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Late last year I wrote an article discussing the arrival of the first professional rugby league in the USA and the Americas.
Dubbed ProRugby, at the time only a few details were available.
As it’s been a few months I thought the topic warranted a revisit to detail some the happenings that have been a going.
First of all, ProRugby have amended the number of teams from six to five for its launch season. This has stemmed from the lack of facilities in the North East of the United States that have playing surfaces that are World Rugby compliant.
Another hurdle has been the two ideal facilities to host teams in the form of Red Bull Stadium and PPL Park (New York and Philadelphia respectively) are both available in their adopted timeframe for differing reasons.
However, they have moved forward regardless and announced four of the five locations in San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego and Columbus, Ohio.
On top of those, the fifth location will be Denver. However even though this is common knowledge at this point, they have not seen fit to rush its announcement.
Having already identified a playing pool of 220 players they have also asked and received expressions of interest for players both domestically and internationally who wish to put their hats in the ring. They have run two combines as a means of identifying any talent they may have initially overlooked.
Contracts will be offered in the coming week with one notable player in Tom Bliss of Wasps and Ealing RC already signing on.
Additionally, in the past week a steady stream of announcements regarding coaching appointments have begun to flow – all leading to its intended April 10th kickoff.
You can contact me on Twitter via my handle gps996 if you wish to discuss more rugby related issues and ideas.
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.