GRR: Columns
Ten teams gather at the Mid-Atlantic RCT in Pittsburgh in a hugely competitive Boys select-side competition.
The 50 players named to the USA Men’s World Cup training squad will need to be pared down to 31 by the time the Eagles leave for England in September.
What qualification to the 2016 Olympics means American rugby is hard to overstate - it means, well not everything, but close.
First of all, all of USA Rugby’s plans for the two 7s teams were all through 6:20pm ET on June 14. They had no plans after that, because everything, funding most of all, hinged on the Eagles booking a spot in Rio.
This spring has seen some important steps forward in the general acceptance of rugby, especially at the youth level.
There are little insidious things, such as the Mitsubishi commercial with the rowdy kids playing a rugby game (and one kid having his mom remind him about his mouthguard). Those tiny pop-culture references can have long-lasting effects.
It was back in September (or close to it) that I said on a RuggaMatrix America podcast that the USA Men’s 7s team would not qualify for the Olympics.