If the deciding game of the Americas Rugby Championship or finals day at the USA Sevens did not jolt the ogre fully awake, it seemed at least to give it a start. The US women are also progressing but it is a member of the men’s sevens squad who both embodies both newfound American success and another cliché of covering the American game. But he picked up rugby, the sevens programme at the Olympic Training Center in California found him and now he’s World Rugby’s sevens player of the year. But to obsess about such players is to do a disservice to American rugby, which is much more widespread, dedicated and passionate than most foreign observers could know. Likewise Naya Tapper, the US women’s sevens strike runner, ran track at college but wasn’t a star before dropping it to play rugby with her friends.

Source: The Guardian March 05, 2018 08:00 UTC