*Take a poll amongst your average Michiganders, asking them what they think about British sports, and you will tend to get the following answers…

Soccer: Many Americans in Michigan regard our football as a wussy, limp-wristed, effeminate sport. They will ask you why the players dive and fake all the time and they will rail against the sport for being boring.

Cricket: Most of the time people won’t have a clue what you are talking about. From veterinarians to school lecturers to my American friends, I cannot find a single person who comprehends what cricket is. When I ask Americans about Branston pickle I get a similar response.

'The only issue I see with rugby coming to America is the fact that the US may not have enough room in its collective sporting heart for yet another exhilarating collision sport like rugby'


Rugby: In terms of opinions, the people in and around Detroit seem the most positive about rugby. They see it (correctly) as a fluid and tough sport and marvel at the lack of body armour.

It is clear from this that in terms of public opinion, the British sport that is most capable of succeeding in the US is not actually football – which has had millions pumped in to it with poor returns – but rugby. Americans, and especially Detroiters, have an inbuilt respect for size and power – something that is prevalent in rugby, the sporting equivalent of a heavy-duty truck with a gargantuan engine.

The only issue I see (and it is admittedly a huge issue) with rugby coming to America is the fact that the US may not have enough room in its collective sporting heart for yet another exhilarating collision sport like rugby. After all they already have American Football and ice hockey.

What rugby really needs is a Hollywood superstar who will come in and advocate the joys of the oval ball... step up Maximus Decimus Meridius, the saviour of Rome and, as it just so happens, Rugby League too. That’s right, Gladiator star Russell Crowe appeared on US the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on February 14 advocating the brilliance of Rugby League to anyone who would listen. And as it was the Tonight Show, that meant several million Americans watching Crowe, and being-spoon fed probably the best advert possible for Rugby League.

Russell told host Leno about the team that he co-owns 75% of - the South Sydney Rabbitohs - and then went on to talk about the various connections he has forged with the US, and how on hearing that the University of Michigan’s American Football coach Lloyd Carr used the Crowe film Cinderella Man to inspire his troops, he decided to give him a call.

After the initial confusion and disbelief that naturally comes with being told that Russell Crowe has called, the two got together with Crowe coming to watch the Michigan Wolverines play and Carr travelling in the opposite direction to train and talk to the Rabbitohs. It was a brilliant idea, that will go a long way to raising Rugby League’s profile in the States.

Crowe even organised a Rugby League game in Florida between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Super League champions Leeds Rhinos on January 26. The game was a less vaunted but still brilliantly executed Rugby League version of the NFL’s game at Wembley and FA money grabber Richard Scudamore’s 39th-game proposals.

With his bulging rolodex full of Hollywood names, Crowe encouraged other actors to support the club, such as Scientology loon Tom Cruise and doddering toupee wearer Burt Reynolds.

Crowe is single-handedly dragging Rugby League into the US limelight. Want to increase rugby’s profile? The answer is simple – put Russell Crowe in charge of Rugby League.