Rugby World Cup 2019: Mathieu Bastareaud move shows American game moving in the right direction

France take on the USA in the Rugby World Cup on Wednesday but they’ll be without a famous rampaging centre in their ranks.

A man who has bewildered people with his mixture of size and speed, a man who has been somewhat controversial yet has also captained his country in the last 18 months and a Frenchman that Americans will soon claim as one of their own. That man is Mathieu Bastareaud.

The 31-year-old retired from international rugby earlier this year after he was left out of France’s World Cup squad, but that was just one of many drastic changes he has undergone in recent months.

A week prior, he decided to ply his trade in America after the Rugby World Cup. This will be with Rugby United New York who play in Major League Rugby, a tournament entering its third season in February. He will become the top earner in MLR on a salary of $45,000 and join former England full back Ben Foden in the Big Apple.

Upon his reveal as a RUNY player in June, Bastareaud hailed ‘change’ as one of the big reasons for his move across the Atlantic. “For me the big challenge is going outside Europe,” he told The Guardian in June.

That change has since followed the centre. After joining Rugby United New York, being left out of the World Cup squad and retiring, he has returned to the Top 14 with Lyon on a short-term contract. But with all these environmental changes, the most notable has come in the bulldozer’s positon on the pitch.

At first glance, many would think he was part of the pack. Well now, he actually is. Since joining Lyon this summer, he has been played as a No 8.

Although Bastareaud could reverse his decision to retire internationally, the streamlined back line could well have been the key reason for the position switch. Minutes haven’t been easy to come by since his move to Lyon but he was able to score on his league debut for the club which came from the No 8 position.

Had he made the switch sooner, former France fly-half, Thomas Castaignede feels it could have saved the Frenchman’s international career. “To play the modern game you need quick backs and as a No 8, Bastareaud could be even better than Louis Picamoles,” he told RugbyPass earlier this year.

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But the switch wasn’t made early enough, and both France and one of their most destructive weapons have moved on.

Instead, Bastareaud moved to the United States, a nation with a growing appetite for rugby.

Despite a heavy 45-7 loss to England last Thursday, the Eagles are making strides and as a result, so is their national game. Currently 13th in World Rugby’s rankings, above Italy who play in the Six Nations, the States built up good momentum with six wins and two losses this year before the start of the tournament. Beating a then-ranked sixth placed Scotland in June 2018 also showed that the US could mix it with competitive nations, but can they do so consistently?

Of their six wins in 2019, not one has come against a country ranked higher than themselves. Hosts of the World Cup, Japan, who were ranked 11th at the time also beat the Eagles 34-20 in August.

So, what are they doing to make even bigger strides than they already have done?

It helps that Major League Rugby is young and still expanding. At its inception, the league was formed of seven teams. As for the upcoming season, there will be twelve teams split into two Western and Eastern Conferences similar to other American sports leagues like the NBA and Major League Soccer.

MLR may also be taking inspiration from a similarly young MLS and the way they have tried to build the popularity of a new league on the continent: by attracting popular imports.

Foden and Bastareaud have been the first stand out players to embrace the challenge and continuing to attract high profile players to the league as rugby itself isn’t that much of a problem.

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In the sevens format, for instance, the States are becoming a force. The end-to-end nature of the game breeds exciting play based on speed which is great for spectators and the many American athletes that turn to that version of the sport.

In fact, it’s been so good that their sevens team have been crowned the USA Sevens Tournament champions two years running and finished 2nd in the World Rugby Series last season.

Translating this ambition to the 15-a-side game may still take a while, as MLS have shown in football, new leagues won’t explode overnight in America. However, with World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper admitting there is an “expression of interest” from the United States to host the Rugby World Cup in either 2027 or 2031, this, as well as decent performances in their upcoming World Cup, could accelerate the process.

At the moment, however, a meeting with a confident France may see them struggle to exit the pool stage, as they have failed to do in each of their seven World Cup appearances to date. But that in no way dims their very bright future.