North American Rugby Database

Report

Rugby FC LA travel to Illinois to face the Chicago Hounds at Seatgeek Stadium in a cross-conference clash during Round 8 of the 2024 MLR season.

The Hounds started quick as they have done many times this season, scoring through Nate Augspurger just 2 minutes in, before Ben Lendry rumbled over for a 7-pointer in the 11th minute, and Dylan Fawsitt picked up his 6th try in his last 3 games in the 16th minute before RFCLA had even woken up. Once they found their footing, LA hit back with two tries of their own through Rory van Vugt & Dan Hollinshead, but Ben Landry secured his 2nd of the game a few minutes before HT to give the Hounds a 26-12 lead at the break.

The 2nd half started pretty calm, with both sides evaluating their opponents defence and launching some probing attacks, before Niall Saunders darted through a gap at the breakdown for another 7-pointer for LA to reduce their deficit to 7pts. A few minutes later, Chicago hit back with a 1-2 punch from wingers Nate Augspurger and Noah Brown within a minute of each other, and a hard hitting try from Mason Flesch 10 minutes later put the game beyond reach for LA, now trailing 47-19. While the game may have been over, LA did not admit defeat. A Semi Kunatani run found paydirt for another 7-pointer, and Jack Shaw dotted down late to make the score a more respectable 47-31, before Nate Augspurger found his hattrick try at the death to take the Hounds over 50pts for the 2nd week in a row.

The Hounds take this one 54-31, recording back-to-back home victories and 3 wins in a row. They now sit at 4 wins on the season, setting a club record and passing the 3 wins they achieved in the whole of the 2023 season.