Can Adam Freier’s California Legion Solve America’s Rugby Problem?

One time successful March 2012, Adam Freier sat down to constitute a column for nan Sydney Morning Herald. His Melbourne Rebels were connected a losing streak and though he had 25 caps astatine hooker including a World Cup run for Australia, he was astir 32 and staring astatine nan extremity of a profession astatine nan coalface, 12 years successful nan beforehand statement of nan scrum astatine nan highest level. Describing a assemblage breaking down, a struggling club, nan agony of endless defeats, he imagined group therapy successful beforehand of “strangers successful nan section hall”.

“My sanction is Adam Freier, and I dislike to lose.”

Fast-forward 14 years. In galore ways he’s winning. A profession successful media, management and business has taken him to Manhattan Beach, successful nan sunshine of Los Angeles county. He’s still successful rugby, CEO of nan California Legion. But successful that role, he faces different very steep situation indeed.

Formed past twelvemonth by nan merger of nan San Diego Legion and RFC Los Angeles, connected Saturday nan caller squad will footwear disconnected play 9 of Major League Rugby. It’s a clip for caller beginnings but galore successful American rugby are looking backmost successful anger. The US men’s master title had a horrible offseason, losing Utah Warriors, NOLA Gold, Miami Sharks and Houston SaberCats to shrink to conscionable six teams. It looked for illustration nan extremity but location person been activity changes, strategy changes and a long-sought collective bargaining agreement pinch nan mediocre bloody infantry, nan players who make it work. Like Freier passim his ain playing profession – which really ended astatine 40, aft years of nine rugby successful Sydney for Randwick – MLR isn’t stopping scrapping.

Seeking to dispersed nan word, nan Legion are taking their regular-season location games each astir nan state.

“Our mantra is to beryllium brave, to beryllium bold and to beryllium first,” Freier said. “So nan point that we looked at, and this is nary disrespect to what anyone other is doing successful athletics successful America, and surely successful MLR, we wanted to do thing different. As a business and arsenic a sports team, we’ve sewage to beryllium brave, we’ve sewage to beryllium bold. And taking it to California was decidedly that.”

Saturday brings Anthem Rugby Carolina to Championship Stadium in Irvine, Orange county. Next week, nan three-time champion New England Free Jacks travel to Torero Stadium successful San Diego. After that, nan Seattle Seawolves, sole MLR founders standing, travel to UCLA. Then nan show goes north, for Chicago Hounds astatine Saint Mary’s College successful nan East Bay Area and Old Glory DC astatine Heart Health Park, Sacramento. Hopefully there’ll beryllium a location playoff too.

“There are immoderate rugby competitions astir nan world that person nan expertise to accommodate and alteration and do things differently, and immoderate that can’t,” Freier said. “We person that ability, and we’ve conscionable sewage specified an awesome market. What we person to admit and understand is that for immoderate of nan fans, it hasn’t been easy. But we are going to reward them.

“Southern California is simply a hotbed of rugby talent and rugby fans. There are immoderate unthinkable clubs: OMBAC, Aztecs [both San Diego], Belmont Shore [Long Beach], Santa Monica. There’s immoderate really bully foundations.

“And truthful we are successful Orange County this weekend. It’s an unthinkable stadium. We’ve sewage Belmont Shore playing earlier us, against OMBAC. We’ve sewage nan Mustangs [youth, San Diego], section clubs coming down and playing successful nan vicinity. What we want to move this into agelong word is really a show of rugby, getting arsenic galore games astir america arsenic possible. At nan moment, we’ve sewage six. It’s going to beryllium a celebration, telling nan Orange County marketplace we want everyone to beryllium very supportive of their section club, Belmont Shore, and ever of your area, whether you’re from San Diego aliases LA. I’ve had a afloat riot enactment astir why those 2 cities don’t for illustration 1 another, but hopefully erstwhile you’re playing rugby, you support your section club, past erstwhile you spell to that adjacent level, we each support nan state.

“The San Diego Legion fanbase has really shown group really to beryllium fanatics. On nan different end, you’ve sewage LA fans that had a cocktail solid to support astatine 1 point, and past they had a bunch of letters successful RFCLA, and it’s been really hard, and alteration is difficult. We are reasoning astir semipermanent success, semipermanent sustainability, but besides not disrespecting those group successful those places. I speak to 5 fans a day.”

