Dog days are biting US rugby hard

Six years out from the Rugby World Cup in the US, the game's momentum has stalled. Saturday's Ireland-All Blacks renewal will need to kickstart enthusiasm - and quickly

SOUND OF SILENCE: Chicago Hounds players lineup prior to a MLR game against the Miami Sharks. With six years still to go before America’s Rugby World Cup, will the Hounds be forgotten strays by the time it gets here? Pic: Chris Arjoon/Getty Images

‘Welcome to Dawg Town’… The hoardings around Ireland’s Chicago HQ change depending on the tenant. However the slogan of one teams that calls SeatGeek Stadium, on the industrial western fringes of the city, home is unmissable. Just in case Andy Farrell and co. hadn’t seen the tagline, the Chicago Hounds plastered it across their social media channels this weekend too.

When they joined Major League Rugby in 2023, the Hounds were young pups, the newest of 12 clubs in America’s venture into professional union, then in its sixth season. Fast forward two short years though and Chicago are now the fifth-oldest team among just seven still standing. Both a Men’s and Women’s Rugby World Cup approach on the horizon in these parts but for the Hounds, their MLR rivals and powerbrokers across American rugby, the dogs days are biting hard.