My favorite team won it all in stunning fashion. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/rugby-world-cup/11963694/Rugby-World-Cup-final-2015-New-Zealand-vs-Australia-live-Wallabies-aim-to-upset-the-odds-by-beating-All-Blacks.html

Haka

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdi_BKirhPM

Yep, they gave us a flogging!

As an Aussie though, I'm getting a bit sick of the Haka!

I'm pretty sure the 16% of the NZ population who live in Australia (including my next door neighbours) will disagree with me! Lol!

Quote from: GK on October 31, 2015, 03:05:52 PM
Yep, they gave us a flogging!

As an Aussie though, I'm getting a bit sick of the Haka!

I'm pretty sure the 16% of the NZ population who live in Australia (including my next door neighbours) will disagree with me! Lol!

Well of course you don't like the Haka. 

Bloomin All Blacks! Bloomin Kiwis! Lol!

You can get a bit more of the Black if you flew (perhaps) fly the Quantis run to NZ for a bit. There was a bit of a bet between airlines.

Quote from: GK on October 31, 2015, 03:05:52 PM
Yep, they gave us a flogging!

Pffft... As a born US resident, I can say you Aussies don't know what a flogging really looks like. We travel to Chicago for the match at Solider Field about a year ago... speaking of floggings. USA Rugby is improving... but it's a long long road. We'll make it out of our pool... some day... some day. It's been interesting to watch though. And at least we do decently better in the 7's segment.

With your vast population and a decent commitment to rugby, it shouldn't take too long for you to improve.

Quote from: GK on November 03, 2015, 10:35:06 PM
a decent commitment to rugby,

There's the catch.

Football, well hand-catch-ball since they hardly use their feet, still dominates a lot of the resources one might commit to Rugby.

Rugby is expanding in breadth and (age) depth here, slowly. And events like the sell out of Solider Field for the US v NZ match illustrate to sponsoring sources that there's money to be made (Sigh).

But we are only recently getting youth programs really rolling. For a long time most American players only began to play in high school or even university. So for a long time an US players were usually making up for a decade of lost training in the game vs players from many other nations.

Totally agree that we have in the US have a huge pool of potential - hell we have a a single city that's got almost double the population of NZ and another thats nearly the same. We lack the systems and history to leverage - that's where we struggle\.

You've highlighted a number of problems, however I totally agree that once people realize there's cash to be made, things will pick up pace.

Sad though, that it's the money making opportunities that will best drive the growth, not the love of the sport.

And yet, the programs to get youth playing the game early don't come for free.

It will be both a great AND sad when the U.S. Can match NZ and AUS on the rugby field. That time will come.

Yep.. there's momentum building. And recently Footballs support has been eroding at the youth level. (Real) injury concerns, especially traumatic brain, are drawing folks away, and even some schools have shut down their football programs.

Of course, as another very physical game, that much of the US populace doesn't understand, one cannot expect that the decrease in football would translate directly to increases in Rugby - though stats show less traumatic injury in Rugby - especially head.

But overall, Rugby is gaining hold in the US. It might be 15 years until we can mount a serious top 10 threat or even get out of pool in the RWC... but we're gettin' there slowly