It was a bright, gorgeous November afternoon at Soldier Field and every seat was filled. Stan Olejniczak Jersey Retro .Chants of USA! USA! rolled across an NFL stadium transformed for one day into the rugby capital of America.The U.S. national team, the Eagles, charged onto the field to battle the All Blacks of New Zealand, the worlds best (and best-known) team. The crowd of 61,500 nearly tripled the record for a rugby game in the U.S.The atmosphere that fall day in 2014 was electric, says longtime U.S. team member Chris Wyles. He could hardly believe it.It was amazing to play at such an iconic stadium in the U.S. and then to have pretty much a packed-out stadium, Wyles says. It was just an awesome experience, and it shows you what kind of support rugby could have in the States. It was incredible. I always say, if you expose American sports fans to rugby, theyll fall in love with it.Unfortunately for the Eagles, it was the best and worst of days. The All Blacks scored early and often, silencing the chants en route to a 74-6 victory. It not only was an example of the potential interest in the sport in the U.S., but also how far the U.S. mens national team must go to compete with the likes of New Zealand or have World Cup success.Yet when the All Blacks return to Soldier Field to play Ireland on Saturday in front of what is expected to be another big crowd -- a day after the Eagles are to play the New Zealand Maori All Blacks at Chicagos Toyota Park and three months after the sports long-awaited return to the Olympics -- the rugby landscape in the U.S. is much different than it was two years ago. Wyles says the game in America is potentially at a turning point.Expansive and massive growthDan Payne, who recently took over as CEO of USA Rugby, is an enthusiastic former player and coach who says hell wake up at 4 a.m. to talk to anybody about rugby.He believes recent developments will add up to big things in the U.S. over the next decade.Were on the cusp of some really expansive and massive growth, he says.To Payne, youth programs are the key to long-term success.For years, the main entry point to rugby was at the college level. Now, USA Rugby is focusing on growth in youth and high school programs. Payne says USA Rugby now has 50,000 registered youth athletes in addition to many more in the 5-12 age bracket who arent registered. The game is now played by 35,000 high school athletes in the U.S., 10 times more than a decade ago.In January, USA Rugby will kick off a new nationwide program to spark youth participation.Were going to use all the energy and momentum and buzz thats been created to gain as much traction as we can and really drag the game forward, he says.Because American kids have plenty of sports options, he says rugby must be introduced before kids start to specialize at age 12 or 13.Of course, some parents may have second thoughts about allowing their kids to play rugby because its a contact sport. Concerns about concussions in American football can carry over to rugby, Payne says, because theres always potential for injury.But he argues that because rugby players dont wear helmets or pads, the game is safer because tackling techniques are different. Players are taught to lead with their shoulders, not heads, in contact. The first couple of years in youth rugby are devoted to teaching safe techniques, Payne says.In fact, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has been a longtime proponent of teaching rugby tackling techniques to his football players as a way to mitigate head injuries.A USA Rugby study of collegiate rugby put the concussion rate at less than half that of football (2.0 to 4.5 per 1,000 player exposures). Another 2014 study put the rate at 2.5. Some other studies put it higher. Its an issue that World Rugby and USA Rugby have been addressing with safety protocols and education programs.Olympic sparkNate Ebner, who played rugby long before he turned to football at Ohio State and became a special-teams ace for the New England Patriots, believes the sports exposure at the Rio Olympics (rugby hadnt been part of the Games since 1924) will funnel kids into the game. He has noted a big jump in participation and skill at the youth and high school levels.You can tell kids are picking up the sport at a much younger age, says Ebner, who was on the U.S. team that finished ninth in Rio, where the fast-paced, seven-a-side version of rugby was played.The inclusion of rugby in the Olympics is massive, says Wyles, also an Olympian. The exposure that rugby gets is fantastic. Its something that kids have watched and seen and gone, Hold on a second, maybe this is a sport I can play.Wyles thinks the game sells itself if kids are exposed to it.Theres a lot of movement, big athleticism, big hits, attacking play, and it all happens one after another, he says. You can go from attack to defense in the space of a second.The impact of better youth programs and more exposure is also being felt on the womens side.Kelly Griffin, captain of the U.S. womens Olympic team which finished fifth in Rio, has been part of the national program since 2006. She has played rugby union, the traditional 15-a-side version of the game, but has been part of the national sevens residence program since 2012.Although most members of the U.S. womens team in Rio didnt start playing rugby until college or later, Griffin cites young Olympians Richelle Stephens, 20, and Lilly Durbin, 17, as proof that high-impact talent is in the pipeline. That shows its growing at the younger level, she says.The U.S. women are thriving in both sevens and 15s, where they rank seventh in the world (the U.S. men are No. 17), and Griffin sees that success as part of a larger trend.With Title IX and how much the U.S. supports women playing sports, it shows not just in rugby but across all sports, she says.Time to go proWhile the game can be grown from the bottom up, it can also grow from the top down. Thats one of the hopes of Doug Schoninger, CEO of PRO Rugby North America, the first fully professional U.S.