It's official: All Blacks to play US in Chicago

Absolutely agree. It's a great to see new places and venues like this. Personally, I'm sick of watching the ABs play Scotland Wales England one year, the England Wales Scotland the next. Time to take the ABs out to new, bigger frontiers.

Great post,particularly that final comment.

errrrr .... wrong again. they had to stop after the government bailout (TARP). also executive bonuses :P given another chance they will ditch mib like a hot potato. simply not the same eye-ball coverage... Man u is the second most valuable sports brand in the world. also Man u has the highest following in the world - 640million followers in every corner of the world. actually maybe ur confused with the other Manchester team - Man City, who are richer and have the highest wage bill in epl. :) as at December 2013 Position Club Value Sport Owners 1 Real Madrid value in DollarsREAL MADRID $3.30 Billion Football Club Members 2 Manchester United Value 2013MANCHESTER UNITED $3.16 Billion Football Glazer family 3 Barcelona club value FC BARCELONA $2.60 Billion Football Club members 4 New york yankeesNEW YORK YANKEES $2.3 billion Baseball Steinbrenner’s 5 Dallas CowboysDALLAS COWBOYS $2.1 billion NFL Jerry Jones 6 New England PatriotsNEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS $1.63 billion NFL Robert Kraft 7 LOS ANGELES DODGERSLOS ANGELES DODGERS $1.61 billion Baseball Guggenheim 8 Washington RedskinsWASHINGTON REDKINS $1.6 billion NFL Daniel Snyder 9 New York GiantsNEW YORK GIANTS $1.46 billion NFL John Mara, Steven Tisch 10 Arsenal football club valueARSENAL $1.32 billion Football Stan Kroenke 11 Boston RedsocksBOSTON REDSOCKS $1.31 billion Baseball John Henry, Thomas Werner 12 Bayern Munich club valueBAYERN MUNICH $1.30 billion Football Club owners 13 Houston TexansHOUSTON TEXANS $1.30 billion NFL Robert McNair 14 NEW YORK JETSNEW YORK JETS $1.28 billion NFL Robert Wood Johnson 15 philadelphia eaglesPHILADELPHIA EAGLES $1.26 billion NFL Jeffrey Lurie 16 Chicago BearsCHICAGO BEARS $1.19 billion NFL McCaskey Family 17 SAN FRANCISCO 49ersSAN FRANCISCO 49ers $1.17 billion NFL Denise & John York 18 GREEN BAY PACKERSGREEN BAY PACKERS $1.16 billion NFL Shareholder 19 BALTIMORE RAVENSBALTIMORE RAVENS $1.15 billion NFL Stephen Bisciotti 20 INDIANAPOLIS COLTSINDIANAPOLIS COLTS $1.15 billion NFL James Irsay

Can easily understand them pulling out of sponsoring Manchester United, all those millions flowing out in excessive wages every day.....

This idea is better than the one above it, for cultural reasons

Sorry mate, I didn't realise you had already covered this ground... and better than me.

Thanks Tigranes, but my point still stands. NZ has contributed more than any other country to the development of Pacific Island rugby. Most of the Manu Samoa rugby team are rep players from NZ, with a fair number being born and bred in NZ. Conversely, as has been said ad nauseam, the AB players of Pacific Island heritage (and I picked my words there carefully) were either born in NZ or moved there at a very young age. New Zealand is a part of Polynesia, its indigenous people are Polynesian, Auckland is the largest Polynesian city in the world, so is it really any great surprise there are more than a few brown faces in the AB line-up? Now, because these Polynesians carry NZ passports, this has allowed them to live and work in Australia, so there has been a kind of secondary migration to Australia, with many of our young people picking up work in the mining sector there. I have no doubt at all this access has contributed to the 'browning' of the Wallabies in recent years as well. So in a way, we have NZ to thank for that as well, because they certainly would not have made it onto Australian shores so easily without that passport. If people want to allocate blame for the supposedly neglected and dire state of Pacific Island rugby, then they should really look to the IRB to redirect some of its largesse to this region and stop relying on NZ to carry the load.

Churchill Cup? Funded by the RFU. You can thank them later. The Northern unions are no worse than the SANZAR unions when it comes to playing lower tier sides. Sometimes they are better. Italy are ranked 14th in the world, and have rarely risen higher, but they are in the Six Nations. Argentina were already third place finishers in the World Cup before they got an invitation from SANZAR. We shouldn't forget that a lot of the best rugby contact comes at school and club level. All major countries have a pretty good record on that score. I can't understand this idea that the All Blacks would be doing Samoa a disservice by agreeing to play in Samoa, on the grounds they'll earn more if the game is held in NZ. International matches are not just paydays for the unions. They build goodwill and memories on both sides. Scotland's visit to Fiji and Samoa in 2012 was greatly appreciated. I don't think many of the 30,000 or so fans who attended those two matches would have found their way overseas to see them.

