USA vs All Blacks - 01/11

[Guilty]

I might be in minority but I can't see how this is good for rugby union in the US. Americans do not like losing. Period. Getting embarrassed by 70 points is not going to make any new fans from the American Football faithful who tuned in to see what this was all about. England would have been a much better opponent for the Eagles. No doubt England would win, even with a B or C side but the game might have been at least slightly competitive with the Eagles scoring a try and a showcase against the old enemy that the Americans could really get behind. I can't help but think this was a missed opportunity for the IRB and could even be harmful for the game in the long run.

 

[Bean]

gfto!

Come on, I'm not the only one who knew that right? Why do you think the wind pressure was so low? Magic?

 

[nzlizard]

This was a BAD performance.. Stop sugarcoating it. 70 point loss at home.

Key thing to remember is this is the #1 team vs the #18 team, if you equated that out to soccer it would be like the Germany vs Aussie, based on the number of teams playing soccer, so you can see how a big scoreline was expected, there is such a gulf in class between the teams.

Actually kinda like the Blues and the rest of NZ rugby, you must understand that analogy, :lol:

I just joined this forum because it seems to be the busiest rugby forum on the net. I have just been watching rugby on/off for about a year now.

The USA Eagles sucks, but I don't think this huge loss will be as detrimental to US rugby as some folks think. NBC did a poor job commentating, the cameraman was not good, the match was at the same time as a HUGE yearly SEC football game (FL-GA), and the fact that we couldn't even score a try was bad. However, seeing the ABs play, the way they pass so smoothly, the way their defense is always on point, how technical and disciplined they are on defense, the way they tackle was really good to see and actually very inspiring. It's also very nice to see the heart of the americans even though we were down 50. If there is one thing I know about the US is that we are driven. We used to get our asses kicked in MMA all the time and now we have most belts, we used to be the laughing stock in soccer and now we field a respectable team with MLS teams being worth on average over $100 mil. If there is money to be made, we'll eventually be competitive in rugby.

Bottom line, in order to get better, RU XVs need to be a High School and NCAA varsity sport. The US also needs a pro league for XVs and a pro tour for VIIs (akin to IRB international tours, but just teams in a league going around american cities). I think there's potential for an 8-10 team RU XVs league running from Mar - Aug. We also need more matches against top level competition at year end, maybe not the ABs again, but some of the upper tiers like England, Argentina, France, South Africa etc. One or two of those per October/November in a big US city would be very welcome. We also need more black players on the team as well, there was none. What's up with that? We have some samoans, but no black people in a sport such as rugby. That is a little weird to me. In Rugby VIIs, Isles is not that good, but is a difference maker, and so is Baker. Also, NBC did a piece and one of the players that started and was supposed to be one of the stars for the US is a freaking HS math teacher forfekssake. How are you supposed to compete against professionals when you field amateurs?

Agree, it will take years for the USA to catch the tier 1 nations but will be good to see progress being made.

I was impressed with certain aspects of the Eagles games and you can certainly see potential for improvement, for a team that is not fully professional there is potential there.

 

[smartcooky]

Key thing to remember is this is the #1 team vs the #18 team, if you equated that out to soccer it would be like the Germany vs Aussie, based on the number of teams playing soccer, so you can see how a big scoreline was expected, there is such a gulf in class between the teams.

More Like The USA playing New Zealand Ice Hockey

I was impressed with certain aspects of the Eagles games and you can certainly see potential for improvement, for a team that is not fully professional there is potential there.

And they wouldn't be the first team to find themselves unable to contain the All Blacks in full cry

 

[William18]

I might be in minority but I can't see how this is good for rugby union in the US. Americans do not like losing. Period. Getting embarrassed by 70 points is not going to make any new fans from the American Football faithful who tuned in to see what this was all about. England would have been a much better opponent for the Eagles. No doubt England would win, even with a B or C side but the game might have been at least slightly competitive with the Eagles scoring a try and a showcase against the old enemy that the Americans could really get behind. I can't help but think this was a missed opportunity for the IRB and could even be harmful for the game in the long run.

