The United States has long been dubbed the sleeping giant of world rugby.
But such has been the slow rate of growth, one wonders whether the giant will actually ever wake from its slumber.
There have, however, been positive signs over the past few years with Major League Rugby bedding down its early roots and then expanding, while the national team recently turned in a credible performance against an understrength England line-up, losing 43-29 at Twickenham.
And now a fledgling program to turn athletes from other sports into rugby players is underway in Glendale, Colorado — aka RugbyTown, USA.
Americans have long claimed to have the best athletes in the world, and given there is a surplus of those who fail to reach the heights of the NFL or NBA, the Colorado XOs rugby squad has been created to try and turn some of those very athletes into rugby players.
RugbyTown is also the name of a 10-part documentary series that charts the journey of the XOs.
“The idea was to create a brand new rugby team of superior athletes from a new stock of athletic talent that will fundamentally change the way that America can compete in rugby going forward,” RugbyTown documentary creator Patrick Guthrie tells ESPN. “To create the foundation of players, a pathway and a program, that can create 50 or 60 players by 2027 to win the World Cup.”
It is certainly a lofty ambition.
But the series, which airs on ESPN on Australia, New Zealand and across the Pacific Islands from this Sunday, certainly makes for compelling television as viewers are taken inside every facet of the athletes’ journey as they start their rugby careers from scratch.
Guthrie describes it as a bit like the NFL’s “Hard Knocks” style of storytelling, with viewers also taken inside the classroom, to players’ homes and inside their family circles; the show riding the ups and downs of injuries, disciplinary incidents, triumphs and defeats.
“From the second episode what we do is we reflect on the weekend’s game, ’23 turnovers, come on guys, how did we go through that’ and that’s Act 1 of a 28-minute show,” Guthrie explains.
“Act 2 is we might go home with Gelen Robinson to see his family, visit his brother who’s an NBA player, we go to his gym and then go to his house and have a big dinner. And that’s a seven-minute segment, so that’s Act 2.
“Act 3 for every episode is always the game and the game is told again by the players and their voices…what we wanted to do is not create a show about rugby, as we figured if we really want rugby to break through in America the show really can’t be about rugby at all. What it has to be about is interesting characters and that’s where I really think we’ve hit the goldmine of RugbyTown season 1.”
Having assembled a group of dedicated and experienced coaches, headed by Mark Bullock, who founded the Glendale Raptors Rugby Club in 2005, and former USA international Luke Gross, the education of the crossover athletes began with an introductory camp last November.
From there, a group was selected to return in January when the Colorado XOs were officially born and the RugbyTown story really began to unfold.
“Just like anybody else starting a new sport or anything new, those first few days were ugly,” XOs hooker and former XFL player Gelen Robinson tells ESPN.
“The first few weeks of me actually trying to get the hang of passing and just getting a handle on the rugby ball, the rules and decision-making that comes along with it, it took me a while. And even to this day, you want to convert back to the past 20 years; me playing [American] football in my head, sometimes I want to go back to it.
“But they are two completely different games in my mind, and although they each have their own strengths and weaknesses, it’s tough because it’s brand new for me and being able to make those decisions don’t come naturally to me yet. I’m working on that still to this day, just making those little decisions and executing them well on the pitch.”
Picking up an entirely new skill set, let alone sport, is always going to represent a huge challenge, particularly in adulthood when so many instincts are already ingrained. But the XOs’ education doesn’t just unfold on the field, with classroom sessions and one-on-one player interviews also brought to life in the RugbyTown series, viewers taken inside each individual’s learning experience, their review sessions and their key work-ons moving forward.
“Those instincts are changing for me, things as simple as running onto the ball hard or supporting your teammate after you’ve passed,” Robinson reflected on his journey. “These very small things that rugby players in other countries have been getting since six years old, those things started clicking for me very early and now they’re really starting to develop,” Robinson says.
— RugbyTown National Training Center (@RugbyTownNTC) June 4, 2021
“And that’s the growth within the year that I was hoping and expecting to have. So it’s been really cool to see that progress from not being able to read anything on the rugby field, to getting the ball in my hand and making a good decision with a defender in front of me.”
The crossover athlete concept is one that has long been thrown about in the U.S. and while the likes of Perry Baker and Carlin Isles have managed to do it on the sevens field, the transition to XVs is a significantly tougher challenge.
