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USA Rugby: The State of America’s Rugby Union with Nigel Melville
Published: March 1, 2014
Now, in 2014, the face of rugby in the USA and across the world has changed dramatically. In this exclusive two-part Bleacher Report interview, we sit down with Melville to assess the state of the sport in America and what the future might hold.
I had the opportunity to share some of the sound from this interview, and to debate its impact, on The Province's Try and Tackle Rugby Podcast, this week.
In the first part our discussion, we asked USA Rugby's CEO about the growth of the game domestically and what needs to be done to unlock the game's potential in a nation that passionately loves its contact sports.
JH: Thanks for taking the time to speak to us Nigel.
Well, it's been seven years on the job here in America; how far has the game of rugby advanced in that time?
NM: When I came to America seven years ago, I think my surprise was the lack of youth rugby. When people talked about youth rugby, they were referring to 17-year-olds and 18-year-olds. My first reaction was, wow, we have to sort this out. If you want sustainable and growing rugby in America, you had to have a vibrant youth game.
Our challenge was that whatever we did at the top end of the game, we still wouldn't have anything coming up from the bottom. So our youth-rugby efforts were a little like planting seeds, and now we are starting to reap the benefits of it.
JH: The normal role of a national union is to run a country's national teams and develop elite players. I suspect it couldn't have been an easy d...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union
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