The Rugby Outsider

Rugby's newest team in the SuperRugby tournament in 2011 are the Rebels , representing the Australian state of Victoria, and more specifically, the city of Melbourne. The three nations making up SupeRugby's 15 teams (South Africa, New Zealand and Australia) now have five teams each in the competition. Australia's Rugby Union teams in the SupeRugby competition are in a different position than their counterparts in South Africa and New Zealand. Australia does not have a domestic professional championship like South Africa's Currie Cup and New Zealand's ITM Cup . The alternate code of Rugby League is the more popular version of Rugby in Oz. The Rebels are led by former Wallaby captain Sterling Mortlock . And, judging by their first result, a 43-0 loss to the Waratahs , it may be a long SupeRugby season for the newbies from Melbourne. The coach of the Rebels is Rod Macqueen , a former Wallaby coach who led Australia to the Rugby World Cup title in 1999.

Direc TV has stepped it up here in the United States and is offering SupeRugby games for free for current subscribers and starting in February. The games continue today on channel 490. The satellite provider also has coverage of the 6 Nations Tournament on BBC America (Channel 264). Rugby needs television coverage if the USA is to see what a great game it is. I would never be able to see the matches on my local cable provider.

South Africa's SuperSport describes the changes in the Super 15 Tournament which changes its name to SupeRugby this season. With one more team, and an empahsis on domestic matches , look for some intersting developments in the Rugby Union World's premiere club competition.

Just one look is all it took. I had never watched a Rugby Sevens game until today's NBC Broadcast of the HSBC Las Vegas Sevens Tournament . The Sevens game will likely be the preferred method of bringing Rugby to the American masses, and I'll tell you why: Sevens is played wide-open as opposed to the many pitched defensive battles that characterize the XV Union code. With the emphasis on speed and passing without prolonged stoppages for rucks and mauls, Sevens is much easier to follow on TV for novices like myself. With Rugby Sevens coming to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and the USA the "defending" Olympic Champion from back in 1924, Sevens will be on TV in 2016. Two seven minute halves mean that several games can be condensed into hour or two hour blocs of broadcast time. It's an hour into NBC's coverage as I write, and this will be the third game I will have watched. Players are lean and quick--almost like a team of XV backs, and positions 1-8 are...