Mils Muliaina will be playing in the new Pro League in the USA
Next Sunday afternoon at 16:00 Pacific Standard Time a little piece of rugby history will be made. The 1st match of a brand new USA pro-league will kick off when Sacramento face San Francisco on Bonney Field. The venture has the blessing of both World Rugby and USA Rugby, although it is entirely independent of either governing body. There are only 5 teams competing in the league – Denver, Ohio and San Diego in addition to the 2 above – but for US rugby this may just be the acorn from which a rugby oak emerges.
The money man is Doug Schoninger, who worked in the financing of stadiums but boasts no background in rugby. The man in charge of the rugby is a Scot, Steve Lewis, who has been steeped in the game since growing up in Glasgow and whose resume is a good deal more exotic than most.
After turning out for West of Scotland alongside the likes of Matt Duncan, Gerry McGuinness and a young Gordon Bulloch, Lewis emigrated to the US in the early 1990s. He has coached a wide variety of teams around the world from the West Point Ladies, the Beit Jala Lions (in Palestine), Nigeria’s national team, Vail Rugby, Old Blue and the New York City Sevens side that won the plate final at Twickenham in 2013. Lewis was named the USA Coach of the Year in 2014.
As rugby director of the new league it is his task to populate those 5 teams with the best players money can buy: well, the best players that UD$ 35 000.00 can buy. And if that doesn’t sound like a king’s ransom it was enough to tempt fullback Mils Muliaina and his 100 All Black caps to play a 12-match season that stretches just 3 and a half months (17 April – 31 July). The league kicks off when the American Football season is over and before the baseball has become interesting.
“This is a single-entity league,” Lewis says via video link from the US, “so everything is owned by 1 guy (Schoninger) and everyone, players and coaches and physios, is centrally contracted. It’s my job to try and ensure that the 5 teams are all roughly equal in quality.
“Doug [Schoniger] had the go-ahead last season but he waited until now, after last year’s Rugby World Cup, after the recent American Championship (also known as the American Six Nations) which has just finished and before the 2016 Olympics which are hugely important for us. If the Eagles Sevens team medal in Rio then this league will take off.”
In much the same way, he could have added, that Major League Soccer (MLS) was given a shot in the arm by America’s World Cup campaign in Brazil 2 years ago when they qualified for the last 16.
“There are 3 levels of contract with about 40 tier-1 players getting US$ 35 000.00, perhaps 80 guys in tier 2 on US$ 20 000.00 and the remainder of the players will be locals who are on a match fee deal only,” adds Lewis. “Most of the players involved won’t have been in a professional environment so I am trying to get a few older, more experienced heads in each team to set standards for the others to follow both on and off the field.
“We looked at the number of players we had available and we reckoned that we could fill maybe 6 teams but it turned out to be just 5. We are looking to expand, especially into the North East corridor that links Washington with Boston, but we are venue dependent and the latest World Rugby ruling, regulation 22, has hurt us.”
Lewis explains that almost every rugby match on the east coast takes place on an artificial surface but Regulation 22 tightens the guidelines on what artificial surfaces can and can’t be used. World Rugby and USA rugby may lack the resources to check every field hosting amateur rugby but they are rigorous in enforcing the rules in the professional game and, anyway, Lewis was up against the clock.
The Scot was only appointed last November since when he has had to set up 5 teams, organise various venues, search out and sign up more than 100 players from all corners: little wonder he looks weary.
There are no Scots involved in this, the 1st year, but 1 ex-international applied for a coaching post, several players are interested and it may yet happen because there is a shortage of scrumhalves in 1 team. Otherwise there is the usual collection of Australians, South Africans and New Zealanders, plus 1 man from Chile, although the majority of players are obviously north American, with 54 of the contracted players being full internationals in 1 form of the game or another.
Argentina has already made huge strides inside the Rugby Championship, Japan now boasts a Super Rugby franchise and if this league captures the imagination then another of Scotland’s traditional rivals will get a big boost, especially if it gives college American football players an outlet. Lewis laughs off the “sleeping giant” as a cliché, which is perhaps to be expected, but he treats the concept of “crossover athletes” with much the same contempt, which is not.
