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This August Philadelphia shall host the first ever National Rugby Football League match which will see ‘The Rough Riders’ take on Leicester Tigers for the Independence Cup. This exhibition game shall raise the profile of rugby and spread the interest of the English premiership Stateside. This will be the first time ever that an elite professional rugby union match is played in the United States by a professional American team.
The NRFL was established with the idea that a professional rugby franchise could grasp the American population on the NFL’s off-season. Michael Clement, founder of RugbyLaw, an organization working to create the NRFL had this to say
“The Independence Cup will truly be the rugby game heard around the world as America steps onto the pitch for the first time with professional ruggers to take on the creators and long-lived champions of the sport,”
The Rough Riders is collective team of America’s finest players made up of Former NFL players, College American Football players and collegiate, club and international rugby players.
Here at Rugby Banter Page we are drooling at the idea of professional rugby hitting ‘Muricah. The athletes churned out for the NFL are out of this world and the prospect of such players hitting the rugby pitch is just mouth-watering. We hear stories of rugby players switching over to play American Football, most recently Jarryd Hayne NRL superstar who just signed over to San Francisco 49ers… But the other way around? How will that work out?
This new development could mean big things for team USA as they may become big contenders for the 2019/2023 Rugby World Cups depending on how successful this new professional league turns out to be.
Our only wish is for Marshawn Lynch to drop the helmet and pads and give rugby a go. When we asked if he’d consider rugby, Beast Mode replied with
“I’m just here so I won’t get fined”
The USA won Gold in the Olympics in 1920 and 1924 but since then they have not made much of an impact in the world of rugby to date. With professionalism now in place and the NRFL to be in full swing come 2016 we believe they’ll be big hitters in the world in no time.
The Independence Cup will take place on 8th August on Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia.