Background & History

The Chicago Hounds were announced as a Major League Rugby expansion side on November 17, 2022 and played in their inaugural MLR season in 2023, with SeatGeek Stadium hosting their home games. The team is co-owned by a small group of investors including majority owner Peter Bernick and part-owners Matt Satchwell and Phil Groves. Also among the ownership group are former Ireland internationals Dave & Rob Kearney, with Dave also representing the team during the 2024 season.

The inaugural Hounds roster was primarily created through an expansion/dispersal draft of players from Austin & LA after the two franchises ceased operations following their disqualification from the 2022 MLR season. Former Austin Head Coach Sam Harris moved to Chicago to take the reigns as Hounds HC, along with many of his AG players. Harris remained in charge of the Hounds from 2023 to the tail end of the 2024 season, when he was let go following a 4 game skid and a playoff spot on the line. Forwards Coach Rob Webber, former England international and Jersey Reds head coach, was promoted to interim head coach and went on a 3 game win streak to lock in the Hounds’ first ever Playoff appearance, where they defeated the higher seeded NOLA Gold, but fell to the New England Free Jacks in a close contest in Quincy, MA. Shortly after Webber‘s promotion to interim HC, English Premiership side Saracens announced that Webber would be joining them as Assistant Forwards Coach for their 2024/25 season, leaving the Chicago Hounds to find his replacement for the 2025 season. They did so on 11th September 2024, when they announced Wallabies legend Chris Latham as their head coach for 2025. The Hounds’ first season under Latham was their best to date. They finished 2nd in the East with an 11-5 record and 53pts, just 2 behind the 1st placed New England Free Jacks. This secured their first home playoff game against Old Glory DC in which they were victorious, and they advanced to the Eastern Conference Final for a replay of the 2024 ECF against the Free Jacks in Quincy. The Hounds led 0-17 at the 50 minute mark before New England began to pile on the pressure, and trailed 21-20 as the clock turned red. Chris Hilsenbeck lined up a penalty kick in the last play of the game, which rang off the post to hand the Free Jacks the victory.

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Records & Record Holders

All-Time

Top Scorer: Luke Carty (127pts)
Top Try Scorer: Dylan Fawsitt (23)
Top Playoff Scorer: Chris Hilsenbeck (22pts)
Most Appearances: Maclean Jones (49)
Most Starts: Maclean Jones (46)
Top Tackler: Maclean Jones (591)
Top Meter Eater: Billy Meakes (2,238m)

Single Season:

Top Scorer: Chris Hilsenbeck (109pts) – 2025
Top Try Scorer: Dylan Fawsitt (14) – 2024
Top Tackler: Maclean Jones (204) – 2025
Top Meter Eater: Billy Meakes (1,154m) – 2023

historical performance

2023: 3-0-13 (-170) – 20pts: 5th in Western Conference
2024: 8-1-7 (+67) – 45pts: 3rd in Eastern Conference (Conference Finalist)
2025: 11-0-5 (+69) – 53pts: 2nd in Eastern Conference (Conference Finalist)

All-Time Regular Season Record: 22-1-25
All-Time Playoff Record: 2-2
Championship Series Appearances: 2 (2024, 2025)

Head coach & captain

Head Coach:

• Sam Harris (2023-2024)
• Rob Webber (2024 – Interim)
• Chris Latham (2024-2025)

Captain:

• Bryce Campbell & Luke White (2023)
• Billy Meakes (2024)
• Lucas Rumball (2025)

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Logo & Jersey

The Chicago Hounds logo features a white Medieval-esque hounds head reminiscent of House Stark from Game of Thrones. This Hounds head sits within a green shield. This shield is in turn within two circles, the outer of which features ‘Chicago Hounds Rugby’ and 4 light blue stars, a nod to the flag of Chicago.

The Chicago Hounds have traditionally played in green and white. Typically green has featured as an accent colour, with some exceptions such as the 2023 St. Patrick’s Day kit which was dark green with a white collar. In 2023, their home jersey was primarily white with gray accents, and their away jersey a black version of the same jersey. For 2024, they switched their primary jersey for a white and green hooped jersey featuring a collar, which was used as a one-off in 2023 and went down extremely well then, as it did for the 2024 season.

 

venue

The Chicago Hounds have played their home games out of Seatgeek Stadium, the 20,000 seater home of the Chicago Fire of the MLS. Seatgeek Stadium was also used as the venue for the 2023 MLR Championship Final between the San Diego Legion and the New England Free Jacks.

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