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Rugby World Cup could reveal these 3 new recruiting pipelines

By John Scimeca

PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 19: Joe Marchant of England in action during Six Nations tournament match between France and England at Stade De France in Saint-Denis of Paris, France on March 19, 2022. (Photo by Loic Baratoux/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - MARCH 19: Joe Marchant of England in action during Six Nations tournament match between France and England at Stade De France in Saint-Denis of Paris, France on March 19, 2022. (Photo by Loic Baratoux/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) /
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Les Bleus captain Thierry Dusautoir kneels at the scrum base against the Wallabies at Allianz stadium. Sydney, Australia. Saturday 21st June 2014. (Photo: Steve Christo) (Photo by Steve Christo/Corbis via Getty Images)
Les Bleus captain Thierry Dusautoir kneels at the scrum base against the Wallabies at Allianz stadium. Sydney, Australia. Saturday 21st June 2014. (Photo: Steve Christo) (Photo by Steve Christo/Corbis via Getty Images) /

3. France

This year’s Six Nations champion France could be a fertile recruiting ground for outstanding American football athletes. France recently defeated England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Italy to capture the 2022 Six Nations championship, one of the biggest honors a rugby national team can win.

Some of Europe’s top club rugby teams are French, including Stade Toulousain — a five-time European Champions Cup champion.

The French national rugby team has reached the Quarterfinals of the past two Rugby World Cups (2015 and 2019) and will hope to win the world title as the host of next year’s Rugby World Cup. This will be the third time that France has hosted rugby’s premier event, and nine different venues around the country will host World Cup matches next year.

The most recent French-born player to reach the NFL never played a snap of NCAA football. Anthony Dablé-Wolf had two short NFL stints in 2016 and 2017 with the Giants and the Falcons. The wide receiver, now 33, played for French and German-based professional clubs before and after his time in the NFL.

Richard Tardits, a former rugby union player who was born in Bayonne, France, held the career sacks record at the University of Georgia until David Pollack broke his mark in 2004. The linebacker played three seasons with the New England Patriots from 1990 to 1992 and later represented the U.S. rugby team at the international level.

In all, France ranks among the world’s 20 most populous nations with 67 million people. Soccer, rugby, and cycling are the most popular sports, but there’s no reason that an enterprising U.S. college football coach couldn’t find his way onto a French rugby pitch to find a promising linebacker or running back.

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