Given six Colorado XOs athletes were then signed to the MLR after their RugbyTown season had concluded, the team in Glendale might really be onto something this time around.
Robinson was among those six players to gain MLR exposure, the hooker signed by LA Giltinis where he got to mix it with Wallabies greats Matt Giteau and Adam Ashley-Cooper.
“I got the call about a week after XOs season had finished, I got that call to go out and finish up the season with the Giltinis,” Robinson said. “It was an opportunity that I’d been hoping for, I didn’t know if it would go through but obviously did, but it was another great experience in my athletic career that I will never forget.
“Playing with legends, the knowledge that you’re able to take away from a program like that, you can’t ask for a better year of introduction for a first year in rugby. It was great to be around those guys and staff; the four weeks that I was there it blew my mind in the world of rugby, just that education that I got.”
Perhaps then the USA can one day actually compete with the big boys of world rugby, so too that crossover athletes will play a key role in helping them do so.
Robinson, for one, is adamant the RugbyTown television series is going to have an impact on the American rugby scene.
“It’ll definitely take some and who knows how long that will be, but I know that we have the athletes to be able to do it,” Robinson tells ESPN. “But it’s just about getting exposure to those athletes and putting rugby in the eyes of guys who are like me, or guys that were like me a year ago, because it’s important for them to know that this is a beautiful sport that you can travel the world with and make a great living.
“So I think this documentary will open the eyes of many young athletes and let them know that this is an amazing sport that needs to be shown, and there’s a lot of potential for guys to be creative and show who they are in this sport. So it’ll definitely be the start of something to get the ball rolling for U.S. rugby.”
A key figure both in the documentary and the XOs concept is Glendale Mayor, Mike Dunafon.
A passionate rugby figure in America, Dunafon keeps a close key on the XOs at the Infinity Park field that he built to give rugby a home in Glendale. He is at the heart of RugbyTown and is all in on the ultimate goal of Rugby World Cup glory.
“Make no mistake, in RugbyTown, our goal is for the United States to win the Rugby World Cup in 2027,” Dunafon told ESPN. “We have the world’s best athletes, together with great American coaching, world class facilities, and a collective desire to achieve greatness by winning the Rugby World Cup in 2027.”
If American rugby talent can one day match American ambition, the Webb Ellis Cup might just be within the Eagles’ reach. And RugbyTown is well worth a look in the meantime.
RugbyTown Episode 1 airs at 8pm [AEST] Sunday August 29 on ESPN in Australia, New Zealand and through the Pacific. Check your electronic planner for details.
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Chase Briscoe won his third straight pole and NASCAR -high fourth this year at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday.
Briscoe, driving the No. 19 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, turned a lap of 195.514 mph in qualifying on the 2-mile oval in the fastest pole in the Cup Series since Ryan Blaney went 200-plus mph at Texas in 2018.
He is aiming for his first win this year after five top-five finishes, and the third victory of his career.
“It will be nice starting up front and we’ve been able to do that now three weeks in a row but haven’t been able to execute with it,” Briscoe said. “So, hopefully third time is a charm.”
Kyle Busch, in the No. 8 Chevrolet, will start second Sunday in the FireKeepers Casino 400.
Denny Hamlin, in the No. 11 Toyota, qualified third and points leader William Byron, in the No. 24 Chevrolet, was fourth.
Defending race champion Tyler Reddick, in the No. 45 Toyota, will start 12th and for 23XI Racing, which is suing NASCAR.
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Denny Hamlin is unfazed that a three-judge federal appellate panel vacated an injunction that required NASCAR to recognize 23XI, which he owns with Michael Jordan, and Front Row as chartered teams as part of an antitrust lawsuit.
“That’s just such a small part of the entire litigation,” Hamlin said Saturday, a day ahead of the FireKeepers Casino 400. “I’m not deterred at all. We’re in good shape.”
Hamlin said Jordan feels the same way.
“He just remains very confident, just like I do,” Hamiln said.
NASCAR has not commented on the latest ruling.
23XI and Front Row sued NASCAR late last year after refusing to sign new agreements on charter renewals. They asked for a temporary injunction that would recognize them as chartered teams for this season, but the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, on Thursday ruled in NASCAR’s favor.