There’s overmuch to discuss. San Diego fans clasp nan regular-season crowd grounds (11,423 v Utah, 2023), immoderate truthful passionate they person dressed arsenic Roman legionaries, out-shouting New Englanders successful tricorn hats and wigs. Some from San Diego were decidedly unhappy astir nan merger pinch LA, whose rugby people did so erstwhile person a “cocktail glass” to follow, nan LA Giltinis, named for a portion named for their owner, Aussie fittingness magnate Adam Gilchrist. Champions successful 2021, thrown out successful 2022, nan Giltinis years generated recrimination and legal settlements. For Freier, arsenic Giltinis’ president, it was different bruising experience. After that he had a spell trading Americans Aussie beer, a marque part-owned by awesome accelerated bowler Brett Lee, earlier pitching backmost into rugby.

Describing his engagement pinch Legion fans, Freier said: “I had immoderate beers pinch them nan different day. They weren’t easy beers to have, I decidedly was served a mates of spears. I deliberation we underestimate really passionate group are astir rugby successful that portion of nan world.”

The rollout of nan caller project, Freier says, could person been done differently. But that’s each said and done and present Freier stands, contemplating a somewhat insane workload, moving a play astir a authorities pinch nan fourth-biggest system successful nan world arsenic it prepares to big a shot World Cup which has booked up astir each decent writer field.

The Rugby World Cup is besides coming to nan US, successful 2031. With its simplification successful size, MLR has shifted to developmental mode, employing mostly US-qualified players. Alex Magleby, nan Eagles flanker and coach turned Free Jacks co-founder and MLR co-president, said a six-team convention whitethorn beryllium astir nan correct size for processing home players – but emphasized that maturation remains nan ambition.

Putting connected his “old wide head and nationalist squad coach hat”, Magleby said: “To beryllium successful agelong term, we request scale. That’s conscionable math. You know, standard tin travel from world eyeballs, but arsenic we cognize successful nan American media landscape, having tons of markets pinch passionate fans is importantly amended from a authorities position aliases an aggregation of sponsorship. So standard is still really important for this league.”

This year, Freier said, “alignment is cardinal and nan Eagles request to win. Look astatine nan lucky teams’ capacity astatine nan Winter Olympics. Look astatine nan Eagles women winning a bronze badge successful nan sevens successful Paris [in 2024]. The astir beautiful point astir this state is nan patriotism, really overmuch they emotion their nationalist teams and that emblem and who they are and what they represent. A beardown Eagles squad has to beryllium our No 1 goal.

“We really attraction astir nan maturation of rugby present successful nan States. I do judge this, I deliberation California tin play a awesome domiciled successful making judge that US rugby is simply a vibrant, colorful sport, successful successful a World Cup and being a world brand.”

Freier was ne'er your mean hooker. (He prefers “high-class”.) Relatively undersized for nan role, much unusually successful an Australian sporting scenery wherever aged divides linger he was from a well-known rugby convention family, his dad, Laurie, a subordinate for Eastern Suburbs and Manly-Warringah successful nan 1970s, coach of Easts and Western Suburbs thereafter. His boy played national astatine school, Waverley College, and became a standout possibly champion compared to Brian Moore, precocious of nan England and nan Lions, different reliable small bastard turned rugby writer and thinker. Offered nan comparison, Freier was flattered but wary.

In that Sydney Morning Herald column, considering nan pro rugby life, Freier reached for what whitethorn look an improbable image: “Michelangelo erstwhile said he could ‘see nan angel successful nan marble’. Maybe that’s my ointment for losing. Being an optimist. He besides said that ‘he carved till he group him free’, which intends it’s going to require a resilient effort.”

Freier’s existent occupation surely requires that. Asked if he tin consciousness nan angel successful nan MLR marble, he said: “It’s truthful true. If I tin quote it again, I will. That’s what keeps you working. What it mightiness be.

“The owners of MLR, they are awesome. If you talk to them one-on-one, they’re each chipping distant astatine nan marble arsenic well. They are existent rugby people, bully owners that really care, who emotion rugby. Everyone’s chipping distant astatine that marble, and that’s why I’m here, mate. There’s a logic why I’m doing it. I genuinely spot that there’s large upside, particularly successful California, fourth-biggest system connected nan planet. You know, rugby present could beryllium perfectly anything, and that’s why we each travel back.”

• California Legion v Anthem RC kicks-off 6pm ET connected Saturday, unrecorded connected ESPN+

• Martin Pengelly writes astir rugby successful nan US connected Substack, astatine The National Maul