It's not a missed opportunity for the IRB though. England don't want to play the USA because other teams get them more money and they can't be forced to play them either. It was the All Blacks or nothing. Most of the comments I saw from Americans on twitter were hugely appreciative of rugby. This can hardly hurt rugby, IMO. If NFL fans didn't like the game then they will just continue to not watch rugby but they do that already.

 

[Big Ewis]

Said with all the sincerely we have come to know and love from you

God you're such a tosser!!

dude, he merely states his opinion, you hold him accountable for that and so he reacts to that in turn with an understandably sarcastic tone but nothing bad. And now you insult him.....not very cool. He's just saying he doesn't think this was good for the US for heck's sake, which I agree with and is at very least a sustainable opinion.

I guess America just found out that it's not so easy to beat NZ when you don't control the rules and can't cheat (America's Cup 2013).

And *I* guess America doesn't give a steaming bugger filled flying fk about that game and know they can beat virtually any nation at virtually any other sport ?? Just a wild guess, mind you !


@ProgrssvThinker hey man, welcome to the forum.
Listen, soccer worked out in the US because it's a world wide attraction and it was only a matter of time given both the cultural widespread magnitude of the phenomenon and (as always in this wonderful world) the money money money. It was bound to occur that the "stubborn US" would give in to it - just a matter of time. Rugby may be spread throughout many big, 'important' countries but within those countries it isn't nearly as big as soccer, and isn't as distributed around the world anyways.
The other thing is the US don't have a sport similar to soccer. Soccer, ice hockey, basketball...they're their own thing. You guys have NFL football, so that takes up all the potential interest space for, let's say, "another football", i.e. Rugby Union.

Then you say the US needs more exposure and matches against top tier teams. Not going to happen out of nothing, that's one. Two, the sole fact alone of playing big teams doesn't make you better. Examples are legion out there of regular fixtures with one good team smashing the smaller ones, in contexts that have been ongoing for decades. And today, decades later, still the same result: small country, still as modest and mildly interested, and still gets smashed. And if the Eagles don't win, the Americans don't watch. Simple as that, apart from the odd fan who, as we all understand, isn't a part of this conversation.

 

[goodNumber10]

I might be in minority but I can't see how this is good for rugby union in the US. Americans do not like losing. Period. Getting embarrassed by 70 points is not going to make any new fans from the American Football faithful who tuned in to see what this was all about. England would have been a much better opponent for the Eagles. No doubt England would win, even with a B or C side but the game might have been at least slightly competitive with the Eagles scoring a try and a showcase against the old enemy that the Americans could really get behind. I can't help but think this was a missed opportunity for the IRB and could even be harmful for the game in the long run.

Well think about it, AIG set this game up, like the HSBC game in the lions tour, it was a showcase, and that is why it was televised... England player USA regularly as part fo the churchill cup and i don't "think" any of it was televised.

So straight away their is a profile raiser.... additionaly it's shown they can get rugby fans in, so that indicates money and indicates that other tier 1 teams can be compensated for playing their. That's good.

The most important thing is what they do off the back of that, they need to get their regular games on these channels so they can grow the viewers, and then they need more exposure to full strength Tier 1 rugby.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Churchill cup was always televised - I used to watch it and I now miss it!

This was always about holding a successful event, the actual rugby was never the main purpose of the game.
Showing potential investors that NFL stadiums can be filled.

 

[Chikwa]

Great job from the US to limit NZ considering they had 43 just after the half hour mark.

I guess their coach had to find something encouraging to say after the match!

 

[goodNumber10]

Churchill cup was always televised - I used to watch it and I now miss it!

This was always about holding a successful event, the actual rugby was never the main purpose of the game.
Showing potential investors that NFL stadiums can be filled.

I know it was shown on sky etc.... But was it Televised in the US? On a national channel?

I was under the impression this game was on free to air?

 

[ratsapprentice]

Don't think free to air really exists in the states - at least not in the way it does over here.

 

[dasNdanger]

In the US we all pay to have television - be it basic cable or satellite. However, the three main networks (ABC, NBC, CBS) are included in all basic cable/satellite packages, so therefore basically 'free' in that if you have any sort of television programming, you will get those channels (and the match aired on NBC, so it was available to anyone who wanted to watch).

