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A Chicago newspaper confusing the All Blacks as an Aussie team shows how little interest there is for rugby in the USA.
How often have you heard the claim that if the USA seriously invests in rugby they could become a powerhouse?
Rugby in America is small fry and always has been.
The first game of rugby in the USA was played in 1875. According to the IRB there are 1,402,962 registered rugby players in the USA, which is a very healthy number.
Despite the large playing base, the performance of the national team has been mediocre. At the World Cup the USA has won 3 out of 21 games – beating Japan twice and Russia.
Would the USA team that played on Sunday have beaten a single Super Rugby franchise?
Why was Richie McCaw, a marquee All Black, paraded in front of the Chicago Blackhawks crowd prior to a Test he didn’t play? Surely AIG, who have invested serious money in the All Blacks, would want the star captain on the field?
The truth is American’s don’t know or don’t care.
American kids throw the oval ball forward or club a baseball; it’s ingrained in their culture, just like picking up a cricket bat is in Australia or side-stepping barefoot on frosty grass in New Zealand. America has money, but that’s all they have.
Where real potential does exist for growth in world rugby is in the Pacific Islands.
According to the IRB Samoa have 38,240 registered players, Fiji 156,140, and Tonga 7,577. Despite the small numbers Samoa have been to the World Cup quarter finals three times and Fiji twice.
At the 2011 World Cup there were 120 players who were either born in the islands or considered themselves Pacific Islanders: that’s 20 per cent of all the players drawn from three tiny island nations whose combined population is barely a million. There were seven Pacific Islanders in the US team.
When Super Rugby began in 1996, there were 21 Polynesian or Melanesian players contracted to New Zealand teams. In 2013 there were 42 – almost one third of the playing base – and yet, according to the last census, only six per cent of the population are Pacific Islanders.
By 1999 there were six players in the All Black squad with Pacific Islands heritage, in 2003 it was nine, and in 2007, it was eleven. In 2011 there were eight in the World Cup winning squad. Since 1999 the All Blacks have won 84 per cent of their Test matches, which is better than the overall success rate of 75 per cent.
Pacific Island players are having a huge impact in international rugby.
In Australia Sitaleki Timani, Sekope Kepu, Saia Fainga’a, Joe Tomane, Radike Samo, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Christian Lealiifano, Will Skelton, Wycliff Palu, Israel Folau, and Tevita Kuridrani are among the Islander Wallabies to have flourished.
Manu Tuilagi and Mako and Billy Vunipola have been a handful when playing for England.
In France, Sebastien Vahaamahina, Romain Taofifenua and Noa Nakaitaci have become internationals.
Even in Wales, Tongan Taulupe Faletau became a British Lion in 2013.
Despite this influence, Samoa, Fiji and Tonga don’t get a single vote on the IRB board; their interests are represented by a combined Oceania vote.
Despite this influence, the All Blacks will play their first Test in Samoa next year, but only because they were forced into it by a fierce publicity campaign.
Despite this influence, Japan and Argentina will have new Super Rugby franchises in the near future and not the Pacific Islands.
A sell-out at Soldier Field looks great, but for rugby to really grow why not invest money where it already has a foothold and where it has real potential.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.