It is not much of a surprise that most Americans don't have any idea what rugby is. To most, it is seen as just a dangerous game played by giant crazy guys who pass a ball around and tackle each other without pads on. The common stereotype is that it's kind of like football but you can only pass it backwards. I started off my high school career with this same mindset. Rugby was a completely unknown world to me. That is the problem in itself, and it is why the United States national rugby team has struggled to win from the start of its history. The USA rugby team simply cannot perform competitively against the international powerhouses such as New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. Unfortunately in the United States rugby is over shadowed by other major sports that have existed and grown in America long before rugby. United States rugby has struggled to improve because of a lack of knowledge about the game and very little popularity across the country. However, they have a large potential to grow if young athletes learn to play the game early, as well as more availability of strong coaching and training opportunities across for players the country.

So, before I start listing off the problems with USA rugby, I must first begin to start to explain what rugby is. Rugby has a classic and traditional version and a newer faster paced version. The older game is called 15s and is what teams compete in every four years at the rugby world cup. Fifteen players are on the each team split into eight forwards, who are generally the bigger and stronger players, and seven backs, who are the speeder and more agile players. The goal is to simply run down the field only passing the ball backwards and touch the ball down in the "try zone" which is actually where football got its name for its score, a "touchdown." Games are called matches and the field is called a pitch. Each match is eighty minutes spilt into two- forty minute halves. 7s follows the same general rules as 15s but there are only seven players on the field and is played by the speeder and more agile forwards and backs because of the amount of running required. Each match is only fourteen minutes split into two- seven minute halves. Throughout their history the USA 15s team has struggled only winning three games at the Rugby World Cup since 1987. The 7s team has been growing and progressively getting better however still cannot compete with the top four teams in the world. 

It is not a surprise that rugby cannot gain popularity in America. Rugby requires a fan base that understands the game. Rugby could not compete with the intensity it takes to entertain a normal American football fan. The game is slower and doesn't have one particular player that outshines the rest. It is a team game requiring an individual effort from each player striving toward a collective goal. Dmitriy Ioselevich shares some of his realizations about rugby and the reasons why it hasn't and wont gain popularity in the United States. He claims "American sports fans love superstars. Every sport has its easily identifiable stud that gets the bulk of the media attention and millions of dollars in sponsorship deals." Rather the truth is "the most common type of rugby involves 15 players from each side. That means it is nearly impossible for any single player to stand out as an elite performer." Unfortunately this prevents rugby from grabbing the attention from a typical sports fan, making it harder and harder for the athlete base to grow underneath the national team and any chance to receive more funding. 

Funding has always been a major issue for the national team, because rugby does not bring in the amount of money from games that professional level sports like football, baseball and basketball do. Most of the funding USA rugby receives comes from a small membership fee that each player in the United States is required to pay in order to compete at any level. In fact according to Simon Ogus of Forbes magazine USA rugby's funding is extremely far behind most of the countries across the world. He provides an example saying, "The problem the US has faced is having the monetary resources to invest in youth player development and coaching development. USA rugby also operates with a budget of around $10 million with most of that coming from player paying membership dues. For comparison, England has an operational budget of $105 million for just player development." Because of rugby's lack of popularity, players do not get a chance to sign big TV commercial deals or get sponsored by top name brands like other athletes in the U.S. Counties like New Zealand, Australia, and England all receive large sums of money from deals like this leaving America far in the dust. 

Players in the states often are held at a disadvantage, having very little international playing experience. It is difficult for teams to travel to foreign countries to play because of the lack of support teams get from their schools, clubs and/or cities. Only a small number of high schools teams and clubs get the chance to travel and play these better teams. An even smaller number of college teams get the chance to compete internationally. Young players only opportunity is to compete for a spot on the USA under 20 years old team, which is essentially the feeder to the national team. Michael Boyle shares a similar thought in his article "Why is the U.S. So Bad at Rugby?" He believes "great rugby players are made through playing at the top level on a professional basis on a regular basis, and in both the US and Canada there are too few of these to really continue to develop the game beyond the top 14 or so teams in the world." Because of this young players are confined to competing with teams in the country limiting their experience and opportunities to get better. The USA national team also struggles to get match ups against teams outside of North America. For example in just the past six months we have played and beaten Canada three times. As convenient as it is to fly just a few hours to compete, consistently playing and beating the same team has not proven to help the overall betterment of the team. 

