Max Schumacher Joins OGDC for 2026

By Alistair Kirsch-Poole
Oct 26, 2025 - 10:00am

Max Schumacher, the most promising young American fullback since Mike Dabulas, will be joining Old Glory DC for the 2026 season. The 24-year-old previously played for the Houston Sabercats and was left available when that team withdrew from participation in MLR.

A native of California, he had a successful four-year high school rugby career, earning MVP honors three times and co-captaining his team to a National Single School Championship in his senior year.

He carried that success in to college, attending the University of California, Berkeley. His junior year he earned All-American second team honors, and his senior year he earned All-American first team honors and was a finalist for the prestigious Rudy Scholtz award. His team also made the D1A finals in his senior year.

He was selected second overall in the 2023 collegiate draft by the Houston Sabercats and was quickly given chances to test the waters. He came off the bench 14 times in the 2024 season for a total of 213 minutes played.

His real breakout came last season, though, playing in every one of Houston's 19 games, with 13 of those starts. He spent an impressive 1171 minutes on the field and scored five tries for his side, including a brace in the MLR finals.

As a player, he is still imperfect. He's occasionally caught out of position and has the the odd slip in decision making. Still, his potential is obvious, and he has already become a dangerous fullback. It's only a matter of time before he breaks into the US national team.

With Damien Hoyland leaving for Scotland 7s, the vast majority of the fullback minutes are up for grabs. The only other player with significant time at the position last season was Owen Sheehy. If he is retained, we could see him and Schumacher locked in a battle for the position, although one would have to assume that Schumacher will have the upper hand.