'Terrorists Beware! Rugby Player on Board': 11 September and Naturalising American Rugby

Abstract

This paper explores a trend toward the 'naturalisation' of rugby football in the United States after the events of 11 September 2001. Prior to the tragic events of this day, rugby when known at all by the American public, was perceived as a violent game played by foreigners. During the events of 11 September, rugby figured prominently and the negatives previously associated with the game came to be seen as positives as America re-masculinised for the War on Terror. In the early twenty-first century a new icon has appeared on the American sporting horizon: the 'rugby mom'.