Hows rugby in the USA?

Question
Hi Deane

No major questions here. I'm just interested to know the status of rugby in the USA. Is it growing in popularity? Is it receiving adequate exposure? I watched the game between us (Springboks) and the USA last year and was impressed with the level of skills and especially creativity in the US team. I look forward to seeing how they perform at the RWC.

Is there any chance of the game going professional there?

Thanks mate

Barry

Answer
Sir,

Rugby is continuing to grow in the USA.  It is stagnating at the senior men's club level, but at the youth and collegiate levels, it is continuing to expand.

I was recently in Australia for the Golden Oldies rugby fest.  The difference in coverage between a rugby culture and a gridiron culture is significant.  Rugby exposure in the media is spotty at best.  The commercial venues never have rugby, and only the Fox cable network carries any rugby.  Rugby is rarely mentioned in the papers.

Too many people still have bad memories of the antics of college rugby players, or have great misapprehension about the level of injuries in the sport (not realizing that it is safer than all of the major sports in the USA).  As result, many people who should be supporting the sport (local media and athletic directors) do not.

USA Rugby is fighting the development of professional rugby independent of the National Union.  The issue is a matter of control.  USA Rugby does not want to lose any.

I suspect that rugby will never get big in the USA unless there was some way to counter the advantage other sports have in terms of money.  Ironically for Americans, there is one way to get them interested in the sport without the big bucks.  That is for the honor of wearing the Stars and Stripes at the Olympics.  Many a great athlete has held off on a professional career in order to participate in the Olympics.  I suspect that when XV rugby becomes an Olympic sport, the world will see the great American athletes start to play rugby.

I suspect that the USA will be slaughtered at the World Cup with France and Fiji in its group.  But then, the USA team was the only one to score a try on Australia at the last RWC.

This was just one person's opinion, but there you are.

Deane Shephard
Coach- OPSU