Two new USA Pro Leagues

[die_mole]

So in May the US saw the announcement of two rugby (pro?) comps.
One is sevens and one is 15s. I'll just post the articles as they do a better job of spreading the propaganda.
http://www.thisisamericanrugby.com/2017/05/super-7s-to-launch-in-2018.html
http://www.thisisamericanrugby.com/2017/05/major-league-rugby-formally-launches.html

I can taste the gold medals and webb ellis cups now.

 

[Brigantine]

I can taste the gold medals and webb ellis cups now.

Nah mate, I think that's just the America's Cup you can taste.

This seems to be the best outcome for 15s, it sounded like the organiser of PRO burned every bridge he ever had. I hope this new comp has more success than the aussie one!

60-minute "Rugby League" 7s games though... that's just not cricket.

 

[die_mole]

it's union sevens... league is an unknown product outside of the east coast metro areas

they want to make sevens a product where there doesn't need to be tournaments... more like watching a basketball game than rugby sevens

it's sailing, that thing has sails... it counts

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Four quarters for the 7s! The scores are going to be fairly astronomical and with such huge squads the quality might be very diluted. Still, it never hurts to try new things. Stranger things have happened.

 

[Bluemoon]

Interesting that the league is now in place with what appears to be better branding. Don't know much about USA club rugby, are there particular states/areas/team that are brining players through up to the international level or is it sporadic across the country? If there is an area, is it something that can be emulated in other places?

 

[die_mole]

gonzaga high school in dc produces some good players
cal is the college with the most amount of eagles

a fair amount of our players are either foreigners with american relatives or guys who moved to the US when they were young

other than that, guys will move to areas so they can play with a top club... my friend who plays for New York Athletic Club played for PRO Ohio last year and a club in Ohio before that

Utah has real strong rugby cause of the amount of Pacific Islanders who move their because of mormonism

the real key to success is just getting the sport played in high schools, which more and more schools do each year

 

[Brigantine]

Actually, how does the "USA South" team in the Rugby Americas North Championship fit in to this? Are they mostly Texas based or something? There seemed to be quite a few teams from Texas in that Major League announcement.

EDIT: Nope, doesn't seem like it.

 

[die_mole]

Actually, how does the "USA South" team in the Rugby Americas North Championship fit in to this? Are they mostly Texas based or something? There seemed to be quite a few teams from Texas in that Major League announcement.

EDIT: Nope, doesn't seem like it.

they are just a regional all-star team that we send to compete in the RANC... they play other regions all star teams during the year

they are more like the NZ franchises or Irish provinces

 

[Bluemoon]

gonzaga high school in dc produces some good players
cal is the college with the most amount of eagles

a fair amount of our players are either foreigners with american relatives or guys who moved to the US when they were young

other than that, guys will move to areas so they can play with a top club... my friend who plays for New York Athletic Club played for PRO Ohio last year and a club in Ohio before that

Utah has real strong rugby cause of the amount of Pacific Islanders who move their because of mormonism

the real key to success is just getting the sport played in high schools, which more and more schools do each year

Thanks for the overview, really useful. What sort of crowds are the teams getting in for the average league game? (Sorry for the questions, just interested). I notice that there isn't a Californian team in the 15's proposal there? Is that due to the geography of the other teams or just the Cal College has the players but there isn't a club team to feed into?

I've always felt that Americans could really get into rugby as it has such close links to American Football. Perhaps a tedious link, but it'd be great for domestic rugby to progress over there.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

That 7's format sounds awful...

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Mike Ford signs for the Dallas Griffins.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jun/16/mike-ford-dallas-griffins-us-major-league-rugby

Damn good signing for them IMO.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Mike Ford signs for the Dallas Griffins.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jun/16/mike-ford-dallas-griffins-us-major-league-rugby

Damn good signing for them IMO.

More importantly it gives the league some credibility. Glad to see this.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

The US Major League is in its pre-season and signs are encouraging. A crowd of 7,600 apparently attracted for a game in the rugby hotbed of... Utah!?

http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2018/03/31/raptors-roll-over-warriors-at-rio-tinto/

A huge hats off to the organisers if they can sustain anything remotely like that during the season.

 

[die_mole]

The US Major League is in its pre-season and signs are encouraging. A crowd of 7,600 apparently attracted for a game in the rugby hotbed of... Utah!?

http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2018/03/31/raptors-roll-over-warriors-at-rio-tinto/

A huge hats off to the organisers if they can sustain anything remotely like that during the season.

Tbf utah is our most rugby mad state.. BYU and Utah are top college programs and some of the smaller colleges there are really good. It also has a large PI population.

There have been preseason games for the past two months or so but we are two weeks away from the real thing.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Tbf utah is our most rugby mad state.. BYU and Utah are top college programs and some of the smaller colleges there are really good. It also has a large PI population.

There have been preseason games for the past two months or so but we are two weeks away from the real thing.

Down to the Mor(m)ons?

I can't be bothered to read about it (I've put effort into investigating several US pro leagues in the last 5 years)... is MLR in any way affiliated/cooperating with USAR?

 

[die_mole]

Down to the Mor(m)ons?

I can't be bothered to read about it (I've put effort into investigating several US pro leagues in the last 5 years)... is MLR in any way affiliated/cooperating with USAR?

100% due to Mormons.

All I know is that it is sanctioned by USAR. The refs aren't national panels but rather a side contract with an elite North American panel, which is why assmus (Canadian) did the match last night.

It doesn't appear they have to register their players with USA rugby like the regional pro comps do (most of these are part of the USA Club championships so it makes sense.)