Ive read alot of commentary about USA Rugby this last week from around the globe. This guy has it spot on. theroar.au/2014/11/05/usa-rugby-growth-certainty/ My add on to the above article: Rugbys only imperfection is it is born from imperialism, which yielded the sun never sets on the British empire mentality. All of the comments from the Commonwealth born critics naysaying that USA will never materialize as a tier one team need only know one thing; we are Americans, we are not imperialists. We do not blindingly accept authority, we challenge constructs and work for the change we want - and do it boldly. We are a nation born of revolution. And when we really want something, our efforts lack no resolve. We are a meritocracy, in love with sport. Admittedly rugby is a nuanced symphony of improvised aggression, strategy, and athleticism that takes a very unique athlete to be a Richie McCaw or Keiran Reed. Watching this last match made me appreciate how advanced the kiwis skills are. Only NZ turns out these kinds of player consistently, because it is a religion there. We are not NZ. But we will challege teir one teams very soon. Ive heard it takes ten years to make a rugby player, I dont disagree. We are just now seeing the first fruits of our age grade system domestically - follow the careers of Scott LaValla and Blane Scully and youll see the start of whats coming for you. We have 178,000 under 13 boys registered, third most in the world behind only England and South Africa. Weve introduced rugby to five million kids over the last five years through our rookie rugby program. And we have done this as a peripheral sport at best as far as American interest is concerned, and with very little money. If either of those two things change, so will your empire. Rugby, though small here in the USA still, is the fastest growing sport here. Ask yourself, is a Richie McCaw one in a million? One in five million?
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 19:28:41 +0000
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