U.S. rugby sevens team preps for Las Vegas ahead of World Cup

The U.S. national rugby team is on a mission — well, several missions, actually.

There are the goals that have the team building toward this summer’s World Cup in San Francisco and beyond to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Much more short term, the team seeks to win its first tournament since late 2015 at the USA Sevens Rugby Tournament that will take place Friday to Sunday at Sam Boyd Stadium.

The long-term mission, though, is to grow the sport across the country.

“This sport ticks all the boxes,” U.S. coach Mike Friday said. “We need to educate the American sporting public. It’s a game that will capture your imagination.”

Friday points to many of rugby’s characteristics that mirror what the biggest sports in America possess. The game has speed and strength, footwork, pace and aerial components.

“Rugby is the team sport that can be a complement with those other super sports in the United States,” Friday said. “For athletes here, if you’re not going to be in the NFL, the NBA, then you want to be an Olympian. This is the sport that can be that.”

Rugby made its Olympic debut in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. The U.S. team was there, having turned what most figured was about a 10 percent chance of qualifying for those Olympics into actually accomplishing it.

“In just a few short years, we’ve gone from relegation material to being contenders in every world event that we are a part of,” Friday said.

The U.S. team has done so by melding talents from all over and from many fields of athletics.

Players such as Perry Baker and Nate Ebner have NFL experience. Captain Madison Hughes grew up playing rugby in England and has dual citizenship.

Hughes joined the U.S. team in 2012, playing for the second squad Falcons. He debuted with the national team in February 2014.

Like his coach, Hughes understands the advantage that can be attained by bringing in diverse talents.

“Everyone brings different skills from other sports,” he said.

Said Friday: “The reality is, more importantly, to be harnessing the inherent athletic ability the U.S. possesses. But brawn without brains doesn’t get you very far. We have been teaching how to play the game.”

The results have spoken for themselves. From being 13th in the world a few years ago, the U.S. has been sixth, sixth and fifth the past three years.

That measure of consistency has yet to translate into tournament victories. The U.S. has won just once in the past several years and finished second in a tournament in Singapore a year ago.

They hope to change that in Las Vegas, normally the only U.S. tournament the team plays over a 10-tourney season each year. The World Cup in July will change that.

“The one thing we know about Americans — they love to win,” Friday said. “There’s a real opportunity for the USA to capture it, to latch onto what this story can be. (Rugby) is exactly what you want in the Olympics. It’s a gladiator, coliseum sport.”