Watson leaves the door open
Anthony Watson is backing the idea of a Six Nations match being played in the United States. The former England wing spoke today on the sidelines of the London City 7s, where he is an ambassador.
His view comes with one clear caveat. “If I was playing and it was an England home game, absolutely not. But as a spectator, as a fan of the sport, absolutely,” he said. Watson talks about the “greater good” when he turns to rugby’s growth.
He also has a warning. Shifting one fixture alone will not be enough. “I don’t think just playing one game in New York will do what the sport needs to do,” the former Bath and Leicester player said. He wants proper activation and serious local influence on the ground.
Try it for $0.99.
World Rugby has started the debate
The idea came from Alan Gilpin. The World Rugby chief executive opened the discussion a week ago, ahead of the series final between the Springboks and the All Blacks. He even floated financial incentives for unions willing to get involved.
His case is built on Baltimore. South Africa played New Zealand there in front of a packed stadium. “In terms of the economics of the match, it’s like a Six Nations fixture,” Gilpin told the Telegraph. “It starts to show that that’s not the barrier.”
Gilpin points to one specific fixture: Ireland against Italy, in New York or Chicago. The numbers are there. 2.3 million New Yorkers claim Italian heritage, while Irish Americans make up 5.3% of the city’s population. Chicago has around 570,000 residents of Italian descent and 450,000 of Irish descent.
A precedent, and a roadblock
The two sides have already met in the Windy City. That was in 2018, when Ireland won 54-7. But that was a November Test, not a Six Nations match. Wales, meanwhile, moved home games to Wembley in 1998 and 1999 while the Millennium Stadium was being built.
World Rugby wants to push the sport across the Atlantic before the men’s World Cup in 2031 and the women’s edition in 2033. The Irish union is not keen. “We believe the Six Nations holds a special place for supporters of all the unions involved,” an IRFU spokesperson said.
Discover more rugby news on our mathodds site and app!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply