North American Rugby Database

Report

The Chicago Hounds host Old Glory DC at Seatgeek stadium during Round 6 of the 2026 MLR season in a Sunday Night Rugby marquee matchup that is a rematch of the 2025 Eastern Conference Semifinals

The Hounds enter this game leading Major League Rugby, and remain undefeated through the first 4 games of the season having defeated all other teams with the exception of Old Glory DC, their opponents today. The Flags hold a 2-2 record through their first two games and currently sit 4th in the table, having fallen to the California Legion in their home opener last week.

The visitors entered the doghouse ready to play. And went on the attack immediately. Mark O’Keeffe was deemed to have brought down a player early and was shown a yellow card within the first minute of the game, with Old Glory DC also being awarded a penalty try to take a 7-0 lead very early. The game went back and forth for roughly the first 20 minutes, with both sides trading tries to give fans a great show and the score reflected this. Old Glory led 14-21 at the first water break, scoring 3 tries to Chicago’s 2. However, a yellow card for a high hit by DC’s Cory Daniel gave the Chicago Hounds an opportunity to take control, and they took it with a flurry of scores. Theo Fourie crossed for his 2nd of the game, with Mason Flesch and Ollie Devoto also dotting down within a 10 minute span to give the Hounds a 33-21 lead at the half time break, much to the relief of the home fans.

The second frame started very differently from the first, with both the Hounds and Old Glory DC trading possession but unable to change the scoreboard. Eventually, DC found themselves in an advantageous position with a 4m lineout, and immediately after coming off the bench, KoiKoi Nelligan delivered the lineout well, the Flags set up the maul and rumbled over with Nelligan both starting and ending the play to bring Old Glory DC to within 7pts with plenty of time remaining. Unfortunately for the Flags, their discipline began to work against them. The Hounds got into the routine of earning a foothold in the DC half, earning a penalty, and punishing the visitors. The boot of Chris Hilsenbeck kept the Hounds just out of reach, inching away from DC with a pair of penalties taking them to 39-26. With 10 minutes remaining Jason Robertson bagged his 2nd of the game. Robertson’s conversion rang off the upright, and both he and DC felt that the Hounds charge down attempt was early and attempted to challenge, but as this was out of protocol, DC lost their challenge. This kept the Hounds over 1 score ahead, leading 39-31 before Hilsenbeck added a 3rd penalty to take them further out of reach, and with DC pushing for a 6th try to claim a losing bonus point, the Chicago Hounds pounced on a loose ball and Santiago Videla broke through to put the game to bed, converting his own score to take the score to 49-31 and secure a 5th straight win for Chicago.

Although the score looks slightly one sided, it’s fair to say that Old Glory DC gave the Chicago Hounds their biggest test of the season so far. They now fall to a 2-3 record and take a try BP back to DC for their efforts. The Hounds improve to 5-0, with a 5-game streak of The Old Mate and are half way to an undefeated regular season!