Young Guns: Cardiff Met University lock Brandon Harvey
American second row Brandon Harvey was hurt by his country of birth's failure to qualify for the 2023 World Cup but feels the sport will continue to grow in the USA.
The 20-year-old is a student at Cardiff Met University and is enjoying playing in Super BUCS for the fourth placed side, who have aspirations to lift the title at the end of the season.
He said: “Cardiff Met is great. All the coaches and players are so welcoming and I don't feel left out at all as an American. The experiences are great, I couldn't ask for better. In preseason this year we trained against Cardiff and the Dragons, and I couldn't ever imagine those opportunities if I was still playing in the US.
“In 2023 my main objective is to win the Super BUCS but my career aspirations in the long run are to win a senior cap for the USA and then to become a professional anywhere that fits.”
The 6 ft 6, 18 st 2lbs USA U20s forward is also looking to improve on his set piece work but shares he enjoys the defensive side of the game.
He added: “My work rate on defence is my strongest attribute. I love to hit tackles and then get up and do it all over again. I'm looking to improve on my set piece, I'm not so efficient in lineouts, so with the coaches at Cardiff Met I'm looking to work on that a lot in the new year.
“I enjoyed playing for the USA U20s but do wish it was more on the professional side. We could do with more training as we only had two weeks over the Christmas period last year and then had three games over the summer in Amsterdam. But besides that it's been a great experience alongside some exciting players. Our group of boys are really good and the future looks bright.”
As a passionate American, Harvey endured pain when his senior side endured a stinging setback as they failed to qualify for the World Cup after losing the final spot to Portugal.
He said: “It really hurt. It's upsetting considering the athletes and coaches we have because we should have been a no brainier to make the World Cup. I was watching the game and us U20s boys are in a big group chat and we all were saying how embarrassing it is that we even had to be in that qualifying tournament, let alone failing to qualify completely.”
Qualification seemed all the more important for the US because the country is scheduled to host the 2031 World Cup, an occasion that American rugby faithful believe will be a huge lift to the sport stateside.
The World Cup is one of the few times rugby gets mainstream attention in the US, but despite his country's absence at next year's showpiece event Harvey believes the sport can still grow.
He said: “The sport definitely still has the potential to grow in the US. I think with the help of that World Cup it should boost the level of playing numbers in the country massively. You've seen what happened with Japan, hosting the World Cup can really help the sport grow in a new country.”
