North American Rugby Database

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The New England Free Jacks host the Chicago Hounds at Veteran’s Memorial Stadium in the 2nd leg of the Eastern Conference Final rematch to kick off MLR’s ‘Decision Day’, the final day of the 2026 Regular Season.

The Hounds enter this game as the only team in MLR with their place secured, and remain unbeaten with a 9-0 record. Although a win is not needed, Chicago will want that flawless 10-0 regular season and will also want to get revenge on the New England Free Jacks for their defeat in last year’s Eastern Conference Final. The Free Jacks currently sit in a playoff spot, but will want a bonus point win to give them the best possible chance of qualifying for the postseason. It’s possible that they can still make it with a loss, but they will need Anthem RC to do them a favour against Old Glory DC for that to work.

Both sides seemed to understand the gravity of this game, and it remained scoreless through the first 20 minutes as both teams jockeyed for field position. Lots of penalties for each side but the Hounds enjoyed the bulk of the territory and possession, but were unable to break that Free Jacks defence. After camping in the Free Jacks end following the first hydration break, the Hounds won a penalty and put it into the corner as they had already done multiple times through the first 25 minutes. Bekerman’s throw was faultless and the Hounds set up the maul and on this occasion the Free Jacks collapsed the maul illegally and referee Derek Summers had no choice but to award the Hounds a Penalty Try, and show a yellow card to Free Jacks forward Jama Fa’anana-Schultz just to rub salt in the wound. This yellow card seems to have spurred the Free Jacks on however. Now down 7 and down a man, New England began stringing together phases and marching up field. A penalty in the Hounds half gave them a golden opportunity from a lineout in the corner, and on the second attempt, Sione Topou breaks off the maul and straight through the Hounds line. Joel Hodgson can’t add the extras however so still trail 5-7 in the 32nd minute, but had their tails up now. Just a few minutes later after fighting their way back downfield but giving away possession, Kienan Higgins jumps on a spilled ball and runs it in under the posts to give the hosts their first lead of the game, 12-7 once Hodgson added the conversion. The Hounds would rally well however, and hit back soon after the Higgins score to get the last laugh of the first half. A defensive stand on their own line was eventually breached by Tiaan Loots, with the Chicago centre able to stretch out for the grounding, and Santiago Videla makes no mistakes from the tee to give the visitors back the lead, 12-14 at the half.

The second half started with heavy pressure from the Chicago Hounds, but a miscue was fly-hacked by a defender to clear their lines after nearly 10 minutes of being hemmed in. Free Jacks defenders manage to hold up the Hounds in a maul in midfield to regain possession, and out of seemingly nowhere, a strong fend from Kienan Higgins allows him to offload to Oscar Lennon on a great support line, who runs it in to give the Free Jacks back the lead once again, 19-14 just shy of the 50 minute mark. For possibly the first time this season, it looked as if the Hounds were human after all. The Free Jacks had fought their way back into the lead, and were shifting the momentum and benefitting from Chicago mistakes. There was roughly 20 minutes of vying for field position in the middle of the second half either side of the hydration break where both teams took turns in marching upfield before an error or clutch turnover switched possession and the other team would then do the same. Finally, with the Free Jacks still needing a 4th try for their bonus point, A smart play from Tiaan Loots saw him tackled, but he released the ball and picked it up again, getting over the try line for his second of the game to tie things up for Chicago. The lead flips back once again after Videla adds the extras, 19-21 up with about 13 minutes to play. This really seemed to both feed the Hounds, and deflate the Free Jacks. Just a few minutes later, 2025 Championship MVP Brock Webster flies through a gap from close range to extend the visitors’ lead, and claim their try bonus point. The Free Jacks, needing to win by at least two, trailed 19-28 with under 7 minutes to play but things would only get worse for the threepeat Champions. To cap off a hard earned road victory, Tiaan Loots got on the shoulder of Luke White after a half break for his third of the game, completing his hat trick for the Chicago Hounds, who take a 19-35 victory on the road but not before Ben LeSage is shown a straight red card (his second of the season) just to really twist the knife for the Free Jacks.

With a bonus point victory, the Chicago Hounds complete the first perfect season in MLR history, going a flawless 10-0 and picking up the maximum 50pts in the standings and get revenge on the New England Free Jacks for last year’s Eastern Conference Final and dumping the 3x defending champions out of the postseason. With this defeat, the Free Jacks finish a forgettable 2026 season with a 3-7 record, losing out on a playoff spot for the first time since 2021 and join Anthem RC as the two teams to miss out. This ensures that their rivals Old Glory DC finish 4th and make the playoffs.