Who do you think will be the new powers of world rugby in the coming decades?

[Icemn]

Argentina and USA (if they put money in union)

oops... almost forgot about canada...

 

[Thingimubob]

In all seriousness the ones that scare me the most if rugby gets big there, are USA and Canada. The sheer amount of talent in that population could be ridiculous if the right time, effort and money is put in!

 

[TNT88]

The only way to be a bigger "power" than NZ is to dedicate your entire country to rugby. You need a professional colts and reserves set-up. And you need a large number of kids from that country coming through rugby to ensure all the talented athletes have a go at rugby at some point to see if they are any good.

South Africa is the only country I know of that comes close.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

The only way to be a bigger "power" than NZ is to dedicate your entire country to rugby. You need a professional colts and reserves set-up. And you need a large number of kids from that country coming through rugby to ensure all the talented athletes have a go at rugby at some point to see if they are any good.

South Africa is the only country I know of that comes close.

England as well?

In SA we need a few a things to happen to be able to compete consistantly with NZ again IMO;
- politics need to stay away from the sport
- The Bokke need to get priority over the regions/franchizes
- central contracting like NZ do RWT SR
- better planning ITO continuity from coach to coach

 

[Draggs]

USA - if corporate gets behind it. Which seems like the only way any non-Yank sport would get any traction.

It will take ages. Everybody is so caught up in gridiron, hockey, and NASCAR. The general attitude towards rugby is indifference.
Bear in mind the salaries professionals make in those respective sports compared to rugby.

Russia have some great young backs, I thoroughly enjoyed watching some of them at work last year. I wouldn't mind bringing one or two into the Welsh clubs

 

[Peat]

England as well?

In SA we need a few a things to happen to be able to compete consistantly with NZ again IMO;
- politics need to stay away from the sport
- The Bokke need to get priority over the regions/franchizes
- central contracting like NZ do RWT SR
- better planning ITO continuity from coach to coach

We have nowhere near the same bottom-to-top structure as either imo, or the same levels of fanaticism - although if we did, thanks to money and population size, we'd bestride rugby like a jolly white giant, walking the earth with guns.

I'll probably run into a wall of disagreement here, but I think Ireland is the NH country best placed to get somewhere near NZ in terms of massive levels of involvement. Yes, it has to complete with football and GAA, but the former is for nancyboys and the latter runs on a summer season, so there can be room for both. The Irish populace is being presented with massive success on a domestic level - there's a real chance to grow the game, both in terms of support and participation. In terms of professional sportsman playing at home, it's the only game in town, which can be leveraged into first choice of the athletes. And the union currently has the best level of control over it's internationals of any NH country. With canny marketing, more success and an upswing for the national team, they've really got a chance to grab the support of a large chunk of the island imo.

It's a shame/good job that the IRFU have the New Lansdowne hanging around their necks like a milestone then, compounded by the fact that you have to ask if they'd recognise their arse from their elbow.

 

[norcalbuff]

Where is this progress Russia is supposedly making? Their U20s got last place in the JWRT this year, getting blown out by Chile, Tonga and the US and losing by double digits to Zimbabwe. Their U18s struggled to a 10-8 win over mighty Sweden in the European U18 Championship last year en route to a 5th place finish in the second division behind the likes of Belgium, Germany, Romania and Spain. I think any projection of Russia being a world power at this point is based on wishful thinking rather than anything actually happening in reality.

 

[norcalbuff]

It will take ages. Everybody is so caught up in gridiron, hockey, and NASCAR. The general attitude towards rugby is indifference.
Bear in mind the salaries professionals make in those respective sports compared to rugby.

Russia have some great young backs, I thoroughly enjoyed watching some of them at work last year. I wouldn't mind bringing one or two into the Welsh clubs

The huge growth of youth rugby in the US will pay big dividends down the road. It takes time but soccer has made huge inroads in the US in the last 20 years and in many ways is the 4th most popular sport in the country now, behind (American) football, basketball and baseball. In 10 years I wouldn't be surprised to see it more popular than baseball, by many metrics.

 

[norcalbuff]

Here are some concrete positives for American rugby in the last year:

-Won the JWRT after traditionally having awful age grade teams. Had wins over Tonga, Japan, Chile and Russia. That same U20 team went 2-0 in 2 warmups in Canada against Canada's U20s as well.

-Record crowd in the modern era for an Eagles 15s test match in June's test against Italy in Houston. Record crowd for 7s at the Las Vegas 7s as well.

-Named the fastest growing sport in the US in a study by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association: http://content.usatoday.com/communi...ckey-baseball-down-over-decade/1#.UHWohhXA_yA

-Multiple colleges creating varsity men's rugby teams with scholarships. This helps retain good athletes in rugby and helps attract good athletes to rugby. In the past some of our promising young rugby players would play other sports in college because they offered scholarships, even if they had no future in those sports.

We've always been called a sleeping giant for many years now but this is real progress that should lead to significant improvement of our national team down the road.

 

[big ginger 8]

Based on current movements and financial stability, and the major influx of pure talent from african shores to better playing opportunities, I would have to say:

Scotland and Ireland

Umm funny.

Probably Canada, followed by Japan, USA, Russia and Georgia.
According to Wikipedia, rugby's the national sport of Georgia. So a shitty Irish team can really make that much of a difference, huh.

Sorry honestly wondering what you mean by this.

 

[SelimNiai]

One of the guys I went to Uni with has written something on the rise of rugby in Cyprus

http://www.cyprus-rugby.com/images/documents/rugby_world.pdf

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

umm funny.


Sorry honestly wondering what you mean by this.

'07 wc.

 

[Groundhog]

'07 wc.

Oh no she didn't
I'm going to say Madagascar, because why not

 

[big ginger 8]

'07 wc.

Oh yeah I'd done a good job of erasing it from my memory.

 

[Peat]

-Multiple colleges creating varsity men's rugby teams with scholarships. This helps retain good athletes in rugby and helps attract good athletes to rugby. In the past some of our promising young rugby players would play other sports in college because they offered scholarships, even if they had no future in those sports.

All of a sudden I'm taking US rugby a lot more seriously.

 

[welshglory]

The US probably have better youth systems in place now than Australia to be honest.

 

[jkUNCAcap]

All of a sudden I'm taking US rugby a lot more seriously.

And there are more and more college clubs popping up every year, like mine. Whether they get the support they need from the administration or not is another matter, but if there's one thing us American's love more than anything, it's taking something that isn't ours and dominating it. (Albeit, it becomes extremely annoying to the majority of citizens who have a four-year degree, or who are studying at a four-year institution.)

 

[RWC2011Fan]

Oh yeah I'd done a good job of erasing it from my memory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUiWdMfMsp4&noredirect=1

 

[nickdnz]

And there are more and more college clubs popping up every year, like mine. Whether they get the support they need from the administration or not is another matter, but if there's one thing us American's love more than anything, it's taking something that isn't ours and dominating it. (Albeit, it becomes extremely annoying to the majority of citizens who have a four-year degree, or who are studying at a four-year institution.)

Can't think of many instances in sport where this has happened. Hockey?

 

[TRF_heineken]

Can't think of many instances in sport where this has happened. Hockey?

Can't think of any instances either?

what ****** me off most about american sport is that they call the final series of a league, or tournament, the WORLD SERIES, yet it's just America competing in the tournament...