Richie Mo'unga in action against USA. Photo / Photosport
Richie Mo'unga in action against USA. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
The sooner the Rugby World Cup gets to the United States, the better.
Do we take one look at the shambles in Washington last week and dismiss the financial power and eyeballs available solely based on that? No, that would be myopic at best.
Do we turnour noses up just because the greatest team in the history of the sport pulverised a hopelessly underpowered American national side? No, we accept that mismatches can, do and will occur, probably more often than we'd like.
Parity is a pipe dream in international rugby. We even put 50 plus on a Springbok side once. Do we continue to hand wring about the parlous state of our national game's piggy bank? No. We find opportunities to boost the coffers and take them.
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Will this weekend's expected destruction of Wales take the gloss off the All Black name? No. It will help keep the team fiscally buoyant. Professional sport. See that? It's in the name. It doesn't come more professional than in the USA.
There wasn't a lot to like about Sunday morning's fixture. But there hasn't been a lot to like about a number of All Black games of recent times. Ask yourself, how many genuinely competitive games are the All Blacks involved in? How many games are neutered by an overzealous ref? How many games serve any other purpose but to check boxes? How many games are talking points beyond the realm of the diehard fan? How many fixtures are manned by emerging players?
Rugby does not have a mortgage on scintillating international fixtures. It barely has a deposit. The relative dearth of quality in the upper echelons see to that. The thin band of absolute quality sees to that. Rugby needs expansion, it needs exposure. It needs to flex, and not to those who already admire it.
All Blacks loose forward Luke Jacobson scores a try against the USA Eagles. Photo / Photosport
Sure, the so-called sleeping giant of world rugby is more akin to a comatose waif currently but that shouldn't deter us from dragging the game to the front door of a huge and relatively untapped market. And kicking it in. A timid knock once in a blue moon will achieve little. Don't send polite invitations, take the whole party to their place.
Understand that with a population of 350 million, with an innate sense of showtime, the land of the free, the home of the brave is worth engaging with. They don't do things by halves, so give them what they revel in. The biggest. The best. Buy into their hyperbole. Tap into their outrageous marketing. Share, learn, experience. Grow.
It might all explode in our face, but the continued tippy toeing around the vast American market won't achieve a damn thing. Go whole hog, buy into the American dream. The fractious nature of world rugby, predominantly due to pigheaded and short sighted behaviour from the NIMBY north (both clubs and international bodies), will always keep rugby where it is – unceremoniously caught in a global no-man's land.
Quite possibly the international saving grace of the game could lie with a nation that understands how to run meaningful, consistent and very profitable sporting competitions by encouraging their involvement, indeed handing them the keys for the game's limousine, the World Cup.
A blast around the block with the Americans at the wheel may well be the shake up the rugby union needs. What's the worst that could happen? Rugby is so broken internationally, maybe a write off and a complete rebuild is what it needs.
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