Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
I want to start off this week’s Talking Rugby with a big thank you to our fans here at Americas Rugby News. We just passed our one-month anniversary and the growth we’ve seen is exciting to say the least. I am absolutely thankful for my partners, Bryan and Paul, but without the fans we’d be spinning our wheels. We think this is just the very beginning of a great ride. Please keep coming back, share the website with your friends, like us on Facebook and Twitter (@americasrugby), and share this adventure with us.
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No Lions? Say it Ain’t So!
News that broke this week that the Lions were scrapping plans to come to the USA in 2017. Upon seeing it, I had hoped it was just another rumor amongst the piles of rumors that involve rugby in the United States. Unfortunately, after confirming it with USA CEO Nigel Melville, my heart sank. Literally. Not only is it a great missed opportunity for the rugby community in the USA, it is a missed opportunity for the rugby world.
On top of all of that, I was genuinely excited to see the Lions in the USA. Eh… maybe a notch or two beyond excited. I dare say that the Lions playing a warm up in the USA would have pulled the same level of excitement of the All Blacks. I have my doubts about how well Australia will fare in Chicago this year. Actually, I think Australia might be a little disappointed in the results. They’ll get a decent crowd, but I don’t expect they’ll sell out Soldier Field as the All Blacks achieved.
The Lions, on the other hand, would have been a strong bet to sell out pretty much whatever stadium they chose.
I understand the theory behind clubs, player release, and player welfare issues. Between professional club season, the European Cup schedule, and the 6 Nations some top players are playing 30+ high level matches per year. You’d be hard pressed to find a more physically rigorous playing schedule in any other professional sport. The NFL’s 16-game regular season seems tame in comparison. Clubs are now investing quite a bit of money into players. Of course they want to keep them healthy to protect their investments.
However, we’re talking about one… more… game. One more game for yet another opportunity to puncture the consciousness of the average sports fan in the United States. Every step we take. Every game that sells out or does well. Every youngster introduced to the sport. Every converted fan. They are all starting to add up for the benefit of the entire rugby world. Not just the benefit of the United States.
Not taking another golden opportunity to spread the game seems short-sighted at best.
Hopefully the gap left by the Lions not coming to the USA will open the door for someone else. Cough… cough… South Africa I’m looking in your direction.
Rugby Needs the Americas
Rugby needs a strong Americas. Not just the United States. I’m talking Canada, Argentina, Mexico, the USA and every country in between. There are a handful of South American nations like Uruguay, Chile, and Brazil that have an opportunity to become strong Tier 2 nations. In my opinion, Mexico has a ton of potential and should be nurtured.
Many of our Caribbean nations are going to be ultimately limited by their size, but that’s where 7s comes into the picture. I saw a lot of athleticism at the recent NACRA tournament. It’s just a matter of fine tuning it, improving skills, and there could be a few Caribbean nations that could become very competitive in 7s.
With the rugby powers isolated to the home nations in Europe and the Southern Hemisphere big dogs, the sport desperately needs the Americas to link with those groups to give rugby a powerful global bond. Aside from Australia, the rest of the top rugby playing nations, put together, fit inside of the State of Texas. In other words, it is a relatively small power base for our world rugby community.
The creation of the Americas 6 Nations along with other plans that have been set in motion are just the beginning of building the Americas. Argentina, on the back of amazing work domestically, played their way into a seat at the table with the big boys. It’s time for some other nations in the Americas to do the same.
