Indiana native Jake ‘Jax’ Hidalgo played in Major League Rugby between 2021-2024. He represented the Houston SaberCats for his entire MLR career.

Hidalgo played football and ran track as a sprinter during high school, before attending Indiana University – Bloomington between 2012-2017 and picking up rugby in the fall of 2013, earning a Collegiate All-American Honorable Mention during the 2016/17 season. While at IU he also played with the Chicago Lions Sevens side, and moved to the 15s after his graduation, playing against his future team, the Houston SaberCats, in 2018.

Hidalgo moved to Texas in 2020 and began playing with Rugby HTX (now SaberCats 2), the Houston SaberCats academy team. His performance earned him a spot on the SaberCats’ MLR roster for their 2021 campaign, where he earned 9 appearances (5 starts) in his debut season. He remained with the SaberCats for the 2022 season, when he earned 5 further caps (3 starts), scoring 3 tries and earning 2 MLR Team of the Week selections in back to back weeks. In total, Hidalgo earned 14 MLR caps for the SaberCats (8 starts) between 2021-2023, scoring 3 tries.

On 11th January 2024, Hidalgo was included on the American Raptors roster for their 2024 Super Rugby Americas campaign.

achievements:

• MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Round 4
• MLR Team of the Week: 2022 – Round 3