Paul Sheehy, a former member of the USA national team, has years of experience playing rugby within the country and internationally. He holds similar ideas as Michael Boyle. I was fortunate enough to get in contact with him and ask him some questions regarding his time with the Eagles and what changes thought could be useful from within the team. One major issue he sees with the United States feeder programs compared to international teams is "Their entire structure is built around a pathway to the national team starting in with grade schools, to high schools, to clubs and then to professional teams. From there the jump to international level play is not as extreme. Our players generally have to go overseas to get a professional contract. But none of this happens without players developing at a younger age. The example is right here in the Washington area. Gonzaga high school has won two National championships and many of their players arrived freshman year with years of experience from touch teams, that's the model."

I asked him "what do you think is holding the United States back from being competitive with the world power houses?" He responded saying "I think the issue is the competition for kids to play other sports at a younger age. Rugby is growing in the United States and as younger kids learn the basic skills and understand the game, then the USA will continue to improve. The 15s game is complicated and requires years of playing to understand the intricacies of the game." One continuous problem is the lack of exposure to kids at a younger age. It takes years of training to perfect even the basic fundamentals of rugby and without more experience at a younger age America will continue to struggle. 

Rugby not getting enough support at the beginner level is a common theme experienced by young athletes across the country. Most kids do not even have an opportunity to play rugby until high school and even then only a small percentage of high schools have school sponsored rugby team. By the time this kids even pick up a rugby ball the rest of the world is already playing competitive rugby with near perfect fundamentals. My friend, Robert Spiker, who ironically played for my rival high schools rugby team, sat down and answered some questions about his rugby career so far. When speaking on his experience playing against international teams, he stated, "Every team we played had so much chemistry. You could tell these kids had a true passion for the game and it showed from player to player. I learned that the majority of the players on the team had been competing on the same team for almost nine years. My whole team had only been playing together for at most two years, with little to no rugby experience before high school. Their fundamentals were nearly perfect and they could read our offensive plays perfectly and exploited our mistakes on defense. That is what makes a good team great." Robert also grew up playing both basketball and football for his high school. However he is one of the few who chose rugby over the more popular sports and has continued playing here at the University of South Carolina. While he is working towards a rugby scholarship here at USC, start athletes are once again discouraged to play rugby because it has very little potential for scholarship opportunity. Even the lucky few who do receive college rugby scholarships are left in the dust after they finish due to no chance to further there rugby career with a salary. I asked him "what factor do you think is holding the US team back the most?" Robert believes that "the problem is the lack of opportunity star athletes have to learn and play the game across the country. Most of high schools star athletes are focused on exceeding in better known, and more importantly higher paying sports such as football, basketball, and soccer. Rugby is simply too far behind these other sports and is not the 'sport of choice' for the athletes that could give the USA a greater chance to compete at the next level. If athletes grew up playing rugby before high school then the skills necessary to compete with the tops teams could be developed earlier and that could make the difference."

The United States does have a very large pool of players to pick from having over 450,000 players signed up with USA rugby, an online membership every player in America must pay in order to compete in games. However for some reason the U.S. cannot find the right players to fuel the teams success, even out of a pool that large. The Netflix documentary "pacific warriors" goes into life and more specifically rugby on the islands of Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa. The three countries just barley reach over one million people total with Fiji having 880,000 people, Samoa having 190,000 people, and Tonga having just 105,000 people living there. A very small percentage of an already tiny population plays rugby; however, these teams still compete and win against some of the tops teams at the Rugby World Cup. The documentary focuses on each countries road to the World Cup in France and their results. Samoa and Fiji got placed in the same pool with Fiji winning one game and Samoa winning two including one over Fiji. Samoa wasn't far out of advancing out of the pool losing two heartbreakers to pool winner South Africa 5-13 and 4th place Wales 10-17. Tonga won two games in there including a devastating loss to 2nd place France 14-19. These small island countries held their own against some of the top countries in the world with a very limited number of players to choose from. The United States has a population of over 300 million with more player registered than Samoa and Tonga's population combine, yet we still could only win a single game against Russia, arguably one of the worst teams in the world. This shows how impactful a true passion for the game can be. These countries train day in and day out developing their skills as early as the can pick up a ball, something the USA lacks. 

