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Definitely looks like a saving face move so that he doesn't have to officially be cut from the NFL. But he was the best rugby league player in the world before he left. He's certainly got the skills for sevens. And he's got enough time to improve his fitness. I doubt he'll make the team but he...

Good post Highlander. I agree that in the long term Asia is a potential commercial rugby powerhouse, and this is where the ARU and SANZAAR have to hitch their wagon. We can't compete with Europe on our own, we need to generate larger and larger global revenues. For that Super Rugby and the Rugby...

I think a big reason is lack of control. In the NFL or the EPL for example, or even French rugby, the team owners in the league have so much power. The leagues are separate from the sporting governing bodies and they make decisions for the benefit of the league and the teams. On the other hand...

Argentina have added Moroni and Cordero to their squad, while Fiji have added a few French based 15's players to theirs - Nakarawa, Nayacalevu, Tuisova and Viriviri. Kunatani (who is now with Toulouse but has played several tournaments this season already) returns as well. Fiji at full...

So what sort of crowds did they get in the 2nd week?

I don't rate Hernandez as a 10, he's a much better 12. Certainly his kicking today was poor. Pisi on the other hand was excellent for the Sunwolves.

What a finish! Great first win for the Sunwolves! Amazing turnaround from last week.

Well that's very achievable. Interesting that the Ohio team has the most followers on facebook so far given it seemed to be the location that surprised people. Wonder if they'll get the biggest crowds too.

Saw the last 20 minutes or so. Was pretty entertaining and the crowd was really into it. Seems like a pretty good foundation for growing support in Sacramento at least. I wonder what sort of crowds the league needs to cover costs. Or at least please the owner enough to keep going.

What a great result. Kenya are inconsistent but are one of the few teams that can match Fiji for size and athleticism and they really dominated physically in that final. The Kenyan President even tweeted that he will host the team upon their return home!

I don't think instant success is important. I'm just doubtful that they'll have long term success. But I hope they do! It'd be great if rugby could gain a foothold in China. Plus I think the more popular rugby gets in Asia the better it will be for Australian rugby long term.

We'll see, they're starting from a nearly non-existant base. China has invested a lot of time and money trying to get good at soccer and have had little success.

Good pool for us. Should definitely top it.

I think a big factor is the number of rounds before the NRL starts. This year there was only 1. I think that skews the figures a fair bit. Super Rugby had a strong run when the Reds were doing well and playing spectacular rugby. That was the last time a team really captured significant...

It's too bad South America is struggling so much economically at the moment - especially Brazil. That could be the biggest barrier to professionalism, and expansion of Super Rugby there in the short-medium term.

So that 17 number doesn't include the semi-pros? Initial reports were that they'd planned to sign something like 10 players to central contracts, but if it's 17 now that's great! They also have a handful of guys in Europe so that's shaping up to be a decent base of professional players for them...

Yeah, the scope of it is significant. Uruguay are doing something similar but they've only professionalised something like 10-12 players. HK may also now be able to poach some good young players from elsewhere.

Hong Kong are professionalising their 15's team (the 7's team is already professional): http://www.scmp.com/sport/rugby/fifteens/article/1928204/hong-kongs-rugby-xvs-team-going-pro-under-new-initiative Will be interesting to see how much they improve as a result. Could be a dark horse to make...

Great game. Last two tries of the match were brilliant. Jaguars don't need to play quite as loose as they do - handling errors in their own half cost them. But geez, at some point they'll have a game where everything sticks and they'll destroy someone.

I've heard of him before as a guy American rugby fans hoped would come back to the sport when his NFL career was over. But he's been in the NFL for a while now and just signed a new 2 year contract. So for him to be able to do this is great, and whether he makes it or not it'll be good publicity.