Report

Following their season opener against the California Legion last week, Anthem RC return to Charlotte for their home opener against the Chicago Hounds. This game marks the first of the season for the Hounds, who had a bye in Round 1.

Anthem RC return to Charlotte to a hero’s welcome after claiming their first victory in franchise history last week against the California Legion, snapping a MLR record 32-game winless streak dating back to the start of the 2024 season. They face a Chicago Hounds team that many have labelled as a favourite for the Shield this year. The Hounds team for this game included 7 players in the starting XV who were earning their Hounds debut, including hooker Theo Fourie who made his MLR debut. In addition, flanker Maclean Jones earned his 50th MLR appearance as a Chicago Hound in this game, becoming the first player to reach a half-century of games for the team.

The Chicago Hounds showed no signs of rust in their first showing of a new campaign, and never trailed in this game scoring 5 tries to Anthem’s 3 to lock up the full 5pts and get their campaign off to a perfect start, taking this one 19-33 on the road. Anthem, perhaps overconfident after their first ever victory last week, return to the drawing board to prep for the Seattle Seawolves next week.

Details

Date Time League Season
April 4, 2026 4:00 pm Major League Rugby MLR 2026

Results

TeamTriesConversionsPenalty KickTBLBPoints
Anthem3200019
Hounds5401033

Anthem

# Player Position T C P DG Asst. MG DB Tackles KS/KA Pts
1Payton Telea-Ilalio 17Prop0000040900
2Seth Smith 16Hooker1000070705
3Alex Maughan 18Prop0000010800
4Will Sherman 19Lock0000001900
5James ScottLock00000501000
6Johan MomsenFlanker000002011300
7Moni Tonga’uiha 20Flanker00000181700
8Makeen Alikhan 22Number 8000003301200
9Zion Going 21Scrum-half0000000500
10Luke CartyFly-half0200032142/34
11Julian RobertsWing00000814300
12Tom PittmanFly-half00000501400
13Will Leonard 23Center00000131400
14Conner MooneyhamWing000001065500
15Jordan TrainorFullback000001251200
16Ramiro Gurovich 2Hooker0000040700
17Alessandro Heaney 1Prop00000120600
18Oliver Kane 3Prop0000000600
19Sam Golla 4Flanker0000050200
20Baden Godfrey 7Flanker10000564905
21Ishma-eel Safodien 9Scrum-half10001742105
22Marques Fuala’au 8Flanker0000010500
23Malacchi Esdale 13Wing00000641000
 Total 32001711231382/319

Hounds

# Player Position T C P DG Asst. MG DB Tackles KS/KA Pts
1Jake Turnbull 17Prop00000184600
2Theo Fourie 16Hooker00001350800
3Charlie Abel 18Prop00000120600
4Tomas CasaresLock00000281700
5Nathan Den Hoedt 19Lock0000010700
6Mason Flesch Flanker200004526010
7Maclean JonesFlanker000001711800
8Lucas Rumball 20Number 8000003701300
9Ruben de HaasScrum-half0000064300
10Chris Hilsenbeck 22Fly-half03/40004173/42
11Noah Brown 21Wing0000010000
12Ollie DevotoCenter00001273600
13Tavite Lopeti 23Center10000251505
14Mark O’KeeffeWing10000344505
15Brock WebsterFullback00000610200
16Jackson Zabierek 2Hooker00000200200
17Luke White 1Prop00000170800
18Koby Baker 3Prop0000000500
19Brandon Harvey 5Lock0000000700
20Jake Kinneeveauk 8Flanker0000081300
21Michael Baska 11Fullback0000040300
22Reece Botha 10Center0000000000
23Santiago Videla 13Fly-half0000000400
Penalty Try-1100000007
 Total 54002400221313/433

Officials

RefereeAssistant 1Assistant 2
Luke RoganRobin KaluzniakDave Edwards

Venue

American Legion Memorial Stadium
American Legion Memorial Stadium, 310, North Kings Drive, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, 28204, United States