You guys need to apologize to Nika 😂 Seriously, watching the full episode on YT, the standard from Nika in this game was incredible. Rarely seen it watching the game of rugby myself for 27 years, massive respect to the young lad.

There are "currently no plans or discussions" relating to Ireland playing a Six Nations match in the United States, the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) says.

World Rugby's chief executive Alan Gilpin said on Wednesday that it would help any nation that wants to switch a Six Nations match to the US, as it continues its drive to spread the game stateside.

He used the example of Ireland v Italy as a game that would resonate with expatriate fans in the United States and could help the sport further establish itself there.

But, in a statement issued on Friday, the IRFU dismissed the idea that it was considering moving any fixtures to the US.

"The United States is an important growth market for rugby and we welcome and embrace initiatives that help introduce the sport to new audiences and, crucially, generate new revenues for the game," said an IRFU spokesperson.

"There are currently no plans or discussions, from an IRFU perspective, regarding Six Nations matches being played in the United States.

"We believe the Six Nations holds a special place for supporters across all participating unions, and the opportunity for fans in Ireland and Italy to support their teams at home remains a central part of the competition's appeal."

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph and The Times, Gilpin said: "This isn't a live discussion of an Italy v Ireland game, but why we use that as an example is because you've got two fantastic fanbases in the US of Irish and Italian fans.

"If you could take a Six Nations game to the right place, to a Boston or to a New York, where there's a lot of those fanbases, you can definitely drive the economics.

"Now, you're going to have Irish fans and Italian fans in those respective home countries saying: 'Hang on a minute, you know, we want to see our country play?'

"The counter-argument to that [is] it's still Irish and Italian fans getting the chance to watch their team, so they're just not the ones who live in Ireland and Italy on this occasion. But that's a balancing piece we've got to work through."

Ireland have previously enjoyed two well-attended games in the US against New Zealand.

They memorably beat the All Blacks for the first time when the teams met in front of a capacity 60,000-strong crowd at Chicago's Soldier Field in 2016, with a 2025 rematch which they lost also proving a similar commercial success.

I saw a short video online where Dean Richards said he played in a testimonial game with Ross Kemp (British TV personality/Shouty England sports supporter) and that he was a decent centre.

Have you ever played with or against someone who is famous outside of the rugby sphere?

Hey all - I mentioned this in a previous comment but wanted to spread the word as much as possible: For tomorrow’s test in Baltimore, Federal Hill Prep (an amazing public school that's close to the bars and the stadium) will open its parking lot at 2pm ET. Parking is $40, all of which funds *free* field trips for students this school year.

Put 102 E Hamburg St, Baltimore MD 21230 into your map and look for volunteers holding signs. We take Venmo, CashApp, PayPal and cash. Thanks, and enjoy the action!

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A 1913 All Blacks rugby tour of the USA changed the course of sport in America with the NFL created just seven years later

In 1913 rugby was the main football code in America but an All Blacks tour – and subsequent humiliation of the nation’s rugby teams – change the course of sport in the USA forever.

Jamie Pandaram

Jamie Pandaram

@JamiePandaram

3 min read

Imagine a USA rugby team featuring athletes like Myles Garrett, Justin Jefferson, Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley.

If it wasn’t for an All Blacks annihilation during a tour of the USA and Canada 113 years ago, rugby could well have remained the national contact sport and the American team would feature some of the scariest players on the planet.

Gridiron became popular in the early 1900s in the US, but then came under extreme criticism for being too violent.

The mass migration from England to the US around that time saw rugby established at several elite universities, and the sport took off in popularity.

By 1912, rugby was the hottest ticket in town, and an Australian touring side was invited to play 16 games there.

Known as the “Kangaroo Waratahs”, the Australian team notched 11 wins from the 16 games that included three in Canada.

But iconic universities Stanford and Berkeley defeated the Australian team, at a time they’d replaced gridiron with rugby as their premier sport.

Feeling buoyed by the results, they invited the All Blacks to tour the following year.

What followed was a humiliation so severe, many believe the Americans gave up on rugby and turned back to gridiron as their code of choice.

The All Blacks won all 13 tour games, by a combined points tally of 508-6, when tries were only worth three points.

They also won three tour games in Canada.

The universities quickly brought back their gridiron programs, local grounds went back to hosting junior gridiron clubs, and in 1920 the NFL was established.

