Capped Eagle Agrees to Terms on One-Year Deal

CHICAGO, Il.- The Chicago Hounds added yet another capped US Eagle to their 2026 Major League Rugby squad, the team announced today. Lock Tomas Casares agreed to terms on a one-year deal after spending the previous two seasons in Miami.

Originally a second round draft pick by the New England Free Jacks in the 2022 MLR Draft, the product out of Thomas More University did not make any appearances during his rookie 2023 season. Casares then signed with the Miami Sharks ahead of the 2024 campaign, their inaugural year in the league.

During his first year in Miami, he made eight appearances with six starts and played 515 minutes. He finished the year with two tries, including one seven-pointer, for 12 points on 65 ball carries. He registered a pair of line breaks and beat 17 defenders as a ball carrier and ran for 374 meters (5.8 meters-per-carry). Defensively, he completed 72 of his 88 tackle attempts including four dominant tackles.

After a strong 2024 season, Casares earned inclusion into the US Eagles player pool ahead of their autumn 2024 tour. He made his international debut in a US win over Portugal on November 9, 2024. He has been featuring in the player pool ever since the debut.

The lock added 14 more caps to his career tallies in 2025, his second year with the Sharks. He started 11 games and played 965 minutes on the year. As a ball carrier, he ran for 159 meters on 114 carries and beat 11 defenders. Casares completed a career-high 139 tackles on 173 tackle attempts and registered nine dominant tackles.

Casares joins a second row stable that is now littered with domestic qualified talent. Earlier this offseason, the Hounds added former Sabercat Nathan Den Hoedt to the squad, who earned First-Team All-MLR honors just last year. They followed that up with the signings of fellow capped-Eagle Brandon Harvey and Chicago-native Malcolm May. The domestic options in the second row should give the Hounds flexibility with their gameday roster construction throughout the upcoming 2026 season.