A Ray of Sonny Shine on a Clever Coaching Experiment

Time to stop beating the dead horse. The United States Rugby Union is not going to develop a tier 1 men’s fifteen rugby team by doing the same thing it has always done. The noble experiment of a professional league that allowed US players to be full time athletes had no impact on the US’s ignoble exclusion from next year’s World Cup. If anything the condition of the USA men’s fifteen game is at its lowest since I started following the game in 1972. 

There is a growing consensus that the main problem is rugby does not draw the top male athletes in the United States. Top athletes are going to play one of the  big money sports. I recently watched one of the international 7s tournaments in which the United States does well. The announcer was describing one of new USA “cross-over” athletes as someone who came from a division two college football program. He said this as if it was impressive. Weren’t there any division one players who didn’t make it to the NFL who wanted to play rugby?

Now that we are clear on the problem, let me offer a solution. USA Rugby is currently (rumor has it) talking to Eddie Jones (coach who was recently released from coaching England) to come coach the USA. This would be a big mistake. There are several reasons, but mainly paying a lot of money for a coach is not going to get you better players. A radical new approach is needed or The Eagles will continue to drop through the tiers. The radical new approach starts with hiring two inspirational rugby personalities who could bring unique qualities of game knowledge, experience, and charisma to the co-coaching job.The co-coaches should be Todd Clever and Sonny Bill Williams.

The unique perspectives of a US player who played at the peak of USA Rugby’s (men’s 15s) success and an All-Black who was part of the squad that won the World Cup twice know what type of athlete and inspiration is needed. Their relative youth makes them more able to relate to athletes in their twenties. I am not quite so naive to believe their charisma would draw better athletes, but worst case would be the team would play with a lot more flair even if we still lost because we had tier 2 or below athletes.

To get the best athletes in the country there needs to be a national frenzy for the sport. For that, we need to get the best athletes. Seems like a chicken or the egg question. To create the frenzy and attract the best players USA Rugby has to get out of the way. The major sports should take over men’s 15s. Some combination board of the NFL, NBA, NHL get together with the co-coaches to start developing the squad for the 2027 World Cup. If we start soon, we could have a shot at winning the 2031 right here in the USA; otherwise, we will continue our slide down the rugby tiers.

Fran Thompson
Mullet Wrapper
mulletwrapper@gulftel.com
850-492-5221
Box 1758, Gulf Shores, AL 36547

A Ray of Sonny Shine on a Clever Coaching Experiment

Time to stop beating the dead horse. The United States Rugby Union is not going to develop a tier 1 men’s fifteen rugby team by doing the same thing it has always done. The noble experiment of a professional league that allowed US players to be full time athletes had no impact on the US’s ignoble exclusion from next year’s World Cup. If anything the condition of the USA men’s fifteen game is at its lowest since I started following the game in 1972. 

There is a growing consensus that the main problem is rugby does not draw the top male athletes in the United States. Top athletes are going to play one of the  big money sports. I recently watched one of the international 7s tournaments in which the United States does well. The announcer was describing one of new USA “cross-over” athletes as someone who came from a division two college football program. He said this as if it was impressive. Weren’t there any division one players who didn’t make it to the NFL who wanted to play rugby?

Now that we are clear on the problem, let me offer a solution. USA Rugby is currently (rumor has it) talking to Eddie Jones (coach who was recently released from coaching England) to come coach the USA. This would be a big mistake. There are several reasons, but mainly paying a lot of money for a coach is not going to get you better players. A radical new approach is needed or The Eagles will continue to drop through the tiers. The radical new approach starts with hiring two inspirational rugby personalities who could bring unique qualities of game knowledge, experience, and charisma to the co-coaching job.The co-coaches should be Todd Clever and Sonny Bill Williams.

The unique perspectives of a US player who played at the peak of USA Rugby’s (men’s 15s) success and an All-Black who was part of the squad that won the World Cup twice know what type of athlete and inspiration is needed. Their relative youth makes them more able to relate to athletes in their twenties. I am not quite so naive to believe their charisma would draw better athletes, but worst case would be the team would play with a lot more flair even if we still lost because we had tier 2 or below athletes.

To get the best athletes in the country there needs to be a national frenzy for the sport. For that, we need to get the best athletes. Seems like a chicken or the egg question. To create the frenzy and attract the best players USA Rugby has to get out of the way. The major sports should take over men’s 15s. Some combination board of the NFL, NBA, NHL get together with the co-coaches to start developing the squad for the 2027 World Cup. If we start soon, we could have a shot at winning the 2031 right here in the USA; otherwise, we will continue our slide down the rugby tiers.

Fran Thompson
Mullet Wrapper
mulletwrapper@gulftel.com
850-492-5221
Box 1758, Gulf Shores, AL 36547