Chicago Hounds Top Off Perfect Season with Championship Win Over California Legion, 35-17

Chicago dominated the game leading 32-3 through three quarters with California scoring two consolation tries in the last 20 minutes. Mason Flesch was one of the try scorers for Chicago. Chicago opened with a penalty by flyhalf Chris Hilsenbeck at 4′, hooker Theo Fourie added a try two minutes later, converted by Hilsenbeck for a 10-0 lead. California closed the gap with a penalty before Mason Flesch scored at 26′, again converted by Hilsenbeck and Chicago led 17-3 at the half. Hilsenbeck opened the second half with a penalty, 20-3. Chicago would score two more tries, the first by winger Peyton Wall at 47′ and the second by second row Nathan den Hoedt at 53′ and it was a commanding 32-3 lead. California would score two tries in the last quarter before Hilsenbeck ended the match with a penalty kick, final 35-17.

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Seattle Fall to California: Chicago Defeat Old Glory with Flesch and Rumball Scoring Tries

Callum Botchar and Dewald Kotze saw their MLR season come to an end on Sunday when Seattle fell to California 43-34. They’ll no doubt figure in Canada’s matches in July. Chicago hosted Old Glory DC. Chicago have Mason Flesch playing blindside flanker, Lucas Rumball has been moved from his usual #8 to openside flanker and Brock Webster continues his role at fullback. Matt Oworu is not in the roster. Cali Martinez will be starting loosehead prop for Old Glory DC.

Chicago dominated the game leading 59-10 until the last 5 minutes when Old Glory scored two tries to make the game a bit closer at 59-22. Mason Flesch (52′) and Lucas Rumball (61′) scored second half tries as part of the rout. It will be Chicago hosting California in the final next Sunday.

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MLR Regular Season Ends with Chicago on Top with Perfect Record

We haven’t covered MLR much this season, there are only 6 teams left in the league and only 4 with Canadian players. The regular season has ended and the team with the most Canadians in the roster, Chicago Hounds, just finished the 10 game season with a perfect, 10-0, 50 point record, the first for the MLR. The Chicago Hounds have three Canadians who regularly start Mason Flesch, Lucas Rumball and Brock Webster. Matt Oworu is also on the Hounds but his appearances have been irregular, he’s only played 3 matches this season, the last on May 10th. Mason Flesch has played 9 games and scored 8 tries, Lucas Rumball 8 games and 3 tries, and Brock Webster 9 games and 6 tries.

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Only Nine Canadian Players Left in MLR in 2026 Down 80% from 2025: Five Canadian Players Get Game Time Over First Two Weeks

In 2025, MLR was an 11 team North American league. In 2026, it is a six team American developmental league. Following Canada’s 34-20 victory over the Eagles last summer, the rules changed, the borders closed, and the 46-player Canadian contingent from 2025 has been reduced to a mere nine. Only Chicago now has a significant Canadian presence with four players, Seattle and New England have two, and Old Glory has one. California and Anthem have zero. Over Week 1 & 2 only 5 Canadian players saw the pitch. Last year we kept a 46 player spreadsheet of Canadian players, this year it doesn’t merit documentation.

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Utah Warriors Announce They are Suspending Club Operations: MLR Down from 11 Team to 6 Teams for 2026

Utah Warriors announced they are ceasing operations for the upcoming MLR season, that leaves 6 teams remaining from the 11 that competed in 2025. The future of the league looks to be on shaky ground.

The concern from Canada is how that will affect Canadian players, they were already impacted by the announcement earlier by MLR that imports would be limited on teams in 2026 and for the first time Canadian players would be counted as imports. The reduced opportunities to play professional rugby have taken another hit.

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Major League Rugby Announces Focus on USA Rugby Qualified Players: What That Means for Canadian Rugby

There was a bit of hand wringing by Canadian rugby fans and pundits last week when Major League Rugby announced that they “will take steps from the 2026 season to increase the game day spaces available to USA Rugby qualified and pathway players to a minimum of 16 and rising from there”. It appears Canadian players will have to compete as imports for one of the 7 non-USA roster spots in 2026, and that number may decrease in future years.

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MLR’s 2026 Season: What Two Team Dropouts Mean for the League

It’s a bit of old news now but New Orleans have announced they won’t compete in MLR 2026 and the two California franchises LA and San Diego have merged to form the California Legion, so down from 11 teams to 9 teams as it stands now. There doesn’t look like there’s any activity on a possible BC based franchise and how will potential investors react to the recent news. As a side note we heard the South America semi-pro league Super Rugby Americas has a buy in of less than $500K, compare that to the purported $10M buy in for MLR. Rather than hash over what’s already been written, we just threw the question to Grok for its “thoughts”, its analysis below

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New England Claim 3rd Consecutive Title: Brock Webster Player of the Match – Video Highlights

It was a team with 7 Canadians in the roster vs a team with no Canadians, and the good guys won. New England had Andrew Quattrin at hooker, Piers von Dadelszen in the second row, Ben Lesage at outside centre and Brock Webster at fullback. In the reserves for New England were Foster Dewitt #16, Josh Larsen #19, Ethan Fryer #20.

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New England and Houston Advance to MLR Final: 15 Canadians in Semi-Finals

The 2025 MLR season comes to a close next weekend when New England and Houston compete for the title at Centreville Bank Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. It’s a 10,500+ stadium that is home of the Rhode Island FC, of the USL. It will be a contest between a team with the most Canadians in the league, New England, against a team with no Canadians, Houston.

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MLR Quarter-Finals This Weekend: 23 Canadians Playing – New England, Chicago, Utah and Houston Into Semi-Finals

There are 23 Canadian players taking part in the MLR quarter-finals, 4 of the players aren’t on the Canada extended list Guiseppe du Toit, Reegan O’Gorman, Seth Purdey, Josh Larsen with Ethan Fryer listed as Injury Pending.

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