Usually rugby in the US is only available on premium sports channels that you have to pay extra for - in some cases $15 dollars a month for just ONE channel. Therefore most people in the US never have seen a rugby match unless they like the game already and are willing to pay for the extra channel. So to have a rugby match air on 'normal' television is really a huge thing, and hopefully people flipping through channels in search of something exciting found the match, and watched.


EDIT: Here's a fun read: http://www.foxsports.com.au/what-th...lacks-rugby-test/story-fnn4peyo-1227109897415


das

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

US rugby IMO needs to find there Eddie Jones, Someone who will not only help the Senior team but look at the grassroots.

It's all well and good saying they just need the top 3-4% of college players who didn't make the NFL but then is that to late for people to be learning just the basics of the game?

 

[TRF_Cymro]

This was a BAD performance.. Stop sugarcoating it. 70 point loss at home. Not a positive at all. Twitter feeds from america are all bout how they dont wanna see this eagles team again.

And about the stadium being more ABs supporters than Eagles... surely THAT is a negative. Surprised someone raised that comment.

Lets wait for the TV ratings...

Depends on what twitter feeds you look at. It depends on what viewpoint you look at in terms of fans in the stadium.

As others have suggested here, this is the the top dogs in rugby going against like the 18th ranked side. Who had semi-pro / amateurs in their ranks. Gave it a good I think.

 

[timmyj51]

Have to side with the "this isn't going to do much for USA rugby" party. The game was played in almost absolute silence. No cheering, no excitement. Yeah, you can say the purpose
was to give Yanks a chance to see the best in the world, but now that the novelty's over what next? If they scheduled a rematch a year from now I can't see who'd be interested. Neither
Yanks nor Kiwis would wanna bother with another mismatch. Could have had a lower quality opponent, but no one wants to see Canada or Kenya. England, SA, Aussies would also have
been a mismatch. Should have just been a match without the USA team. Some Yanks may have gone away energized about rugby after this but a lot probably went away thinking "why bother with
a sport the rest of world is just going to hammer us at." But keep plugging away. Would rather watch rugby than that horrendously boring soccer.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Have to side with the "this isn't going to do much for USA rugby" party. The game was played in almost absolute silence. No cheering, no excitement. Yeah, you can say the purpose
was to give Yanks a chance to see the best in the world, but now that the novelty's over what next? If they scheduled a rematch a year from now I can't see who'd be interested. Neither
Yanks nor Kiwis would wanna bother with another mismatch. Could have had a lower quality opponent, but no one wants to see Canada or Kenya. England, SA, Aussies would also have
been a mismatch. Should have just been a match without the USA team. Some Yanks may have gone away energized about rugby after this but a lot probably went away thinking "why bother with
a sport the rest of world is just going to hammer us at." But keep plugging away. Would rather watch rugby than that horrendously boring soccer.

Not from what I could hear on the TV or what the players said ... Kieran Read even said what a great atmosphere was there. Funny that.

 

[timmyj51]

Not from what I could hear on the TV or what the players said ... Kieran Read even said what a great atmosphere was there. Funny that.

Watched almost the whole game. Almost nothing except low level chatter and an occasional shout when the Kiwis scored. Rest of the crowd
just seemed to sit and watch. Nothing remotely like an NFL or college football game...and excitement is what Yanks want.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Watched almost the whole game. Almost nothing except low level chatter and an occasional shout when the Kiwis scored. Rest of the crowd
just seemed to sit and watch. Nothing remotely like an NFL or college football game...and excitement is what Yanks want.

You must have had the mute button on. I could hear a crowd clearly. So did Kieran Read. Read even confirmed this. Can't believe I am debating this.

 

[goodNumber10]

think that was more to do with bad mic'ing in the stadium than anything else.... seemed like a genuine party atmosphere, people dressed up and so on.... crowd shots looked like people were enjoying themselves.

 

[Adakins]

I was at the game, and it was awesome. Yeah there wasn't a lot of cheering near the end as most fans where just watching how the AB's played. Most Americans I spoke too said that after seeing the AB's live they understand more about how they play and see space. I personally had a fantastic time, I thought the AB's would have loved how the Americans got behind their anthem as that is something we don't do. But the experience would have been amazing for the AB's and Eagles.