RethinkUSARugby

🏉 Rethink USA Rugby — A Voice for Reform, Alignment, and High-Performance Thinking in American Rugby

About the Platform

Rethink USA Rugby is an independent editorial and analysis platform dedicated to advancing the future of American rugby through honest conversation, data-driven insight, and bold ideas for change.

Founded with one mission — to challenge complacency and champion progress — Rethink USA Rugby publishes long-form opinion pieces, strategic analyses, and thought leadership on the structures shaping the sport in the United States.

Each article in the “Rethink Rugby” series aims to tackle a core issue holding the game back in the USA:

Rethink the Pathways: Why Rugby IQ Matters as Much as Athleticism
Rethink Coaching Stability: Why USA Rugby Can’t Keep Its Coaches — and What Needs to Change.
Rethink The College System: How Fragmentation Is Failing American Players — and the USA Eagles.
Rethink the U23s and Falcons: Time to Eliminate This Unnecessary Step in the USA Rugby Pathway
Rethink Rugby Regions: Building Smarter USA Rugby Regions Through Alignment, Competition, and Coaching
Rethink MLR and WER: Building a Sustainable Future for 15s Rugby in America
Rethink Rugby in Schools: Building the Pipeline Before the Paycheck
Rethink 7s, 10s and 15s: One Game, Too Many Versions — or USA Rugby’s Hidden Advantage?

From high-performance frameworks and player pipelines to coaching education, governance reform, and international benchmarking, Rethink USA Rugby explores what it will take for the U.S. to become a consistent global rugby nation.

“Rethink USA Rugby isn’t about criticism — it’s about clarity. If American rugby is serious about success, it needs vision, alignment, and a willingness to evolve.”

Rethink USA Rugby is not a federation. It’s a forum — a platform for coaches, players, parents, and fans who believe that the U.S. can and must do better. Read. Discuss. Share. Challenge. Because if we truly want to grow the game — we have to Rethink it first.

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Rethinking the USA Rugby Pathways: Why Rugby IQ Matters as Much as Athleticism

The USA doesn’t lack athletes — it lacks a system that rewards rugby intelligence. Until selection values decision-making as much as deadlifts, we’ll keep producing strong players who can’t close out tight games.

Link to article

Rethinking Coaching Stability: Why USA Rugby Can’t Keep Its Coaches — and What Needs to Change

Another season, another resignation. In the last few years, both USA national programs — men’s and women’s — have seen a revolving door of head coaches, assistants, and performance directors. Contracts expire early, new staff arrive with lofty goals, and within 18 months the cycle repeats.It’s become one of American rugby’s most damaging patterns — a leadership vacuum that resets every two years.

Link to article

Rethink The College System: How Fragmentation Is Failing American Players — and the USA Eagles

Four governing bodies. Four “national champions.” One broken system. College rugby should be the heartbeat of American player development — instead, it’s splintered across rival leagues, disconnected schedules, and competing agendas.

Every spring and fall, a new “national champion” is crowned… but the Eagles still struggle to find the next generation of test-ready players. When everyone’s winning, no one really is.

Link to article Link to Podcast

Rethink the U23s and Falcons: Time to Eliminate This Unnecessary Step in the USA Rugby Pathway

Do the USA U23 and Falcons programs truly develop players — or are they blocking progress?

No other major rugby nation runs this many overlapping “national” teams. New Zealand, Ireland, England, France, and Australia all move players directly from U20 to professional systems. Meanwhile, the U.S. keeps adding more jerseys, more layers, and more confusion. It’s time to simplify the pathway — not expand it. Link to article

"The best development isn’t found in another team: it’s found in alignment."

Link to article

Rethink Rugby Regions: Building Smarter USA Rugby Regions Through Alignment, Competition, and Coaching

USA Rugby has made massive progress — but our regional system still leaks talent. Each region operates like an island, with different calendars, coaching standards, and competition levels. The result? Inconsistency, duplication, and missed opportunities for both the men’s and women’s game.

It’s time to rethink how our regions are structured — not just managed. What if we built Regional Performance Hubs that aligned coaching, competition, and data across the country? That’s how the world’s top unions — Ireland, England, France, New Zealand, and Australia — sustain elite performance. Alignment. Competition. Coaching.

“Structure shapes success. If the foundation isn’t aligned, the regions will always leak talent." Link to article

Rethink MLR and WER: Building a Sustainable Future for 15s Rugby in America

One brand. One fanbase. Two leagues. That’s the formula.

AAs the U.S. prepares to host the 2031 and 2033 Rugby World Cups, it’s time to ask a hard question: Can professional 15s rugby in America survive — or even thrive — without structural alignment?

There are many challenges and opportunities facing Major League Rugby (MLR) and Women’s Elite Rugby (WER) and we will consider the following topics: Why MLR’s contraction to six teams signals a deeper governance issue, How WER’s athlete-first vision can still succeed — with better alignment, What we can learn from global systems in Ireland, France, New Zealand, Australia, and beyond, and how a five-region model (East, Central, South, West, Pacific) could unify the professional game across genders.

America doesn’t need more leagues. It needs one system — built to last. Because athleticism alone won’t grow U.S. rugby. Alignment will.

Link to article

Rethink Rugby in Schools: Building the Pipeline Before the Paycheck

“If rugby wants to grow in America, it must start not in the pros — but in the playgrounds, gym floors, and schoolyards.” We talk a lot about pro leagues, World Cups, and high-performance pathways… But the real question is: how many kids are actually learning rugby in school?

This Rethink Rugby piece looks at how USA Youth & High School Rugby (YHS) is trying to change that — and what still needs to happen: YHS + US Rugby Foundation seeding new high school programs, Rookie Rugby, flag, 7s, and 15s making the game more accessible and A Virtual Academy and U15–U18 pathway starting to connect the dots

But we still face big challenges: Rugby rarely recognized as a true school sport, Volunteer-dependent programs that vanish when one person burns out, Little structured recruitment from football, soccer, lacrosse, basketball A real threat to girls’ rugby from NFL-backed flag football and No clear, unified map from youth → college → pro

If we want a “Rugby America” in 2031 and 2033, we can’t wait for the pros. We have to build it in schools.

Link to article

Rethink 7s, 10s and 15s: One Game, Too Many Versions — or USA Rugby’s Hidden Advantage?
The U.S. operates four different rugby identities: Touch. 7s. 10s. 15s. Each powerful. Each growing. Each disconnected. The future of American rugby won’t be decided by choosing one format… but by integrating all four into a single, intentional development system.

Touch grows participation, 7s captures Olympic attention,10s develops skills faster than any format and 15s defines whether we belong on the world stage.

The hidden advantage? If aligned correctly, these formats can build the most dynamic, athlete-rich pipeline in global rugby. If left fragmented, they will continue to dilute America’s potential.

One pathway. One plan. One identity. That’s the rethink USA Rugby needs.

Link to article

Coming Soon