American Eagles players taking part in the Super Rugby Pacific and the United Rugby Championship against some of the best players in the world seems fanciful, given Major League Rugby’s constant loss of teams from their competition.
However, parachuting the MLR champions New England Free Jacks and the Chicago Hounds from the East Coast conference into the URC, which is set to lose two Welsh teams under the controversial Welsh Rugby Union shake-up, and the newly amalgamated California Legion taking part in Super Rugby, is being seriously discussed.
Former England No.8 Nick Easter, the US Eagles’ forwards and defence coach, is helping prepare the USA players for their Pacific Nations Cup clash with Canada in Calgary on the road to potential qualification for the Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2027, against this backdrop of a possible seismic shift in North American club rugby.
The URC last expanded in 2021 when four South African franchises joined the competition, which previously featured teams exclusively from Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Italy.
Easter, who juggles his Eagles commitments with his role as Chinnor’s director of rugby in the English Championship, told RugbyPass from Calgary:” It’s good that the URC has shown interest in trying to get a couple of teams into that league. For me, the best outcome for the URC would be the South African teams going back to join Super Rugby and create more of those fantastic games and not be a part of European rugby. Then keep the URC as Europe and the US teams because you need to grow the sport in North America, and that funding and exposure are needed over here.
“Of course, in terms of quality, the MLR is nowhere near the URC, and it may be that teams from the US would pull together their funds so they could get better players plus the top Eagles talent with the best coaches.
“The possibility I have been hearing over the last couple of weeks is that Super Rugby wants the California Legion, as they are on the Pacific Coast, and Chicago Hounds, having been approached, and probably the Free Jacks for the URC.
“What you have with those two Eastern teams is the Irish influence, and you will get Irish supporters flying in to Chicago and Boston for matches, along with ex-pats putting bums on seats. From the California side of things, there is a big Pacific Islands community that could be attracted to matches.”
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Easter insists that all the talk about the creation of three “super” teams to fulfil fixtures in Super Rugby and the URC will not negatively affect preparations for the crucial PNC games that will decide if the 2031 World Cup hosts can make it to Australia, having missed out on France 2023.
Another shake-up in the MLR would surprise no one involved in North American rugby; the constant upheavals have undermined its credibility. “There has never been any stability in the MLR since I have been involved with the USA in terms of the club scene,” said Easter.” This is my third year, and on average, there have been two clubs going under each season.
“When I flew in two weeks ago, the news was that San Diego Legion and Los Angeles were merging into the California Legion, NOLA had folded and also Miami, with the possibility of another team, which is not great. They are redoing the salary cap, which means there’s less money available. Some players here are affected, but they are fully focused on the job in hand.
“They are probably used to the merry-go-round of the MLR, which is sad because there is so much potential. The US players have the distraction and honour of representing their country in the PNC and qualifying for the World Cup which will keep their minds off things.
“A lot is riding on World Cup qualification for 2027 over the next month, and it was a big let-down not to qualify for France. It would be great to be able to say in a month’s time we have qualified for Australia and start planning for the World Cup. World Rugby and USA Rugby could then put out a big campaign linked to hosting the Cup in 2031.
“America has the football World Cup next year, then the Olympics, followed by the Rugby World Cup, and at the moment, it may not be on the radar of a lot of sports fans over here. The US women’s team is starting their World Cup against England this Friday and you need individual superstars like Ilona Maher.”
Eagles prop Tonga Kofe will join Leicester Tigers after the PNC and Easter believes the big man will cause real problems for Premiership opponents and could become a poster boy for the men’s game. Kofe played in the 40-5 loss to England in a match delayed by the threat of lightning in Washington.
He added: “I spoke to Geoff Parling (new Leicester head coach) around the game with England in July and he asked about Tonga who is a big man who can also move. We have had our eye on him all season in the MLR. He’s a former American Football player and this is his third season of rugby at the Utah Warriors.
“In the MLR, he is a destructive scrummager, and what stood out is his work around the park. He moves really well for a 143kg guy and offers something in attack and defence and can really tackle. He has been athletically conditioned from an early age and he will get a really good set piece education at Leicester. There is lot more to come from him.
“He will grow hugely and there is massive potential and he could be taking a few names this year. Our last two games against Spain and England were disrupted by the danger of lightning strikes, so hopefully the weather will be good in Calgary.”
After facing Canada, the Eagles head back to Sacramento for the PNC Pool B finale against Japan. The Pool stages will then lead to the US-hosted semi-final and final rounds in Denver and Salt Lake City on September 14 and 20.
The top three teams -outside of Fiji and Japan, who have already qualified – will qualify for the 2027 Rugby World Cup as Pacific 1, 2 and 3, with the sixth team heading to the play-offs.