“We’re looking at all options right now,” Hamlin said.
The teams, each winless this year, said they needed the injunction because the current charter agreement prohibits them from suing NASCAR. 23XI also argued it would be harmed because Tyler Reddick’s contract would have made him a free agent if the team could not guarantee him a charter-protected car.
Hamlin insisted he’s not worried about losing drivers because of the uncertainty.
“I’m not focused on that particularly right this second,” he said.
Reddick, who was last year’s regular-season champion and competed for the Cup title in November, enters the race Sunday at Michigan ranked sixth in the Cup Series standings.
The charter system is similar to franchises in other sports, but the charters are revocable by NASCAR and have expiration dates.
The six teams may have to compete as “open” cars and would have to qualify on speed each week to make the race and would receive a fraction of the money.
Without a charter, Hamlin said it would cost the teams “tens of millions,” to run three cars.
“We’re committed to run this season open if we have to,” he said. “We’re going to race and fulfill all of our commitments no matter what. We’re here to race. Our team is going to be here for the long haul and we’re confident of that.”
The antitrust case isn’t scheduled to be heard until December.
NASCAR has not said what it would do with the six charters held by the two organizations if they are returned to the sanctioning body. There are 36 chartered cars for a 40-car field.
“We feel like facts were on our side,” Hamlin said. “I think if you listen to the judges, even they mentioned that we might be in pretty good shape.”
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A three-judge federal appellate panel ruled Thursday in favor of NASCAR in the antitrust lawsuit filed by two teams, one owned by Michael Jordan, and vacated an injunction that required 23XI and Front Row be recognized as chartered teams as their case snakes through the legal system.
Both race teams sued NASCAR late last year after refusing to sign new agreements on charter renewals.
The charter system is similar to franchises in other sports, but the charters are revocable by NASCAR and have expiration dates. 23XI, which is owned by Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin, joined Front Row in suing NASCAR after 13 other organizations signed the renewals and those two organizations refused.
“We are disappointed by today’s ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and are reviewing the decision to determine our next steps,” said Jeffery Kessler, attorney for 23XI and Front Row. “This ruling is based on a very narrow consideration of whether a release of claims in the charter agreements is anti-competitive and does not impact our chances of winning at trial scheduled for Dec. 1.
“We remain confident in our case and committed to racing for the entirety of this season as we continue our fight to create a fair and just economic system for stock car racing that is free of anticompetitive, monopolistic conduct.”
The two teams sued and asked for a temporary injunction that would recognize them as chartered teams for this season. The antitrust case isn’t scheduled to be heard until December.
23XI and Front Row have 14 days to appeal to the full court, and the injunction has no bearings on the merits of the antitrust case.
The earliest NASCAR can treat the teams as unchartered — a charter guarantees their organizations a starting spot each week and prize money — is one week after the deadline to appeal, provided there is no pending appeal.
NASCAR has not said what it would do with the six charters held by the two organizations if they are returned to the sanctioning body. There are only 36 chartered cars for a 40-car field. If the teams do not appeal, the six entries would have to compete as “open” cars — which means they’d have to qualify on speed each week to make the race and they would receive a fraction of the money.
The teams said they needed the injunction because the current charter agreement prohibits them from suing NASCAR. 23XI also argued it would be harmed because Tyler Reddick‘s contract would have made him a free agent if the team could not guarantee him a charter-protected car.
It’s not clear what would happen to Reddick’s contract. Last year’s regular-season champion goes to Michigan this weekend ranked sixth in the Cup Series standings. Both organizations are still seeking a win this season — Hamlin’s three victories are with Joe Gibbs Racing, the team he drives for.
The original judge ruled that NASCAR’s charter agreement likely violated antitrust law in granting the injunction. But when they heard arguments last month, the three judges at the the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Virginia, indicated they were skeptical of that decision.
The judges said in Thursday’s ruling they were not aware of any case that supports the lower court’s theory of antitrust law, so they vacated the injunction.
“In short, because we have found no support for the proposition that a business entity or person violates the antitrust laws by requiring a prospective participant to give a release for past conduct as a condition for doing business, we cannot conclude that the plaintiffs made a clear showing that they were likely to succeed on the merits of that theory,” the court said. “And without satisfaction of the likelihood-of-success element, the plaintiffs were not entitled to a preliminary injunction.”
