I think pro rugby can happen at some point, but not right now or anytime in the next decade. There are simply not enough people playing the sport to get an interest in watching it professionally. I have been playing rugby union for 8 years now, but I had never touched a rugby ball until my first few weeks of college. I know it's growing, there is rugby at the community levels more and more with each passing year. There is a growing interest, but we need more time for this to develop. We need more and more people to understand why rugby isn't like football and why it should be respected as its own sport. To us rugby fans/players/coaches, this is all obvious, but to people that have never seen rugby in their lives, they aren't gonna care about it at all. I say, develop youth rugby. Get more young women and men involved during high school. Get more NCAA rugby teams. Start exporting more and more rugby players abroad and generating more domestic interest. It's all easier said than done obviously, but it just really needs time. This might help rugby in the US, seeing football players convert to rugby: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ru...-NFL-rejects-looking-for-a-second-chance.html
Apparently the USA vs All Blacks game on November 1st at Soldier Field has been sold out. 60K+ for a rugby game in the US. Worth mentioning that the Top 4 attendances for rugby games in the US were all in the past 2 years, and they all filled up the stadium. I also watched the US sevens win the bowl on the Australian section of the seven world series. Some mistakes, but, with the new british coach, I feel like the team is getting better and better. Even though we'll get killed November 1st, I can't help but feel this will be a turning point where rugby will get more popular and serious here in the US. I hope so, anyways. There are also, 4 movements right now to create a pro league in the US (one of them being a pro 7s, apparently tournament style). One of them has to pan out, right?
60K to watch the USA get run off the field by 100+ points. Now there's money well spent. Now I understand how countries that play the Dream Team in basketball must feel.
It's going to be live on NBC as well, yikes. Nice to see the 7s get 8 points this weekend. They don't typically start very strong, so this is nice.
The match against the All Blacks in Chicago will be 15 a side. The 7s team did well this weekend in the first Sevens World Series stop and got 8 points. Not 100% sure what you were asking about.
You said that rugby match was gonna be on NBC, but I didn't know if it was 7s or 15 a side rugby. That's what I was asking. Will there be A-Squads for both teams or experimental sides?
Ah, the one on NBC is the 15s. I would hope the US brings the strongest possible side, otherwise it could be even more ugly than it already will be. Not sure who NZ is bringing over.
Barring injuries or any unforeseen circumstance, I expect both teams to be in full force. This is not the Maori Blacks or the USA Selects.
The all blacks fielded a largely reserve side With a strong bench. They won comfortably giving a exhibition of turning defense into attack
Attended the match and had a great time. Everyone that went knew what the scoreline would be like. It was a great event for USA Rugby to grab a larger stage for the game as well as for us to go see the All Blacks, who never come here.