RUGBY ON TV

who have been in pro environments. Their standards are different to the guys who come from (amateur teams) who play rugby because they enjoy it.

“You can’t completely take away the fun side or ‘crushing beers’ midweek.

It’s about educating a young guy about what it’s like to be a pro and taking steps to get there. You can’t skip C to get to D.”

Turner’s team-mates nod sagely, particularly Kilifi, a Seattle native. He’s seen rugby flourish in the Northwest and is delighted to convey that his brother, a young amateur who never took the game too seriously, now talks excitedly with friends about what it would be like to make the Seawolves roster one day.

Chris Wyles says of recent and future Eagles success: “I would pin a huge ASKED ABOUT the big steps for the union long-term, Gary Gold makes clear: “They need to have a strategy in terms of what is going to happen at the bottom. We won’t get to see the seeds of that for another generation.”

According to Steve Lewis, the high-school game and college game are “booming”. So as anyone in a Tier One nation would ask, why are the colleges not pumping out global superstars?

“That question comes from a rugby person thinking, ‘Hey, we need to create more professional rugby players, more Eagles’,” says Paul Keeler, head coach of Santa Clara’s D1A men’s rugby team. He goes on: “If I was (men’s sevens coach) Jon Miller, President of Programming at NBC Sports

“We’re bullish on the sport of rugby. We’ve grown our rugby portfolio with the additions of the Rugby World Cup, Six Nations and Champions Cup in recent years. Our coverage of the

Rugby World Cup Sevens in

San Francisco delivered the most-watched live rugby telecast on record on NBC (nearly 9m viewers across the weekend).

“We’re thrilled by the excitement surrounding the sport and look forward to showcasing unprecedented live coverage of the Rugby World Cup in 2019.”