Team

Oliver Devoto

The 32-year-old Englishman is now set for his second year in Chicago after an impressive 2025 season that culminated in Second-Team All-Major League Rugby honors.

Devoto appeared in 16 contests, all starts, and registered 1,128 minutes of game time during his first year in MLR. He played the full 80-minutes in 11 of those games. The center was one of the Hounds’ best attacking threats on the year, finishing the season with eight clean line breaks, 52 beaten defenders, and three tries for 15 points on his team-leading 196 ball carries. Devoto closed the 2025 season out on a high-note, registering at least one clean break in his last four appearances.

Defensively, Devoto completed 154 tackles including 16 dominant tackles. His 16 dominant tackles set a new Chicago Hounds single-season record, which was previously held by Charlie Abel who finished the 2023 season with 13 dominant tackles. Devoto completed double-digit tackles in seven of his appearances. He earned the 2025 Chicago Hounds Back of the Year award for his standout first season in Dawg Town.

Prior to his time in MLR, Devoto enjoyed an impressive career in the English Premiership. He signed with the Hounds last offseason after spending the previous eight seasons with the Exeter Chiefs, a perennial powerhouse. During the 2020-2021 season, he helped the Chiefs to a Premiership title appearance while starting 21 of his 23 appearances. He finished that year with a career-high six tries. Before signing with Exeter, he spent four seasons with Bath.

Strong performances in club rugby earned Devoto selection to England’s senior training squad ahead of the 2016 Six Nations. Despite not making any appearances in that tournament, Devoto was recalled to the team for their summer test series later that year. He made his test debut for England on May 29, 2016 against Wales.

Position Center
Height 6'4"
Weight 225 lbs.
Hometown Yeovil, ENG
MLR Caps 16