Team

The Hounds first signed O’Keeffe on December 16, 2022, acquiring him during the 2022 Major League Rugby dispersal draft. In November 2023, the club signed the outside back to a contract extension. The 30-year-old Dublin native has been a fixture in MLR since his rookie season with New York in 2019.

During the 2024 season, O’Keeffe played 14 games and started nine of those contests. He carried the ball 65 times for 608 meters (9.4 meters-per-carry), generating seven clean line breaks and beating 35 defenders. He added 38 tackles on defense, including a pair of dominant tackles.

In 2023, his first season with the Hounds, O’Keeffe started all 11 of his appearances. The Irishman carried the ball 90 times and gained 826 meters (9.2 MPC). He finished the season with three clean line breaks and 33 defenders beaten, scoring 15 points on three tries. Defensively, O’Keeffe was credited with 65 tackles, five of which were dominant.

Before the Hounds, the center played for three other MLR franchises. In 2021, O’Keeffe earned Second-Team All-Pro honors with Rugby Atlanta. He followed that up with an even better 2022 campaign with the Austin Gilgronis, earning the nod on the First-Team All-Pro team sheet.

During his career, O’Keeffe earned 71 MLR caps and has consistently been one of the best attacking threats across the league. He carried the ball 447 times for 4,540 meters (10.2 MPC) and scored a staggering 25 tries over his six seasons. The Dublin native generated 39 clean line breaks and beat 168 defenders while carrying the ball.