Coming soon to a continent near you: World Cup Rugby.
Provided that is, that you are near North America and that 2025 is soon to your perspective.
By our reckoning, that is seven years in our view, but to our dog, it will seem like only one year…no wait, we have that reversed. To our dog, it will seem like 49 years, but the fact remains that 2025 Rugby League World Cup will be played in a part of the world where most of the populace believes that rugby is a drinking game.
Seven years is long enough for the Kiwis to forget their travails after traveling to Denver, only to be beaten by the Brits 36 – 18 in Denver.
Twenty thousand turned out to see what all the fuss was about, although that figure seems to be suffering a case of gradual escalation and includes score of free tickets that were handed out to get bums in the seats of a facility that can hold 76,000.
The rugby forces that salivate over the prospect of professional rugby in the U.S. hope to continue the Denver Test series for another two years. A Test in Chicago last year between the All Blacks and the Irish was well received.
Dating back to the inaugural World Cup in 1954, the tournament has been won by either Australia, New Zealand or England. Australia have won eight of the last nine.
If the game takes hold their, Toulon is going to need a larger cheque book, as the money and the language will be much more attractive to New Zealanders who think they should be well-paid for their rugby skills.
Some of the matches in 2025 will be held in Canada. As for those that will be played in the U.S., possible venue conflicts could arise, as the stadiums proposed for World Cup typically host NFL teams and games are ongoing for that league, as well as Major League Soccer.
There are people who work that scheduling slight-of-hand all the time, performing organizational feats that make the task of deciding which side has Optus Stadium and the Adelaide Oval seem mundane by comparison.