“Look,” he says with the air of someone who has made this point more times than he wants to, “the whole crossover athlete is a unicorn, it doesn’t exit. You can’t turn an American footballer into a rugby player in less than 2 years. That is how long it took Carlin Isles and even then he is only a Sevens player.”
But Nate Ebner famously won the Super Bowl with the New England Patriots and he is now trying out for the USA Sevens team in time for Rio?
“And I doubt he’ll make it,” Lewis replies before adding: “Anyway he was a rugby player in his youth. He played for the Eagles at Under 20 level. He grew up playing rugby.”
Timing is all and the timing might just be right. Rugby is America’s fastest-growing sport (+ 81% 2008 – 2013 according to Sport and Fitness Industry Association figures) at exactly the time when numbers playing American football are in decline (- 21%, same period) for a variety of reasons. The report in question did not speculate as to why but 1 article in the USA underlined the safety issue, seemingly unaware that rugby is more dangerous than American football rather than less so.
One reason may be that rugby’s traditional ethics of respect and humility strike a ready chord in much of an American society that is sick of the excesses of their current sports stars. The new league is starting small by design, in the hope of growing organically rather than imposing a huge structure (with huge costs) on to a bemused public. Lewis insists that the teams only need to attract between 3 000 – 7 000 fans through the gates for their plan to succeed, while emphasising that funding is in place for the next 3 years.
“The USA sports market is the biggest and the richest in the world,” says the Scot, “and we just need to attract a tiny sliver of that market to be successful.”
scotsman
Am keen to see how this works out. From a rugby point of view hopefully it is successful and helps the game grow in the States. Hoping though that it doesn’t become yet another attraction in the player drain from countries like South Africa.
Seem to remember that former Bok, Blue Bulls and Sharks centre Andre Snyman was coaching in the US, wonder if he will be part of coaching teams for this league.
Andre Snyman was coaching Glendale Raptors in Denver, so maybe he will be involved in the Denver team in the new US pro-league.
A quick search showed that Andre Snyman’s Glendale Raptors are doing well, from an article from last week: “The Glendale Raptors (8-0) maintain a commanding lead atop the Pacific Rugby Premiership (PRP) table, but their latest victory, a 18-16 nail biter over Old Mission Beach Athletic Club (OMBAC) was a little too close for comfort.
“We expected a tough game and they delivered,” Raptors head coach Andre Snyman said. “OMBAC is playing good rugby at the moment. We knew coming back, they wouldn’t be the same team.”
“We really had to work for it and OMBAC gave us a run for our money,” Snyman explained. “They played the right game plan and put us under pressure.”
“That’s why we want to play in the PRP; it’s these kind of games,” Snyman said of the narrow victory. “Against [San Francisco Golden Gate] the same thing happened. The close games are the games we want to play. I don’t know if it’s good for my health, but it’s good for the team. It’s character building.”
“I can’t say that there was one player that stood out,” Snyman commented. “It was a team effort to secure the win.”
“We just want to reassess the situation with injuries,” Snyman said. “There will definitely be one or two faces in the team.”
Despite the setbacks, Glendale continues to plug along with an undefeated record and a clear path to defending it’s PRP title.
“We went into the game hoping to get the win and we did, although it wasn’t pretty,” Snyman concluded. “It was a different game, but ultimately the boys showed some character and discipline at the end.”
Maybe it was a bit premature to suggest Andre Snyman could be involved in the new league as he seems to be quite involved at the moment at his club. A nice video clip after a big win by his team this weekend:
https://www.facebook.com/glendalerugby/videos/10154073730939253/
Pedrie Wannenburg will play for Denver
Victoriabok wrote:
Hi VicBok thanks for that info didn’t know that, at current exchange rate not bad money for a few months work. Do you think this league will help or hinder or not make any difference to rugby in Canada? Do you have the websites links so we can go find out more please
Hello Bullscot, you can find more infor here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRO_Rugby
They official site
http://www.prorugby.org/
http://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/story/_/id/14088602/usa-rugby-takes-next-step-development-professional-league
USA Rugby takes next step in development with professional league
The news American rugby union fans have been waiting for is finally out — there will be a professional league in the United States.
