Ollie Devoto's playing days end Sunday at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois, where the Chicago Hounds chase their first Major League Rugby crown against the California Legion. The veteran English center is trading the Somerset countryside for one final championship run in the Windy City, with his family in tow for what he calls a fitting finale to a career that spans Bath, Exeter, and the England national team.
The Hounds arrive as heavy favorites. They swept all 10 regular-season games before demolishing Old Glory DC in the playoffs and now sit 11-0 heading into the title match. Home field advantage and a potential 12-0 finish add weight to their candidacy, though Devoto stays measured about predictions.
"It'll be a special day for the team and it'll be a special day personally as well," he said. "My family are coming out for one last go. As long as we give the best account of ourselves, we'll put ourselves in a good position."
Devoto's path to Chicago wound through injury and introspection. After eight years at Exeter, where he won Premiership and European titles, serious hip operations forced him to confront retirement. Rather than hang up his boots, he dropped down to Somerset's fourth-tier club on a trial basis, hoping to keep his body sharp while weighing his next move. When Chicago CEO James English came calling, the move felt inevitable.
The transition from rural England to urban America proved jarring but ultimately rewarding. Chicago's professional infrastructure impressed him immediately. Under head coach Chris Latham, the Australian World Cup-winning full-back, and defense coach Noel Reid, formerly of Leinster and Leicester, the Hounds built something rare in American rugby: a winning culture backed by elite coaching depth.
"The setup and the facilities that Chicago has are as good, if not better, than when I was at the Chiefs," Devoto said. "Everything's there. Chicago's winter is notoriously bad, so we were training in this huge dome, and everything was set up to make us as professional as possible."
Latham brings an old-school honesty to the role, wearing his emotions on his sleeve, while Reid injects Premiership-level detail that has accelerated the development of young American talent. The combination has particularly lifted homegrown wings Peyton Wall and Noah Brown, both from Indiana, who Devoto singled out as standout learners making tries at a breakneck pace.
Devoto sees untapped potential in American rugby broadly. The sport has muscle in the nation's combat sports culture but hasn't yet cracked mainstream consciousness.
"There is potential for the MLR and American rugby as a whole to grow massively," he said. "It hasn't been taken yet, and they're way off competing with any other American sport. But Americans love their combat sports, and for whatever reason, they haven't quite nailed rugby yet. I hope they do."
That hope carries stakes. World Rugby has already awarded the 2031 men's World Cup and 2033 women's World Cup to the United States, betting heavily on the sport's American future. The league recently signaled that one team, Anthem RC of North Carolina, will fold at season's end after a three-year experimental run as a nursery for homegrown talent. New franchises may follow, with Canada potentially returning to the fold after the Toronto Arrows departed.
The Hounds themselves carry a Canadian spine. Lucas Rumball, Mason Flesch, and Matthew Orowu bring depth and experience from the north, even as MLR doubles down on American qualification rules.
California, their Sunday opponent, has endured a nomadic season, playing across their sprawling home state under the guidance of hooker-turned-CEO Adam Freier, another Wallaby legend. The clash pits two well-constructed squads against each other, though Chicago's undefeated record and home crowd tilt the scales sharply in their favor.
Devoto's gratitude extends to ownership. Peter Bernick leads the franchise with backing from Matt Satchwell and Phil Groves. English, the CEO, has made clear his ambition: position the Hounds to compete with Chicago's other professional sports franchises. That goal feels within reach now.
"Winning helps," Devoto noted simply. "You see more and more people coming, because we're 11-0 now, looking to go 12-0."
After the final whistle, Devoto and his family will pack their lives back into an RV and head west before returning to Britain. His daughter Millie and son Archie, who Devoto laughs has picked up an American accent, will complete the journey home. He's been studying surveying but remains open to whatever comes next, though he's never ruled out rugby in some form.
What he knows he'll miss most is the intangible: the locker room, the camaraderie, being part of something larger than himself. That's what binds players and teams across continents and cultures. Chicago gave him one more season to chase it.
Author James Rodriguez: "A fitting full-circle moment for English rugby talent to find redemption and closure in American soil, precisely when the sport needs experienced voices building its future."
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