Surprisingly, despite all these issues that can be uncovered about USA rugby, America is actually on a path to start dominating rugby. While the Eagles continue to struggle in 15s, USA 7s is on the rise. The sevens team is consistently winning at overseas tournaments and often places in the top 5. This happens because sevens requires more athletic ability and less knowledge about the game. USA has the speed and strength to win if they keep it up. Oliver Bullough, a man of welsh descent, has noticed a star among USA rugby, and his name is Carlin Isles. Isles currently plays for the USA sevens team, and is debatably one of the best sevens players in the world. According to Bullough for America "The answer begins with Isles. He grew up a sprinter and football player. At five-foot-eight, he was hardly destined for the NFL, and although his personal best in the 100-meter dash would have earned him a spot in the semi-finals of last summer's Olympics, he was considered a long shot to make the Team USA track squad. So he skipped the June trials and chose rugby instead. Within months of the switch, he had made a different Team USA squad: sevens rugby." If America could find more athletes like Isles to make the switch, then USA rugby could finally start to eliminate any doubt in their performance ability. One player has even decided to take a leave from The New England Patriots, a professional football team, in order to compete for a spot on the 2016 USA sevens Olympic team. This is promising for the United States getting star athletes to focus more on rugby. 

With all this rugby activity across the world and the U.S. finally winning, it may just be the spark America needs to propel rugby's popularity within the country. Simon Ogus had some criticisms of USA rugby, but overall is optimistic about its future saying "With all this activity, this may be the tipping point so many American rugby fans have been waiting for. The biggest driver for rugby in the US is the Olympics and the coverage they will receive. The 7s version is an exciting 2-day tournament that will feature lots of speed, lots of jukes, and lots of points on the scoreboard. With the investment USA Rugby has made in the 7s program over the last few years, the Americans genuinely have a shot at a medal in a sport where the United States is largely considered a minnow." Finally the United States can make a difference in the rugby world and sevens is just the first step to creating better rugby all throughout the country. 

Paul Sheehy loves the game more than anyone, knowing USA rugby at a more personal level due to his on field playing experience, and couldn't be more excited for the future of the team. He believes "Rugby is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States and as younger kids learn the basic skills and understand the game, then the USA will continue to improve. We have advanced in 7s, currently ranked 5th in the world, because 7s is as much about speed, strength, and endurance as it is skills." Not only is sevens rapidly growing, but also rugby in general is starting to catch fire. Sheehy says, "The United is a big diverse country. We have signs the game is advancing. Test matches are being held in the US, the Olympics, the Las Vegas 7s event, the collegiate rugby championships in Philly, 900 colleges playing rugby, and a Pro League starting in April. At the grass roots level 'Play Rugby USA' is expanding in cities across the United States." The United States is pushing to escape their poor history and breakout among the best of the world. America has been patiently waiting for their chance and with all the opportunities present in 2016 alone it would not be a surprise if USA rugby finally makes a name for themselves. 

The near future is rugby's biggest chance to grow and become just as popular and played as the professional sports in America today. With so many things changing to increase the amount rugby being shown and played in the United States I would be hard not to notice all the hype it is getting. Although some of USA rugby is still struggling such as the 15s team, all the excitement of 7s and the development of more programs and even a professional league is sure to drive the team towards the better. A struggling and sad history that has been United States rugby seems to be coming to an end and could lead rugby to be one of if not the most widely loved games this country has ever seen. 

