I actually saw that whilst watching the Eagles vs Canada match on the 4th of July. Not bad.

Came across this short promo om the IRB web site

http://www.irb.com/mm/Video/Tournament/0/usarugbyball_8757.wmv

That would be nice. I am the faculty advisor for our university men’s and women’s teams.. Their closest competition is 220 miles away for the women and 140 miles for the men. $$ is a huge issue.

aside from 200 million Americans, it must be just me…..

I never said it had a large presence, only that it was one. In was listening to US Rugby Chat on heavensgame not too long ago about Rugby and the NCAA. Interestingly enough the conclusion of USARugby using its Olympic status to fund College programs came up. Sounds like a solid option. Someone was saying being an Olympic sport in the US could open up as much as $50 million of funding annually. Which would be a good start.

Fair enough, but 5 NCAA programs in different divisions does not mean much. There is no provision to provide any particular women’s sport. I work at a Division 1 university. We just started a women’s soccer team to meet Title IX requirements. They could have taken almost anything – including rugby which already has a 33 year history here.

aljay’s point was that the NCAA does not allow scholarships. They have no control if you are not part of their system. The 5 women’s programs could probably have 30 women on scholarship if they had the $$. If there is a limit you just throw in some more on academic scholarships. You can have as many as you can pay for – with or without NCAA permission – in any sport.

Most schools cannot afford the sports they have right now. They have trouble earning a penny from so-called ‘minor’ sports, i.e., anything but football and basketball. Even football and basketball are problematic for all but the top 100 schools. Regardless, they find numerous ways to subsidize all of them so they can say they have full programs that qualify them for membership in the conferences they play football/basketball in.

probably more US college rugby though

I visit that site regularly. And it does put everything into context. Very informative too.

You both might be interested in this site http://www.americanrugbynews.com

It seems to give unbiased views and news on rugby as a code including League. Probably puts League into some form of context, in spite of Oikee’s continual OTT comments.

Thanks for the insight. I keep a keen eye on the happenings involving Rugby in the States. But it difficult to gauge some things from afar. I look forward to that day when athletes of the likes of LeBron James run out in an Eagles jersey. I don’t think they’ll dominate the way people think. What they will bring is a new level of athletism, which would benefit the game as a whole with everyone else working to reach the same level. They’ll be very competitive but not all dominating.

While I agree with most of what you say – particularly that the future of American rugby will surely grow through the colleges, and that the whole set up would massivel benefit from proper college championship. However, your argument that college rugby is already “far stronger” than the RSL is simply not accurate.

The NY Athletic Club team narrowly lost to Cal in their first trial game of the season (Cal was 3/4 of the way through theirs) and Life did not win the RSL comp (they lost the final), even though they were allowed a dispensation to the number of foreigners who were allowed to play.

Moreover, Life University is not considered a “college” team in the American sense as most of the students are post-graduate chiropractic students.

And with regards to LeBron – I’d love to see it, but I worry that in 50 years the US could become so dominant as to turn international rugby into international basketball…

Rugby is a NCAA sport. There is a rule in College sports in the States that every male Collegiate sport must have a viable alternative for women. The NCAA uses Womens Rugby as it alternative for women to Gridiron. Which would explain why they are reluctant to allow the men’s game in.

As for establishing programs. The funding USARugby should be able to attain thanks to the IOC’s decision could make proper Rugby programs viable within the near future.

The NCAA has absolutely nothing to do with US Rugby. If I have enough $$ I can underwrite a team of 100 players at any school I choose. No regulation at all as long as they qualify for academic admission. They can all be foreigners as well. The only real issue is age and prior post-secondary education.

So far no one has stepped up with the money.

Nothing. They have been trying for years.

The Rugby Superleague was an admirable attempt to provide a higher level of Rugby in the States. But I would argue that college rugby is far stronger. Just look at Cal, BYU and Life. All three could easily account for any of the current RSL teams. There is along way to go but the improvements are being made. A College Championship would be a huge step in the right direction. I actually look forward to a day when the US are able to produce a rugby athletes like an LeBron James.

You need to get out more. Check out http://www.usarugby.org/

North Clubs has:

14 men’s college/university teams
8 women’s college/university teams (probably actually 14)
6 high school
2 U19
10 Men’s Clubs
3 Women’s Clubs

No guarantee of quality but hardly a barren wasteland for the game.

And yes, those schools you mentioned all have clubs for men and women.

Finally, it does not have to be raining for US football to be incredibly boring. It may be better with a few drinks and a bit of sun but my very limited experience you cannot drink enough to make it good enough to go back a second time.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2930194

A quote from the coach:

“”I know that at other schools [rugby] is kind of a joke and that kind of makes me mad,” Watson said. “We put all the time and energy into it. People that view rugby as a drinking sport kind of soil the game a little. We are trying to take it as serious as possible here.”

Should point out that Brigham Young University ended the Bear’s five year winning streak this year with a 25-22 victory. BYC baby!

Knee jerk reaction/comment at best – actually ignorant and hopelessly ill-informed.

1. USA Rugby has historically resisted making rugby into a ‘varsity’ sport. Lots of regulations that do not promote the game to start with and the list goes on…
2. The perennial national collegiate champion is U. California Berkeley – hardly big kids looking for an excuse for anything
3. The big kids play football and mostly make poor rugby players
4. Virtually every rugby player in the US plays 7s at some point in the year
5.The Olympic’s announcement has already precipitated new, more organized 7s leagues
6. Tacky shirts?

What is irrelevant besides your comment?

So, while there were plenty of good athletes around, and you could make an argument that having good imports lifts the overall standard and thus improves the local players, if the halfback, hooker, fly half and fullback of most teams are not from the US then it is hard to see where players are going to develop in those positions.

That said, while I was over there I did some coaching with highschool kids that had never played before and the rate of their improvement was phenomenal. Moreover, a lot of them actually started quitting football so they could play more rugby (much to their parents’ dislike). Apparently the fact that they get to actually touch the ball regularly is appealing.. Who woulda thunk it?!?

Ultimately though I’m not sure that the US fully embracing rugby would be a good thing. Can you imagine how good LeBron James would be playing in the second row? It is a truly scary thought…