James Patterson: Former Rugby Union player and Kansas City Blues coach ahead of the All Blacks v Fiji in San Diego

The All Blacks are set to play their next match at a bit of an unexpected location.  

San Diego is set to get a taste of Tier 1 international rugby with this weekend’s match between Fiji and the All Blacks. 

Normally a home fixture would be played in New Zealand, but NZR CEO Mark Robinson has been upfront about the commercial opportunities provided by taking the game stateside. 

Former NZ Rugby Union player and Kansas City Blues Coach James Patterson told Mike Hosking that in the States, the love of rugby is more regional. 

He said that anyone who loves the game knows it's on, but with the high volume of sports America has on offer, rugby falls pretty far down the list.   

Patterson said there’s a shift happening with the introduction of professional rugby, and people seeing that there is a career in the sport. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Rugby rugby. Let's get back to the rugby. Let's talk
more about the rugby American soil this week in all
blacks feet g of course. Now, James Patterson, former Crusader,
former Highlander, played for the US at the Rugby World
Cup back in twenty eleven, currently coaches the Kansas City Blues.
He is with US James, very good morning to you,
Morning to you. What's your sense of the vibe? There
is this sort of taken America by storm? Or is

(00:22):
this something that most people would never clues on.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
I would say it'd be regional. You know, anybody that
loves rugby is obviously knowing it's happening here. But obviously
America the machine ities were sports, it falls pretty far
down the list. In fact, I think the most rugby
coverage I think we get in the States now is
lest Reese's Amets transitioning to the NFL and playing for

(00:46):
Kansas City. So that kind of gives you a state
of where rugged is out in the States.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
What is the state? So your Kansas City Blues if
they played let's pick aside the Crusaders superside, how would
they go?

Speaker 2 (01:00):
I mean, they would struggle against club teams, you know,
probably a Division two club team in christ which I think,
like if you look at where rugby is in the States,
I think it's on the right trajectory. So we've had
a couple of cracks that having a professional league here.
It was prob rugby in the past, and now we're
into our fifth year of Major League rugby, and I
think there's been a big shift in the game here

(01:20):
in terms of what's going because I think if you
look at it from a player standpoint, the big shift
is it's actually a serious sport. From a player registered number,
I think what America's got one hundred and twenty thousand
players and New Zealand's got one hundred and fifty thousand players.
But back in the day, the one hundred and twenty
thousand players were all your social players that played it
to drink. And now I think it's changed dramatically with

(01:41):
the introduction of professional rugby and people seeing there's a
career in the sport and there's a high profile around rugby.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
So you would argue the All Blacks playing Fiji in
San Diego is part of the puzzle. It's a good thing,
it's a positive thing, and things are headed broadly speaking
in the right direction.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
Yeah, absolutely. I mean anytime you bring the All Blacks, yeah,
I think I can remember back to them Neil Blacks
played Chicago at Soldier Field and sold them out. You know,
it's the biggest brand in world rugby, and I think
it transcends to rugby, to be honest. I think it's
a global sports brand, and anytime they come to the States,
they generate a lot of interest. And I think a
lot of the interest in world rugby and USA rugby

(02:17):
is to get them here, and it's to pull in
the peripheral fans. You know, for America to be successful
in rugby, it's not your foreigners living in the States,
the American, the average American looking at the sport and
loving it.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
Would you pay three hundred bucks for a ticket?

Speaker 2 (02:36):
I mean I would. And if you compare it against
most sports, if you discard baseball that's got three hundred
games a year, it's very I mean going to sports here,
there's a big entertainment fact around it. So I think,
you know, I think Snapdragon Stadium is an awesome venue.
It's great, thirty five thousand fans can get there. It's
well supported in California, good weather, and I mean it's

(02:58):
going to be an open, flowing game. I'd anticipate there's
a pretty good turnout. To three hundred bucks is and
out of the realm of what's average for American sports.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
Great insight James Gowell this week. I appreciate it verty much.
James Patterson, New Zealander, obviously, But to coach these days
with the Kansas City Blues, I mean, I don't know
what I'm talking about. I paid nine hundred dollars to
go see Steven Eddams playing Los Angeles, and then I
thought it was expensive at the time. Mind you, I thought,
you know, ROAs lamb last weekend for two people at
one hundred bucks was expensive. So what do I know.
By the way, just to finish off the all Black story,

(03:29):
which I feel now has gone on far too long,
is we were offered and we turned down. We were
offered because they'll come back and go. We offered you
a player. We were offered a backup prop, a backup prop,
and only on Tuesday morning. So how I could interview
a backup prop on a Tuesday morning for a game
that's on Saturday. I've got no idea. So we said no.

(03:50):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
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