July 18, 2024 • 7 mins
Catching up with Former Highlander and USA Eagle winger James Patterson to get the feeling on the ground in San Diego. Do the Yanks care that the All Blacks are in town?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
International rugby coverage on the country.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Sport Breakfast is proudly brought to you by Access Solutions,
elevating you and your business to a higher level.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Getting to the West Coast, now state side of the USA,
where the All Blacks and Fiji go at each other
from two point thirty tomorrow afternoon. That's kickoff time out
of San Diego. Joining us on the show this morning,
former Highlander, Cantabrian and Southlander and USA Eagle James Patterson.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Morning, James, Morning.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Not bad? Mate? Gee? You've done it all. You've had
a busy, a very busy rugby career.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah. I was fortunate to play on both sides of
the past effect, I guess, so. Yeah, it's been great
watching the game grow on both countries, especially in the States.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
All right, well, let's talk about the big game in
town and San Diego, the All Blacks and Fiji tomorrow
afternoon New Zealand time, which will be Friday.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Night in San Diego.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Is this a big sports story in the US or
on the West Coast or does it not even register?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
You know, it depends where you are. I think there's
been certain things in the States in the last few years,
they've kind of brought rugby to awareness, and believe it
or not, one of the things here recently, even in
a place where I live in Kansas City now and
you look at the Welshmen playing for the Chiefs and
now rugby's kind of thrown out there a bit, and
knowing that we've got a World Cup coming down the horizon,
there's kind of more and more communication on the side
(01:25):
about the game. And I think that reflects and the
fact that how majorly rugby's growing over the last five years.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Do the fans show up or is it still a
hard market to crack with, you know, with your football
and everything else, you know, I.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Think it's one of those things. I think like the
national awareness of the sport will probably mirror what happened
to soccer in the States after the World Cup. But
it's surprising you think about the size of the market
over here and you look at what you actually need
to crack into to fill out a stadium. I mean,
there's been majorly rugby games over the past that have
got eleven, twelve, thirteen thousand fans out there, and that's
(02:02):
probably not dissimilar. In fact, there's probably a good crowd
for regional or you know rugby in New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah, yeah, so major league rugby this week, I think
over the next weekend or tour this weekend, heading into
the quarter finals this weekend, and there are plenty of
key wes involved.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
So what's the state of.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Competition, like, I mean, is it is it closer to
n PC in New Zealand or maybe Super rugby?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
You know, I think it's I think from where it's
started to where it is now. So the beginning of
the game, I think this is the big indicator where
rugby is going. In the States, it was heavily leveraged
around foreign players coming in and playing, and now you're
starting to see those fine players kind of drop out
under the salary cap and more domestic growth here. And
(02:48):
you would have thought there'd be a big slip, but
in the last two years that the level of rugby
is obviously increased. We know US is big and physicality,
but you know, you can just look at the scorelines
at the beginning were you know, there were games that
look like cricket schools and now you've got type matches,
physical matches and things are you know, the level of
the game is definitely improving year to.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Year and having I mean, there are a lot of
keywis over there involved in either coaching or playing, oun't there.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Yeah, there are, there's a lot. I mean, you can
go through any team, and you know the ones that
came here originally and got involved, they've stuck around and
they really liked the opportunity to live in the States,
and I think, you know, everybody feels like they're empowered
to help the state of the game here. And you know,
it's interesting you coach you coach in New Zealand versus
your coach here. They're very receptive. It's kind of like
(03:37):
a blank slate and they're willing to learn. And you
can see that with the growth of the players themselves.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Catch you up the James Patterson out of the US
you personally, James, talk us through your rugby career from
from high school and Christ Church to representing the US
at the twenty eleven World Cup.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
But you've done it all, haven't you.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yeah. It's fortunate a bit at both obviously, coming out
of Christ Church and Boys High. And you know, it's
funny now you talk about links the USA rugby and
Boys High. There's been a number of players I played
with the Boys High that are over here. Obviously Steve Brett,
he's with the LA team coaching. You had Pete Bulays
over here who was in Cantabrin as well, who coached
the Colorado sidem was Bob with USA rugby. So it's
(04:20):
funny how you see the familiar face as you grow
up in christ and you come across the States. I
don't know what thirteen years later after playing and everybody's
over here as well.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
And what was it like playing for the Eagles.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
It was great, you know. I was fortunate to play
for the Eagles. I played in the twenty eleven World
Cup in New Zealand, So I think if I was
going to play for if I was going to play
for the Eagles, it meant something extra being able to
play down in New Zealand. And I've got fond memories
of it, especially that game on September eleventh down against Russia,
the coldbol Classic back in New Zealand. That was it
(04:53):
was definitely a memorable experience for me.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
See I bet it was indeed.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
So let's look at tomorrow's test and Fiji. How do
you see that one going?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
You know, it's interesting you see that. You know, the
All Blacks obviously under a new managed group Mint group.