-based rugby league.PRO Rugby debuted in April -- with teams in Denver, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and Columbus, Ohio -- at what Schoninger believed was just the right time: after the 2015 World Cup and before the Olympics.For the first time, American rugby players have the chance to play professionally without going overseas. In the leagues first year, there were 16 international players (including former All Blacks fullback Mils Muliaina and Italian stalwart Mirco Bergamasco) and more than 100 from the U.S.Ninety-five percent of them had never been paid to play rugby, Schoninger says of the Americans.Its part of American rugby shifting gears toward a more professional approach, Schoninger says. He predicts tremendous growth over the next decade to the point where one big event could light a fire under the U.S. game similar to what happened when Japan registered a huge upset at the 2015 World Cup.Theres no question well have a Japanese moment like Japan, on the game after they beat South Africa, where they played Samoa and a quarter of their country watched, he says. That will happen.By the time the 2019 or 2023 World Cups come along -- and especially if the U.S. bid to host the 2027 World Cup succeeds -- hes certain the country will be primed to take advantage of such a moment.Still plenty of work to be doneSuccess on the sports biggest stage, mens 15s, is the steepest hill to climb. As Wyles noted, he has been in three World Cups and won just one game. U.S. victories on the field havent matched the sports growth here.For now, he cant foresee the Eagles beating the All Blacks.I think were a long way from that, he says. In terms of tangible success on the pitch, the 15s team is going to be something that takes a long time and will be a bit more of a slow burner. I think sevens is something where the guys are almost there anyway. Things can be accelerated much quicker.Japan and Argentina are two nations that have built strong 15s programs in recent years, which gives the U.S. optimism.Ebner, for one, believes 100 percent that the U.S. will one day be at a level with New Zealand, England, Australia, South Africa, Wales, Ireland, France and Scotland at the top of the rugby ladder.Especially with the amount of talent we have in the country, he says. Look at all the amazing athletes that dont make it in the NFL. Imagine if those guys were playing rugby growing up.Payne also notes the potential of athletes from other sports migrating to rugby. If former college football or soccer players express interest, theyre channeled into a fast-track development plan. Mens sevens standouts Carlin Isles and Perry Baker are examples. Isles was a track and football standout; Baker played football in college and professionally in the Arena League.We have crossover athletes that are coming from other sports because theyve seen what Carlins done and theyve seen what Perry Bakers done, two of the guys that are some of the best sevens players in the world, Payne says.As Wyles looks ahead, he knows the U.S. is making progress. But more evolution is needed.The All Blacks are playing, week in and week out, at an extremely high level of rugby in the Super 15 [Super Rugby], whereas some of our guys are amateurs, he says.To illustrate that gap, Wyles points to Mike Petri, a New York teacher who has more than 50 caps with the U.S. national team.A week and a half before he was playing the best rugby team in the world [the All Blacks] -- who are all professional and play at the highest level -- he was teaching in Manhattan at Xavier High School, he says. Thats a clear example of how different the situation is. Myron Pryor Jersey Retro . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. Bruce Thornton Jersey Retro .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. https://www.cheapjerseyslines.com/alfons...e-jersey-retro/ . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. ORLANDO, Fla. -- K.J. Walton scored 20 points and Frankie Hughes added 14 points as Missouri rallied to beat Tulane 67-62 at the Tire Pros Invitational.Kevin Puryear scored 11 points for the Tigers (2-2), who claimed seventh-place in the tournament.Im glad for our team that we finally experienced some success at this tournament, Missouri coach Kim Anderson said. I think maybe we had a little doubt in our minds today and the only way I know to cure that is to play with effort and intensity. We challenged them to do that and they responded.Tulane (1-4) got 18 points from Cameron Reynolds and 10 apiece from Malik Morgan and Kaiin Harris, but lost for the third straight time.This was a tale of two halves for us, Tulane coach Mike Dunleavy said. I thought we did a really nice job with their dribble penetration in the first half. Then they just took it to us in the second half, got to the free throw line a bunch and scored 40 points in the paint on us. Its hard to survive that number.Puryear and Walton, who had two points each in the first half, woke up a stagnant Missouri offense at the start of the second half. They combined for 27 points after halftime.Puryear scored nine of his teams first 11 points of the second half with some strong post-up moves to cut the 10-point halftime deficit to just 36-33 with 15:50 left. A few minutes later, Walton came off the bench and scored 11 points in a 15-3 run to givve Missouri a 51-46 lead. Brandon Weeden Jersey Retro. BIG PICTUREMissouri desperately needed this win. The Tigers looked uninspired in the first half, but showed a lot of fight and energy in the final 20 minutes. Tulane was just as desperate, but expectations for the Green Wave arent nearly as high as they are for the Tigers. Tulane led most of the game and had an opportunity to steal a win at the end.AT THE LINEMissouri didnt shoot a free throw in the first half, but went 13 of 16 in the second half.Us not shooting a free throw in the first half is not a criticism of the officials, we just werent taking the ball strong to the basket, Anderson said. We didnt abandon the perimeter game in the second half, but we wanted to get the ball to the basket as much as possible and it showed.WRONG DIRECTIONMissouri allowed opponents to shoot progressively better in each of its first three games before halting the run against Tulane. The Tigers limited Tulane to 33.3 percent for the game, after allowing Davidson to shoot 44.4 percent in its last game.UNFAMILIAR TERRITORYTulanes 32-22 halftime lead was the first time the Green Wave has led at the half in three games in the tournament. The advantage didnt last.UP NEXTTulane travels to Georgia Tech Saturday.Missouri will host Northwestern State Saturday. ' ' '