Not yet anyway

Coconut I'm not sure which pacific island country you are from, but I am pretty sure both Scotland and Wales have played in Tonga, Samoa or Fiji in the past 30 years Australia might have played in Fiji in the 1980s Plus professional clubs in Europe and Japan offer many opportunities for young men in the pacific and to still represent their country.

ABs doing their bit for Samoan rugby. It is an honour and privilege for you guys to have a century put on you by the mighty ABs, the undisputed greatest team in the history of sport. Sure, your Samoan team might have been decidedly second-string, cobbled together at the last minute, merely to serve as fodder so the mighty ABs could get some match practice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-6F3XplTWE

Well in that case, read the comments above re: NZ's contribution to PI rugby. We here 'in the islands' have seen numerous NZ coaches, trainers, players (especially in our local 7's tournament) come through every year to help us build the game here. We are fairly well supported by NZ in that regard. I know the same is true for our fellow island nations. I have seen more Kiwis up here helping (in both rugby codes) than any other nationality, and I've never seen a Welshman, a Scot or an Englishman (sounds like the beginning of a joke) come here to either play, coach or impart any other kind of skills or knowledge here as far as the game of rugby is concerned. I have been living 'in the islands' for 35 years. This is not patriotism I am talking about, and I am no fan of blind patriotism and jingoism either, but I am trying to convey the simple facts of the matter to you and others who seem to find it more convenient to blindly follow popular misconceptions, sterotypes, myths, fallacies or other untruths spread by lazy media types. I would really like to see the debate about the contribution of NZ to the Pacific Islands (and vice versa re: 'poaching') laid to rest once and for all. It is especially annoying as a former rugby player here to have people in other countries 'speak for us' as if they know what's best for PI rugby. If you really want to know where the Unions (and to some extent the media broadcasters) could contribute - make the bloody games (Super Rugby, Rugby Championship and Tests) free to air in the Pacific! Our kids here idolise and emulate the rugby players, especially the All Blacks - who are much loved around the Pacific. However they can't emulate what they can't see. The game is losing popularity a bit because the games aren't broadcast free (even a delayed telecast would be fine) Coming back to the topic - it goes without saying that the ABs have contractual obligations to their sponsors AIG... but still this game in Chicago can't be anything but positive for rugby in the US - which is a vast and relatively untapped market for rugby. There is plenty of room in this market, just look at the rise of UFC and other contact gladitorial sportsin the US. Kudos to AIG and the All Blacks for making it happen, I only wish I could be over there at Soldier Field to watch the game!

My apologies Garth, it appears we are on the same page then.

I'm an American and I know a lot of others who have been exposed to rugby and got to play it in school. There is a lot more to Ametican sports fans than just primetime commercial sports. That's all that you see wherever you are so I don't blame you though. I just want to let it be known that there is a huge grass roots movement to get rugby in the secondary school and later. It will just take time. Imagine trying to get american football going in other rugby rich countries... It may not happen over night but we are making strides and hell Ireland still hasn't beat them...

errrr .. actually as i said before , they were sponsoring manchester united, but had to end it due to the financial situation. also the "they have now paid back the taxpayers bailout with interest" is a bit of window dressing. both US govt and AIG painted a rosy picture , which has caused a lot of public debate, since there were quite a few half truths and omissions . (different topic :) )

Samoan and Tongan population are at minimum half that of their countries living in NZ. In other words you could argue at least a third of their people live in NZ. Without taking in account the amount that go back and forth. Then you also have to remember the amount that use NZ as an interchange into Australia. I have no idea about the population there, but I assume it is growing at a rapid rate, considering the amount of "NZers" moving there. Fiji is a much larger population and is harder to gauge because you have Polynesian Fijians vs Indian Fijians. Indian Fijians don't really play rugby. But Fiji is a high population in any case. Most Samoan players at the WC were NZ born players anyway. Ever seen the ITM Cup, or the Auckland comp.

Always makes me think of what Jonah Lomu could have done as a RB in the NFL

Learn a thing or two about the culture of NZ and you would realize that NZ does a lot for the Islands and that include their rugby development - not to mention their education etc.

If you're referring to me Coconut. You are 100 % wrong. I am Australian. Born and bred Maroubra boy. The thing is mate I too am patriotic but not to the point of blindness.

looking forward to it