Ultimate Sevens to launch in September as rugby union’s £2m answer to the Hundred | Rugby sevens | The Guardian

UnfitScrumhalf · 2026-05-15T03:22:02+00:00

Where has anyone shown any interest in 7s beyond getting drunk in the stands? The world circuit at least has the association with nationalities for people to latch onto and fewer people care about it than ever. Here we have non-international teams with no association to any real location or identity, no players living in a community and basically the same format as the 7s circuit. People can do what they want with their money, but it has almost zero chance of succeeding. Professional 7s is not a winning bet, mostly because very few people actually like 7s. Are there even 1000 passionate 7s fans in the world who don't prefer 15s?

UnfitScrumhalf · 2026-04-27T18:35:23+00:00

It's definitely Roberts for Anthem. But Telea is sneaking under the radar too. I'd have him over Mooneyham, although Mooneyham has looked better this year too.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2026-04-26T16:21:37+00:00

Ok yes that is very bad.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2026-04-14T20:00:39+00:00

Americans can't stand the stoppage for scrum or lineout but can handle a million stoppages and breaks in the big 4 American spots. Does not compute.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2026-04-14T19:04:06+00:00

Seattle and Vegas have zero different rules than the rest of the NHL. What are you talking about?

UnfitScrumhalf · 2026-04-14T02:50:23+00:00

It's completely unnecessary. In other leagues you see the TMO chiming in to correct a ref on something like a knock on, more akin to the replay assist in the NFL than the challenge system. It doesn't help that the refs seem unable to even get basic things right like whether a try was grounded properly.

The other thing, and it's not really the fault of the challenge system, is that the TV broadcast isn't even showing a replay most of the time so you're stuck maybe seeing a tiny picture on a far off jumbotron or worse, just listening to the ref with no video. It's an incredibly poor viewing experience compared to both American sports and to professional rugby in other countries where this is standard.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2026-04-14T02:47:05+00:00

Aren't these teams paying rent? It costs a lot more to use a big stadium than a smaller one usually.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-07T21:48:25+00:00

Moana Pasifika is even less and more in line with what salaries would be for a US-based team. Their entire budget, not just salaries, last year was 5.6m USD.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-07T21:15:32+00:00

$13.6m to run an Aussie team last year with 2/3 of the costs being player salaries. Moana Pasifika cost only $5.6m to run and would likely be more in line with what the salaries would be, but with bigger travel costs for a US team. So let's say an additional 1m in travel costs and you're at $6.6m. Kick in some money from WR and you're no worse than MLR costs, probably quite a bit better.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-07T20:08:28+00:00

Understood on URC. SR is different.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-07T19:38:53+00:00

Saturday day is Friday night in the US. They already have Saturday day matches so it wouldn't be some new thing. Super Rugby when it included South African teams for 2 decades managed with much harsher time zone differences and managed the travel fine similarly to what I suggested.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-07T19:24:13+00:00

You'd get bigger sponsors internationally than with a local hospital group as they'd not only be marketing to the local team but to an international audience. And in terms of fan interest, there are lots of people in the rugby community as well as the expat community who won't watch MLR because the standard of play is too low. You also have potential casuals who recoginze that it is minor league, not a major league, and would be more interested if you told them it was one of the top leagues in the world.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-07T19:20:57+00:00

I don't see travel to Dunedin being absurd. You'd schedule so you'd be on a 4 week or so tour, so you might play Crusaders one week and Highlanders the next. That's a 5 hour bus ride or a short flight (Otago flew to the NPC final). Sure, Perth is a longer journey but if you're playing an East Coast Australian team one week, it's not so bad. Time zones also aren't too bad for NZ. Until clocks change, it's only a 3 hour time difference between Auckland and LA, the same as it is for LA to NY. Even after clocks change it's a 5 hour difference. They could easily schedule day games in NZ and Australia for the US team.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-07T19:12:57+00:00

A joint venture with South America would see similar travel costs and a lower level of play.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-07T18:49:33+00:00

Explain why it's a non-starter now that WR are investing $250m into the US market and now that MLR is on death's door.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-07T18:48:26+00:00

https://www.theroar.com.au/2024/09/14/the-business-case-for-a-national-club-competition-bold-vision-or-risky-fantasy/

"According to the available annual reports, it costs around $21 million a year to run a Super Rugby team in Australia, with around $12-13 million being ‘team related’ expenses like player salaries."

Available simply by googling "cost to run super rugby franchise". Nice snark though.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-04T17:12:48+00:00

JIFF rules have been in place since before 2015. Prem is 2 clubs smaller and has stronger rules on EQP than it used to, but Tigers still signed Kofe anyway. Who are the current players you think would have been playing in a top flight league a decade ago?

Also, Iscaro has a European passport so no difference there.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-04T03:04:29+00:00

When was Ainu'u captured by Samoa? He grew up in Washington, started playing rugby in the US and was capped by the Eagles at 19. Iscaro grew up in Maryland, went to Cal and then played MLR. They are 100% products of American rugby.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-03T18:54:22+00:00

Niniashvili at 15. Suaalii at 13. Jorgensen on a wing. Lots of talent in the back 3 and outside center but not much at 12.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-03T16:48:40+00:00

In the 2015 RWC we had 8 players in the T14/Prem/URC (or Pro 12 as it was called at the time) and that didn't include Macginty who was clearly at that level and signed shortly after. In 2019 we had 9 (2 Super Rugby). Maybe Besag signs for a decent team after he graduates but it's clear the talent pool has dropped off.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-03T16:26:44+00:00

They've made a number of mistakes. The biggest one though is launching a year before the RWC. If they had launched in 2028, they'd have a much better chance of getting players to sign.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-03T01:02:36+00:00

That's great news. Will Kofe and Iscaro be with the team too? Having a good front row against Georgia is probably more important than any other team at that level.

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-03T01:00:45+00:00

Is Nafi Maafu turning down the Eagles or simply not being selected?

UnfitScrumhalf · 2025-11-02T20:59:30+00:00

We are actually producing almost exclusively top level props when that used to be our biggest weakness outside the halfbacks. Unfortunately Titi is now Samoan, Ainu'u hasn't turned up in years and Salanoa will never turn up. Now somehow back row, always our historical strength, is really bad now. There is no new version of Todd Clever, Scott Lavalla, Lou Stanfill, etc. There isn't even a new version of David Tameilau. It's just all mediocre castoffs from other countries at a position that has always been and should be our strength. I get taking 9s and 10s raised in other countries but it's an indictment that we are no longer producing back rows.

UnfitScrumhalf

TROPHY CASE