Hounds Set for Dawg Town Reunion

News Mar-22-2024

Hounds Set for Dawg Town Reunion

Hounds are set for Dawg Town reunion at 2024 home opener

CHICAGO, IL- Head Coach Sam Harris and his staff have selected the 23 Hounds to take the field on Sunday against the New England Free Jacks. The week four contest of the 2024 Major League Rugby season is the Hounds’ home opener and Dawg Town is officially #back. The parking lot opens at 10:30, gates are at 12 PM, and the opening whistle happens at 1 PM. Fans can purchase tickets to the home opener here.

Forwards:

Zurabi Zhvania and Ignacio Peculo will man the prop positions on Sunday afternoon, at loosehead and tighthead respectively. When on the field together, the duo is up there amongst the best prop pairings in the league. Zhvania dotted down for five-pointers in back-to-back games and Peculo is fresh off an MLR First XV selection. Both players need to put in a big shift against the Free Jacks if the Hounds want to come away with a win.

Dylan Fawsitt returns to the starting lineup after providing a spark off the bench in week three’s draw against Old Glory DC. Similarly to the props, Fawsitt’s play on Sunday can dictate a lot for the Hounds. If the lineout is operating well, and the Dawgs are able to put the Free Jacks under consistent pressure, watch out for the all-pro hooker. He’s due for his first score of the season.

Fred Apulu slides to the bench after an impressive performance last week in his first career MLR start. The loosehead prop is joined by Charlie Abel, making his first appearance since the week one win over the Miami Sharks. Hooker Guillermo Pujadas is another player who appears on the bench after a good showing as a starter last weekend, highlighting the depth of this 2024 Hounds’ front row.

George Merrick and James Scott return in the second row, making their third start of the season as a pair. Scott started the previous three games while Merrick was sidelined against DC last weekend. Sam Peri has an opportunity to make his 2024 debut from the No. 19 shirt while Brad Tucker is another option wearing the No. 20 shirt. Tucker might have the upper hand here- he’s appeared off the bench to provide lock cover the last two weeks.

After starting in the second row last week, Mason Flesch returns to blindside flanker, where he started the first two weeks of the season. The Canadian forward has been one of the Chicago standouts early in the season, on both offense and defense.

Mac Jones joins him in the flankers from his openside position. Jones was a monster against Old Glory, his first start of the season, which makes the ongoing position battle between him and Lucas Rumball even more interesting. Rumball earns a spot on the bench as the sixth forward and will look to make his third appearance of the season as an impact substitute. The Canadian flanker started the first two games of the season.

Tinashe Muchena is set for his first start of the new campaign, taking the place of vice-captain Luke White at No. 8, who started the previous three games. Similarly to the front row, the physically imposing Lindenwood University product highlights the depth in this back row position group.

Backs:

Nick McCarthy will be one of the first names on the team sheet every week when he is healthy and that is no different for the home opener. The experienced scrumhalf completed an impressive 94% of his passes throughout the opening three weeks of the season (119 for 127) and has brought a calm head and cool demeanor to a position group that lacked stability last year.

McCarthy will combine with captain and flyhalf Billy Meakes in the playmaker positions for the fourth consecutive week. The skipper played every minute of the season thus far and currently leads the team in carries (24), meters (180), tackles (30) and dominant tackles (3).

Bryce Campbell staked his claim on the inside center position in training camp and hasn’t let it go through the opening month of the season. He makes his fourth start in the No. 12 shirt and will be tasked with containing New England center Wayne van der Bank, arguably his toughest assignment of the season thus far. Van der Bank’s 2024 stat sheet includes 24 carries for 182 meters, nine beaten defenders, and a try. Campbell completed 27 of his 32 tackle attempts on defense this year.

Mark O’Keeffe returns to the outside center position after missing out on selection against Old Glory last week. Getting the all-pro center involved on offense has to be a priority for the Hounds on Sunday. O’Keeffe only has ten carries in his two appearances. Despite the lack of opportunities, he already has one clean line break, beaten two defenders, and is averaging eight meters a pop. Over the course of his career, the center has shown that he can make tries happen seemingly out of nowhere. But he needs the pill more consistently for those game-breaking plays to happen.

After making his MLR debut last weekend, center Cassh Maluia has an opportunity to earn cap number two against New England. The intriguing prospect showed a lot of positives on debut and could provide an X-Factor off the bench late in the game. His combination of power and speed add an element to the Chicago attack that is hard to find elsewhere across the roster.

The back three remains the same from a week ago. Left wing Nate Augspurger and fullback Adriaan Carelse have been mainstays in the roster early on in the season, starting every contest and playing nearly every minute. Augspurger currently leads the team in beaten defenders (six) and gained 109 meters on the ground with his 15 ball carries. Carelse’s provided a spark plug on offense this year, adding a pair of clean line breaks to the stat sheet with 15 carries for 161 meters.

Right wing Dave Kearney will look to build off his solid performance last week- his Hounds and MLR debut. He didn’t have a ton of opportunities against DC, but he had a productive day when he did see action. On his four carries, the Irishman ran for 39 meters, broke the line cleanly, and beat a defender. Expect his role in the Hounds’ attack to grow week-over-week.

Rookie Noah Brown can make his second MLR appearance from the bench after earning his first cap last weekend. The rookie posted blazing speeds in training this week, per the Hounds’ performance staff’s GPS data. The Indiana University product had a top speed of 23.15 MPH. Head Coach Sam Harris recently touted Brown as potentially one of the fastest players in the league.

The History:

The Hounds and the Free Jacks met once last season at Veterans Memorial Stadium in New England, the only meeting on record between the two clubs. New England dispatched the Hounds 31-19.

April 8, 2023 at Veterans Memorial Stadium: 31-19, Free Jacks win

Numbers Around the Roster:

Coming into the season, Billy Meakes had six career dominant tackles. Through three weeks of play, the captain already has three this season, tying his single-season career high.
Historically, the Chicago Hounds are 2-0 when No. 8 Tinashe Muchena is in the starting lineup. He made his first career start against the Utah Warriors in Week 17 last season and started the following week against the Dallas Jackals.