I just finished watching the NZ All Blacks v USA Eagles Rugby game on TV and even though the All Blacks thrashed the Eagles 74-6, the game was a terrific presentation for the game to mainstream America. The game was played at Chicagos famous Soldiers field in front of a record crowd of 61,500 who were very vocal throughout the game, obviously enjoying it. The announcer quoted figures that Rugby is the fastest growing sport in the USA with many high schools and universities throughout the country including Rugby in their sports programs. I played Rugby in California in the seventies and even then there was a strong grass roots following to the game, especially in Southern California and the Ivy League universities. With the USA being pretty competitive in the 7 per side version of rugby and its inclusion in the Olympic games and the televising of all major International Rugby test matches on cable TV, Its only a matter of time before the USA and Canada can produce reasonably competitive teams. chicagotribune/sports/breaking/ct-rugby-us-new-zealand-spt-1102-20141101-story.html
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 10:40:10 +0000
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