. The first thing we said was that we had to start using wood. I started looking at wood in Texas and this is how the whole thing started because there was a lot of different wood.

“There is oak, pecan, hickory, a lot of different types of wood and that was something I was like; we have something here. You can use charcoals with our barbeques, but we want to improve the use of wood. The other thing is about our culture, the asado. It is more about sharing moments. Not just about saying; lets cook meat.

“If you are at a barbeque with us, you will spend three, maybe four hours of your day eating, drinking and having fun. Americans are used to having a barbeque in 20 minutes. You know what I mean? You just eat and its done.”

After inviting his teammates, coaches and support staff to experience an asado, Diego and his teammates received glowing recognition. It was that positive feedback that gave Diego the desire to share a South American tradition with North America.

Initially looking to manufacture their products locally in Houston, Diego and his business partners eventually found a supplier in Nicolás’ native Argentina, there has already been a flurry of orders from teammates and other players across MLR in support of their venture.

“We have lots of guys in MLR that have already got their barbeque and that is a good thing,” Diego said. “All the guys from SaberCats, they already knew about our idea because we had a chat about me bringing some good barbeques and they said it would be awesome.

“Of course, we are talking with the SaberCats because we want to put our brand there in the stadium or to get some exposure and some marketing. I think it would be good for us and the club.”

Having recently returned to Houston, after being able to play some rugby for Montevideo and Uruguay, Diego is looking to carry on growing the brand of Kankay – Texas.

“We call them premium because they are more like furniture, not the normal thing that you would have in the backyard,” Diego said. “I love to eat. I love to eat meat. I love to have asados and my wife also loves this. When all these things are together, I had to take this opportunity.”

You can follow Diego on Instagram and Twitter and keep up to date with the Houston SaberCats by visiting their official website.