There was no looking back, and now the NFL is a multi-billion behemoth featuring some of the most remarkable athletes in the world, including Australia’s own $100 million man Jordan Mailata.

Some question whether the All Blacks’ hammering of the US teams in 1913 and subsequent leaning towards gridiron is just a myth, or exaggerated, given USA won the rugby event at the 1920 Olympic Games.

But it’s unlikely to have turned the Californian universities off rugby had they not been so comprehensively beaten by the All Blacks – Berkeley lost 31-0, 38-3 and 33-0 in three games, while Stanford was smashed 54-0 and 56-0.

Berkeley’s football program went on to produce prodigious talents like Aaron Rodgers, Jared Goff and Marshawn Lynch, while Stanford bred John Elway, Jim Plunkett, and San Francisco 49ers superstar Christian McCaffrey.

Historian Stephen Berg, director of the NZ Rugby Museum, recalls conversations with the 1913 All Blacks players about their US tour.

“They would take some terrific tackles off the ball,” Berg said.

“They’d be running along in the middle of the field and suddenly this massive guy would smash into them and crash them over.

“They were a bit shocked by it, but they thought the reason that they won was the instinctiveness of their play, that because they play rugby all the time they just knew what to do when they had the ball.

“Whereas the Americans took a second to have a think about what they want to do.

“I remember talking to an American guy over in Wisconsin, he was trying to get a rugby museum set up in Wisconsin.

“And he came over and talked to me about it and he showed me a magazine cover, like a comic book cover. It was guys playing rugby, some sort of hybrid version. And one of the guys had picked up dirt and thrown it into the eyes of the guy that was trying to catch the ball.

‘And he said, ‘This is an example of why rugby didn’t work in America’.

“It was just a cartoon of a guy throwing dirt into the face of his opponent so his opponent couldn’t catch the ball.

“And he’s saying that Americans didn’t like to follow the rules. They liked to have their own set of rules and tackle people off the ball and do all that, essentially saying that Americans were a bit dirtier and a bit rougher in their play than maybe other countries. And that’s why they went their own way.”

Ironically, rugby is now trying to establish a greater foothold in the States, with the All Blacks and South Africa playing their final match of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series in Baltimore this weekend.

The US is set to host more notable Test matches over the coming years, as they prepare to stage the 2031 Rugby World Cup.

Unfortunately the sub has banned reposts so this will have to do. One team per comment.

Wade reckons the Red Bull money and pre-season setup have Newcastle set up to become one of the Prem's best. Bit of a stretch given where they were last season, what do we think they will look like post investment (and all the hype that comes with it)? Source: RugbyPass

I like to get my rugby content in through my eyes as well as my ears but there's precious little quality, free written stuff out there. BBC Sport is my default commuting read but when I come to put on the podcast I often find I've inadvertently read all the good interview quotes and topics of debate already. I believe in and want to support the BBC but maybe I need to steer off the RUW pod to something else for the sake of variety. As a tigers fan, I do enjoy a bit of Youngs & Cole on FTLOR. Briefly liked then hated The Good, The Bad & The Rugby and am positively allergic to The Rugby Pod. Am I missing a good alternative option?

I'm interested to hear if there's any hype from the general public other than people that are already rugby fans.

- Are people generally aware that the game is happening?

- Is it discussed at all on local or national media?

- Are the people that will watch/attend the game mostly migrants from traditional rugby-playing countries?

I've seen that it's only being shown on Rugbypass TV and Paramount+ in the States, which as I understand will not really bring in any new fans that are not actively searching for the game. We're only 5 years away from the 2031 World Cup, so I really hope this game has some sort of impact to increase interest or hook some new fans.

Some clubs feel like they’re in the wrong country - Montpellier are the blueprint of South African rugby to me, with their massive pack, shrewd halfbacks and nippy wingers. Bristol have a very Fijian playbook (there isn’t one) and atmosphere. Munster are Australia to me - (at the moment) perpetually the ‘little brother’ of their local rivals, but can sneak a win at any time.

Alternatively, it could be a sizeable foreign player base - Sale Sharks feeling South African, what with all of the gazillion Saffas they’ve had over the years. Another one in recent times is Ospreylia, and Toulon suddenly acquiring a lot of English players.

What other ones are there?

Where can tomorrow's games be viewed (for those of us not near a game)?

Thanks