U.S. rugby making big strides

Press, 6 July 1983, Page 48

U.S. rugby making big strides

By

JOHN BROOKS

Continued success by the Eagles on their rugby tour of Australia could lead to the cementing of a relationship between the United States and New Zealand in the game. In Christchurch yesterday the president of the United States Rugby Union, Mr Bob Watkins, of San Diego, expressed delight at the results so far achieved by the Eagles, which is the American national team.

It was important for this standard to be maintained, as the New Zealand union had assured the Americans that the welcome mat would be laid out for them if they did well in Australia.

“New Zealand could invite us to tour possibly as early as 1985,” Mr Watkins said. “The Grizzlies (the Californian state team) are coming here next year, and that will give us a chance to gauge the Eagles’ prospects.”

The Americans also have a tour of Wales in 1987 in their sights, and this activity is an indication of the extraordinarily swift progress the game has made in the United States since the formation of the national body eight years ago.

Within seven months of that milestone, the United States hosted its first international match, against Australia, and then took on France. At that stage the money cupboard was almost bare, and the pioneer administrators were at pains to draw the threads of the widely scattered pockets of rugby interest together. Today the game boasts between 60,000 and 70,000 players and 1200 to 1500 clubs, including universities, Mr Watkins said. And there is a conscious effort being made to develop a national style.

Coaches from several overseas countries have left their influence on American rugby, but instead of ac-

cepting the foreign contribution totally, there was now a desire by Americans to extract what was important for them, Mr Watkins said.

“In addition, Ron Mayes, who is a New Zealander and coaches the Eagles, and Jim Perkins, the national coaching co-ordinator, meet three times a year to work on developing a national plan.” Refereeing and coaching exchanges and overseas trips, such as the one being made to New Zealand by Mr Watkins’ own club, Old Mission Beach Athletic, were all helping to gather precious experience for American rugby. “Years ago the reason for playing rugby was to drink beer,” he said. “Now there are a heck of a lot of footballers with the desire to play disciplined rugby, and they are genuinely concerned about how well they Play.

“We might be a little archaic in our style, but in terms of athletic ability we are as good as anyone — even better than some. We just don’t have the skills. “However, we’ve got something to contribute to rugby, just because of the vast range of sports programmes we can tap into, such as physiological tests and evaluation of athletes.” Mr Watkins termed as “incredible” the progress made by United States rugby in a short time, and he acknowledged the assistance of “friends” — among whom New Zealand ranked

high. The progress will continue unabated. Moves towards appointing paid officers to serve the national administration and towards developing rugby in the colleges, to produce more people to teach the game in the high schools, are already coming into perspective. That’s American rugby.