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Rugby, which at least on the collegiate sevens level has a foothold in Philadelphia, doesn’t have much of a professional presence in the USA. One group is trying to change that. The NRFL — National Rugby Football League — wants to establish a league with franchises in cities that already have NFL stadiums. To raise hype and awareness for their mission, they put together the first ever professional rugby team in America: The Rough Riders. And the Rough Riders were all set to welcome the Leicester Tigers to Lincoln Financial Field for an international match on August 8, but then USA Rugby said “NAH.”

USA Rugby doesn’t support the plans for the NRFL and refused to sanction the math, so it had to be canceled. “USA Rugby should hang their heads in shame,” Leicester chief executive Simon Cohen said. “In so far as I can see, and judging by this episode, they are much more interested in protecting their own commercial interests than developing the game in the United States.” That commercial interest he’s talking about is that USA Rugby just happens to have their own match planned, at the Linc, on August 30th.

He continued, not pulling any punches:

“I am sure that the Leicester Tigers playing a game in the United States would have been good for the development of the game and it is a shame that the very people charged with protecting the game should have taken this very short-sighted decision. I feel very sorry for our fans who have booked to go and we will try and offer some form of recompense if they contact us.

We are still very determined to set up a number of community projects and coaching camps in the Philadelphia area. Those plans we had will be unaffected by USA Rugby’s decision about the game because they do not have jurisdiction over what we can do, thank goodness.”

The Leicester Tigers will not be bullied, but they also won’t be playing a match at the Linc.