There’s a football rulebook that has a chance to catch on in America — and it’s not a league

In contrast, modern rugby’s best players still operate within a certain framework, limited by the fitful nature of the game, TMO interventions, etc. In rugby, it is the coaches who are most admired these days, and who observers believe can most influence the game, rather than the players.

But while those obstacles are a factor in Australia and New Zealand, rugby remains a sizeable international sport and is beginning to put together a series of events that could make a splash in the United States.

World Rugby is investing in a Major League Rugby team, the All Blacks will play Ireland in Chicago next year, England will play the USA and, of course, the 2028 Olympics will be followed by the 2031 and 2033 Rugby World Cups.

But it was little more than a ripple. Due to the size and complexity of the market, and the relative lack of resources of both the NFL and AFL, the chances of either rugby or the NFL taking hold in the US sports market were slim. It could also be argued that World Rugby was a bit of a slow start.

Earlier this year, Anthem Rugby Carolina, an MLR team, announced its investment in the franchise. The goal is to support American players in the run-up to the 2031 World Cup – following the lead of Fiji’s Drua – but giving MLR only seven or eight years to develop American players capable of playing in Test matches seems a bit too short.

However, there is greater hope for rugby, as the NRL’s strategy has a fundamental weakness that the bright lights of Las Vegas cannot conceal.

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The marketing slogan for this year’s event was “No Pads, No Helmets,” but it really read “No Pads, No Helmets, No Americans.” Good luck getting no Americans from the United States, a country so obsessed with its athletes’ triumphs that it called NBA champions “world champions” long before you could argue.

Yes, there is no doubt that developing American League players at the grassroots level is worthwhile, but can they provide those players with an Olympic opportunity, or even the relaunched Pacific Nations Cup, where the US men’s rugby team will play against Japan, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga and Canada this year?