Now have you see some of the freedom and perhaps
a little bit of a change in the culture. They're
blooding a lot of a lot of new players into
this test match. I think there's sex of them. Now,
you know, the conditions are going to be perfect, and
when conditions are perfect, we've seen what Fiji's been able
to do over the last five years, climbing up in
(05:27):
the world rankings, the tenth there's a lot of super
rugby representation, top fourteen representation, so you know, the Fijians
like a good open game plan, so it'll be interesting
to see how it plays out.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Have you been following the first two tests with the
All Blacks against England from over there?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah, of course I get up in the morning and
watch them. So yet no they I mean they were
two close test matches, but to come out on top,
there's plenty to build on and it'll be interesting to see,
you know, a few new faces coming to the side
and obviously a few of the stool that's coming back
into the side this weekend. It'll be interesting to see
where they bring it.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
The USA is actually hosting.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
As you mentioned the twenty thirty one Rugby World Cup.
I mean, is seven years enough time to get the
fans into it.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I think it is. And you know why I say that,
They've got a directive here. So there's been three big
things that have happened in the States and improve obviously MLA.
You've got to have a professional competition to develop fans
and develop local people that like the game. So that
was step one. Step two was World Rugby's collaboration with
USA Rugby and putting in what's called anthem Rugby Clubs.
It's basically a professional team with young players from the States,
(06:38):
so it gives them a route to come in and play.
And the third thing is the initiative. They want to
have a million players youth players, which is crazy to
think about from player participation standpoint, but a million youth
players by twenty thirty one. You take a million youth
players and their mates and everybody else around them, and
that builds quite a fan base. And I'm sure it'll
be a well traveled World Cup. And I certainly know
(07:00):
even in Kansas City, which is probably the furthest away
from kind of the rugby hubs with expats. It's still
a talking point here in terms of how they're going
to position and try and buy to have even a
quarter a semi final here in Kansas City at the stadium.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
James, fantastic to chat with you. Enjoy the rugby tomorrow.
Thank you so much for your time. We'll do thanks mate,
James Patterson joining us out of Kansas City
International rugby coverage on the country.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Sport Breakfast is proudly brought to you by Access Solutions,
elevating you and your business to a higher level.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Getting to the West Coast, now state side of the USA,
where the All Blacks and Fiji go at each other
from two point thirty tomorrow afternoon. That's kickoff time out
of San Diego. Joining us on the show this morning,
former Highlander, Cantabrian and Southlander and USA Eagle James Patterson.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Morning, James, Morning.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
How are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Not bad? Mate? Gee? You've done it all. You've had
a busy, a very busy rugby career.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Yeah. I was fortunate to play on both sides of
the past effect, I guess, so. Yeah, it's been great
watching the game grow on both countries, especially in the States.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
All right, well, let's talk about the big game in
town and San Diego, the All Blacks and Fiji tomorrow
afternoon New Zealand time, which will be Friday.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Night in San Diego.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Is this a big sports story in the US or
on the West Coast or does it not even register?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
You know, it depends where you are. I think there's
been certain things in the States in the last few years,
they've kind of brought rugby to awareness, and believe it
or not, one of the things here recently, even in
a place where I live in Kansas City now and
you look at the Welshmen playing for the Chiefs and
now rugby's kind of thrown out there a bit, and
knowing that we've got a World Cup coming down the horizon,
there's kind of more and more communication on the side
(01:25):
about the game. And I think that reflects and the
fact that how majorly rugby's growing over the last five years.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Do the fans show up or is it still a
hard market to crack with, you know, with your football
and everything else, you know, I.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Think it's one of those things. I think like the
national awareness of the sport will probably mirror what happened
to soccer in the States after the World Cup. But
it's surprising you think about the size of the market
over here and you look at what you actually need
to crack into to fill out a stadium. I mean,
there's been majorly rugby games over the past that have
got eleven, twelve, thirteen thousand fans out there, and that's
(02:02):
probably not dissimilar. In fact, there's probably a good crowd
for regional or you know rugby in New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah, yeah, so major league rugby this week, I think
over the next weekend or tour this weekend, heading into
the quarter finals this weekend, and there are plenty of
key wes involved.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
So what's the state of.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
Competition, like, I mean, is it is it closer to
n PC in New Zealand or maybe Super rugby?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
You know, I think it's I think from where it's
started to where it is now. So the beginning of
