Dawgs on International Duty

With the 2025 Major League Rugby season now in the rear view mirror, multiple Chicago Hounds players are in the midst of intensive training camps for their respective international teams. The Hounds have 13 players from their 2025 roster playing senior international rugby and one player suiting up with the USA Under-23 team.

USA

Three players were called into squad the USA Eagles July Test Match Series:

• Wing Nate Augspurger
• Wing Noah Brown
• Flyhalf Chris Hilsenbeck

The Hounds have another four players that were named amongst the squad’s non-traveling reserves. Should an injury occur whilst on tour, these players could be called into the squad.

• Scrumhalf Michael Baska
• Outside Back Mark O’Keeffe
• Wing Peyton Wall
• Forward Luke White

In addition to the seven players in the wider training group for the Senior Men’s National team, rookie prop Alex Hernandez is on tour with the USA Under-23 squad. The Hounds drafted the tighthead prop in the third round of the 2024 MLR Draft before loaning him to Carolina Anthem for the conclusion of the 2025 season. With Carolina, Hernandez appeared in seven games and made three starts. He completed 43 of his 52 tackle attempts in 356 minutes of action.

Canada

The Canadian National team called up five Chicago Hounds players ahead of their summer test match schedule. This includes Hounds captain Lucas Rumball, who doubles as the captain of the Canadian team.

• Flanker Mason Flesch
• Center Noah Flesch
• Scrumhalf Jason Higgins
• No. 8 Matthew Oworu
• Flanker Lucas Rumball

Uruguay

Last but not least, the Uruguay National team called up Tighthead Prop Ignacio Peculo for their two-match summer lineup. Peculo enjoyed a productive 2025 season with the Hounds, his second year in Chicago. He appeared in 17 games and made three starts. Over the course of his two seasons with the Hounds, he appeared in 31 games, made nine starts, and scored a pair of tries. On defense, he completed 151 of his 186 tackle attempts, including two dominant tackles.