The sport of rugby in the United States has always had a close relationship with the sport of American football. Games of rugby, soccer and hybrid games had always been played between American universities. In 1876 Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia formed the Intercollegiate Football Association , which used the rugby code, except for a slight difference in scoring. The modern sport of American football is a descendent of these rules. Rugby continues to be played in American universities, George W Bush being one of the most famous players.

The United States claimed victories in both the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games. Shortly after the 1924 Olympics, however, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) removed rugby as an Olympic sport. Without the Olympic incentive, the sport’s growth in America collapsed and the game remained dormant for the next half century.

However, the sport then enjoyed a renaissance, beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1970s. This created the need for a national governing body to represent the USA in the International rugby community. Four territorial organizations formed the United States of America Rugby Football Union (now known as USA Rugby) in 1975.

USA Rugby's national team is nicknamed the Eagles. The National Men’s Team first took the field in 1976. Competing in international tournaments like the Churchill Cup and the Pan American Championship, as well as specially scheduled matches against world powers such as France and Ireland, the Eagles have qualified for four of the five Rugby World Cups, most recently at the 2003 World Championships in Australia.

The USA have always been considered a rugby minnow, but through professionalism the Eagles are making improvements in coaching, management and player development, and as a result have improved on the field. The Eagles have a potentially huge pool of players as many Americans play American football in college but give up playing afterwards.

With the sheer size of the USA, coupled with relatively few fixtures, the Eagles squad only get together before games and for periodic evaluations. Selections are in part made from talent spotting done at USA Super League matches.

Ranked 16th in the world the Eagles participate annually in the Can Am trophy match against Canada. There are also the bi-annual Pan American championships, which can also double as the Americas zone World Cup qualifiers.

The USA is also involved in the implementation of the NAWIRA zone competition, which will give North American and West Indies sides regular competition.

The one area that has seen improvement for the USA internationally is in the game of Sevens where the Eagles have impressed on the IRB World Sevens circuit, making it regularly to play-off rounds of the top tournaments in the world.

Famous players

• Paul Emerick
• Mike Hercus
• Dave Hodges
• Dan Lyle
• Kort Schubert

See also

• Super Powers Cup
• Churchill Cup
• Rugby Union World Cup
• American football

External links

• Official site