While some details are still being finalised, starting in April 2016 six teams will compete in the Professional Rugby Organization — shortened to PRO Rugby — while in 2017 the league will expand to include Canadian teams to make this an inclusive North American competition.
A local television broadcast is unlikely at the outset, but fans will be able to stream games live online. USA Rugby CEO Nigel Melville explained: “Major League Soccer didn’t have a [television] contract for many years, but it’s something that’s an important part of the puzzle.
“You have to build from the ground up. There’s a world to get this started, everyone’s keen to get onboard and help and start building the competition in the sport, and I think we’ll have great success.”
Competing teams will be brand new, meaning there won’t be any affiliation with any of the elite clubs currently playing in the U.S. However, players will be able to move between their club and professional teams. “People in charge of the league are very keen to make sure the amateur clubs and the professional clubs work hand-in-hand in every locale that they set up,” Melville said.
In terms of who will play in the new league, there is a core group of players that organisers already have their eye on. “Each team will be comprised of five international, non-North American players, then there will be Canadian and American pool players,” PRO Rugby CEO Doug Schoninger said.
“The pool players, we will select from our knowledge base. We’re obviously working very closely with USA Rugby to identify players we would want, and we’ll see if they’re available. And then, with the club players, we’re going to be working very locally as well.”
There is plenty of reason for optimism around the league, with rugby the fastest growing team sport in America and PRO Rugby offering an interesting alternative for the country’s sports fans.
“We’re very much trying to promote the team aspect of the sport, and how that works into cooperation and respect, and all that is inherent in rugby. [That aspect] is kind of disappearing from team sports in America a little bit,” said Schoninger, pointing to the fantasy leagues and obsession over individual statistics that’s seen in major American sports today.
From USA Rugby’s perspective, the goal is to further develop their national teams to be able to compete with countries that already have full-time professional leagues. The theory being that a strong professional league will breed a strong national team, which will in turn increase the sport’s exposure in the States — prompting more elite athletes to turn to rugby.
Young rugby players will see their favourite stars, players like Carlin Isles, Perry Baker and Danny Barrett — names who have already brought commercial success to American rugby — and in turn want to be like them.
“If you’re a young kid playing rugby, it gives a pathway to be a professional, and that helps every level,” Melville said. “It helps the collegiate level because we’re looking at colleges to see the next cast of players coming into the league. It makes it inspirational for the young players, and that will be a game changer for us. It’s exciting, and we hope [the fans] will get behind it.”
@ Victoriabok:
Thanks man will go and have a look at that official site and see more about the teams players coaches etc. So it looks like it will just be known as prorugby if the url is anything to go by surprised it is not branded as World Series Rugby
Victoriabok wrote:
Hi VicBok, the latest is that it will be 5 teams rather than 6 as the rugby director explains in the article. Had a look at some of the squads (which weren’t the final squads yet) and seen there are quite a few Canadians in them for this season, next year with the plan being to expand the league and include Canadian teams I assume these Canadians will not be playing for the American teams or at least as not as many as this year.
Bullscot
you think this league will help or hinder or not make any difference to rugby in Canada? Do you have the websites links so we can go find out more please
Rugby isn’t that big in Canada
This US league will be great if it takes of
The best thing that can happen to rugby will be if the US wins a medal at the Olympics, it will bring big money into the game in the US and raise the game’s profile
Bullscot wrote:
They will probably play where they are contracted
Sports here are all franchised so there’s no “playing for my province” loyalties like we have (used to have?) in SA
They are used to their stars moving to other teams
They support US hockey teams as well, half of the palyers are Canadian anyway
You can watch the complete first match here
http://www.aol.com/article/2016/04/14/watch-live-pro-rugby-makes-debut-in-the-united-states/21344397/
@ Victoriabok:
Brilliant thanks for that VicBok have had a quick look at it looks like they doing a bit of education of rugby there as well will try watch more of the match sometime. Hope this works out well.
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