Rugby takes center stage

Walking down the streets of Johannesburg, Todd Clever is bound to get a couple of long stares, a few double takes and the occasional autograph request.

Back home in Palm Springs, Calif., Clever is lucky to get a second look from the average citizen.

But such is the life of an American rugby player.

Clever, who plays professionally for the Xerox Lions in South Africa's largest city, is hoping to change that not for himself, but for the sport he loves.

"Don't get me wrong — I've got the best of both worlds," said Clever, the 6-4, 215-pound captain of the USA Rugby Eagles' national team. "I wouldn't go as far as to call myself a celebrity in Johannesburg, but people do recognize me from time to time out in public. Rugby has a huge following in South Africa. It's kind of like the NFL for them.

"When I'm back home in California, no one really knows me or knows that I play rugby. I think playing for the national team allows me to help promote the sport and expose it to as many people as I can in the United States."

Clever and the Eagles will get their first taste of national exposure when they take on Canada in a 2011 World Cup qualifying match this afternoon at 4 p.m. at Blackbaud Stadium. The game will be nationally televised by ESPN.

"I think every athlete wants to perform on the biggest stage possible, so to have this game on national television is fantastic," Clever said. "It's a big day for the sport in this country. This might be the first time that some

people have ever seen rugby on television, and the more people that see the game, the more they'll like it and the more people will want to play. I'm sure for us there are going to be some nerves with the TV cameras, but after that first hit, I'm sure we'll settle down and just play the game."

Fans trying to adapt to rugby this afternoon can expect a rough-and-tumble sport that bears some resemblance to its American cousin, football. There are 15 players on each team, with all players on both offense and defense. Rugby is continuous, like soccer, and players run the ball until they are tackled or forced out of bounds. The ball can be passed laterally or backward, but not forward.

Rugby, like soccer, has a huge following across the globe. The 2007 Rugby World Cup drew a worldwide television audience of four billion, and 2.25 million fans attended the event. Only the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics surpassed the Rugby World Cup in popularity.

In the United States, rugby ranks somewhere around arena football and beach volleyball in popularity. There are about 80,000 members in USA Rugby.

It wasn't always that way. The U.S. national men's team actually won gold medals in rugby in the 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games, defeating France both times. But rugby was dropped from the Olympics, and the rise of football in the U.S. stunted the growth of the sport.

The U.S. resumed playing international matches in 1976, and in recent years has ranked from 14th to 20th in the world. The Eagles, ranked 18th, did not win a match in the 2007 World Cup.

"Sometimes it can be a tough sell here, but we're working to change that," Clever said. "Football is king in the United States, but without rugby there would be no football. I've found that the people that come out and watch us play end up really enjoying themselves. It's a fast-paced game. It's not like football where there are stops and starts after each play. It's like soccer where the play is continuous. I've always found that people who give rugby a chance end up loving it."

Clever, who is one of the few professional players on the American team, grew up in San Jose, Calif., playing just about every sport except football.

His older brother, Chris, who was a tight end on the local high school football team, first got Todd hooked on rugby.

"He would come back with all these great stories, and it sounded like a lot of fun," Clever said.

Clever was an All-American at the University of Nevada-Reno and earned his first start on the U.S. national team in 2003 when he played against Argentina at the age of 20.

This afternoon's match is the first of a two-legged North American Qualification playoff between the U.S. and Canada. The second match is July 111 at Ellerslie Rugby Park in Edmonton.

The Canadians are considered slight favorites with their No. 13 world ranking.

"This is a huge match for both teams for a lot of reasons," Clever said. "It's always a big match when the U.S. plays Canada because we're big rivals. Throw in the fact that this is a World Cup qualifier and that only adds to the intensity."

Jeff Hartsell contributed to this story.