the game, I think this is the big indicator where
rugby is going. In the States, it was heavily leveraged
around foreign players coming in and playing, and now you're
starting to see those fine players kind of drop out
under the salary cap and more domestic growth here. And
(02:48):
you would have thought there'd be a big slip, but
in the last two years that the level of rugby
is obviously increased. We know US is big and physicality,
but you know, you can just look at the scorelines
at the beginning were you know, there were games that
look like cricket schools and now you've got type matches,
physical matches and things are you know, the level of
the game is definitely improving year to.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Year and having I mean, there are a lot of
keywis over there involved in either coaching or playing, oun't there.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Yeah, there are, there's a lot. I mean, you can
go through any team, and you know the ones that
came here originally and got involved, they've stuck around and
they really liked the opportunity to live in the States,
and I think, you know, everybody feels like they're empowered
to help the state of the game here. And you know,
it's interesting you coach you coach in New Zealand versus
your coach here. They're very receptive. It's kind of like
(03:37):
a blank slate and they're willing to learn. And you
can see that with the growth of the players themselves.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Catch you up the James Patterson out of the US
you personally, James, talk us through your rugby career from
from high school and Christ Church to representing the US
at the twenty eleven World Cup.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
But you've done it all, haven't you.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yeah. It's fortunate a bit at both obviously, coming out
of Christ Church and Boys High. And you know, it's
funny now you talk about links the USA rugby and
Boys High. There's been a number of players I played
with the Boys High that are over here. Obviously Steve Brett,
he's with the LA team coaching. You had Pete Bulays
over here who was in Cantabrin as well, who coached
the Colorado sidem was Bob with USA rugby. So it's
(04:20):
funny how you see the familiar face as you grow
up in christ and you come across the States. I
don't know what thirteen years later after playing and everybody's
over here as well.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
And what was it like playing for the Eagles.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
It was great, you know. I was fortunate to play
for the Eagles. I played in the twenty eleven World
Cup in New Zealand, So I think if I was
going to play for if I was going to play
for the Eagles, it meant something extra being able to
play down in New Zealand. And I've got fond memories
of it, especially that game on September eleventh down against Russia,
the coldbol Classic back in New Zealand. That was it
(04:53):
was definitely a memorable experience for me.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
See I bet it was indeed.
Speaker 3 (04:56):
So let's look at tomorrow's test and Fiji. How do
you see that one going?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
You know, it's interesting you see that. You know, the
All Blacks obviously under a new managed group Mint group.
Now have you see some of the freedom and perhaps
a little bit of a change in the culture. They're
blooding a lot of a lot of new players into
this test match. I think there's sex of them. Now,
you know, the conditions are going to be perfect, and
when conditions are perfect, we've seen what Fiji's been able
to do over the last five years, climbing up in
(05:27):
the world rankings, the tenth there's a lot of super
rugby representation, top fourteen representation, so you know, the Fijians
like a good open game plan, so it'll be interesting
to see how it plays out.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
Have you been following the first two tests with the
All Blacks against England from over there?
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah, of course I get up in the morning and
watch them. So yet no they I mean they were
two close test matches, but to come out on top,
there's plenty to build on and it'll be interesting to see,
you know, a few new faces coming to the side
and obviously a few of the stool that's coming back
into the side this weekend. It'll be interesting to see
where they bring it.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
The USA is actually hosting.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
As you mentioned the twenty thirty one Rugby World Cup.
I mean, is seven years enough time to get the
fans into it.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
I think it is. And you know why I say that,
They've got a directive here. So there's been three big
things that have happened in the States and improve obviously MLA.
You've got to have a professional competition to develop fans
and develop local people that like the game. So that
was step one. Step two was World Rugby's collaboration with
USA Rugby and putting in what's called anthem Rugby Clubs.
It's basically a professional team with young players from the States,
(06:38):
so it gives them a route to come in and play.
And the third thing is the initiative. They want to
have a million players youth players, which is crazy to
think about from player participation standpoint, but a million youth
players by twenty thirty one. You take a million youth
players and their mates and everybody else around them, and
that builds quite a fan base. And I'm sure it'll
be a well traveled World Cup. And I certainly know
(07:00):
even in Kansas City, which is probably the furthest away
from kind of the rugby hubs with expats. It's still
a talking point here in terms of how they're going
to position and try and buy to have even a
quarter a semi final here in Kansas City at the stadium.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
James, fantastic to chat with you. Enjoy the rugby tomorrow.
Thank you so much for your time. We'll do thanks mate,
James Patterson joining us out of Kansas City
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