Premier Rugby Limited in talks to hold Aviva Premiership game in the United States

Advanced plans have been made for an Aviva Premiership rugby match to be played in the United States. Premier Rugby Limited, the body that represents English top-flight clubs, and USA Rugby have held talks over the proposals, which form part of a wider strategy of co-operation between the two organisations.

Release has been secured for American players based in England such as Northampton’s Samu Manoa, Leicester’s Blaine Scully and Saracens’ Chris Wyles to line up for their country against New Zealand at Soldier Field in Chicago next Saturday.

But the next step appears to be a more dramatic move to stage a Premiership game in the States for the first time. USA Rugby’s chief executive, the former England captain Nigel Melville, told The Sunday Telegraph: “We’re in talks with PRL about the wider situation. We all want what is best for the game and we want to grow the game. This weekend you have an NFL game coming over to London and there is potential for Premier League soccer in America. I can see rugby taking the same steps.”

PRL’s chief executive, Mark McCafferty, said: “Essentially we have been working for some time on working up a partnership with USA Rugby. There are several things we are talking to them about doing. It is part of a broader relationship.”

US rugby is growing at a rapid rate. New York and Seattle both provided teams in this year’s World Club Sevens at Twickenham in August, and it is understood PRL is considering staging a sevens tournament in America. Seattle already have a partnership with Saracens as part of the London club’s global network, and last season the US played Russia at Saracens’ Allianz Park.

The US are also likely to join Wales in bidding for the 2018 Rugby World Sevens – applications have to be in by the end of the month – but they are also believed to be targeting hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2023 or 2027. After next year’s competition in England and Wales, the 2019 edition will be staged in Japan, and while taking the event outside rugby’s traditional heartlands for consecutive tournaments would prove controversial, the commercial potential of staging it in America will not be lost on the International Rugby Board.

“It is along our path,” Melville said. “First of all we would like to host regular games against tier one countries, with them coming to America. We obviously have an eye on 2023 because it would make sense and it might be possible, and obviously 2027 after that. There are a lot of things we could be looking at. We are optimistic that showcasing an event like the All Blacks match will prove what is possible.”

The growing appetite for rugby in America has been underlined by the fact that Soldier Field is a 62,000 sell-out for next weekend’s match – the previous highest crowd for an international in the country was a third of that, for Ireland’s visit last year. While that can largely be attributed to the presence of the world champions, it is a startling statistic, and helps explain PRL’s readiness to co-operate with USA Rugby over player release, even though the match falls outside the International Rugby Board’s autumn Test window.

“We felt in the context of our strategic partnership and their courage and wherewithal to put that game on, we should support that,” he said.