Leicester vs. Rough Riders: 5 Bold Predictions for the 'Independence Cup'

English club rugby will go on show in the United States this summer when Leicester Tigers take on the Rough Riders.

The game is being staged in August to help launch a professional league in the States, the National Rugby Football League, per the BBC.

The game is set to take place in Philadelphia between the east Midlanders and a “team made up of former National Football League (NFL) athletes, college American football players and collegiate, club and international rugby players.”

Here are five bold predictions for what might happen.

1. Leicester Will Put Their Reserves out

Doug Murray/Associated Press

Manchester Utd raise a pre-season trophy in the States, where Leicester are heading this summer

Pre-season tours of the States are the kind of thing best left to the mega-rich Premier League football clubs who follow money like a starving dog follows a trail of biscuits.

For English rugby clubs to go on the same sort of tour is unheard of, for the simple reason rugby hardly registers on the average American sports fan's radar.

The profile of this game will not be helped by the timing.

Leicester’s best players will all be ensconced in the training camps of their respective national teams preparing for the World Cup, and the front line bodies remaining will likely be enjoying a holiday, resting their aching limbs from the rigours of an unrelenting English season.

This game may represent a first, tentative step toward expanding what the marketing men like to call the "brand" of English club rugby into the U.S. audience (Leicester’s "head of community and global partnerships" is quoted as high up as the third paragraph of the story about this fixture in the Guardian. Do you think the long-serving patrons of the Crumbie Stand even knew their club had someone working for them with that job title?). 

But for Leicester's squad it, is no more than a chance for a clutch of development players to get a run-out and impress their coaches while the grownups are away.

2. We’ll Get Some Great American Commentary

When New Zealand took on the U.S. Eagles in 2014, it was entertaining to watch the game with the American commentary for company.

Broadcaster NBC aired the game, and its team behind the mic threw up some pearlers, as you can see from the highlights above, including regularly describing a try as a "five."

None of this went unnoticed by Australia’s Fox Sports website, who summarised the coverage: "Crazy facts (sometimes not even facts) about the All Blacks provided more amusement for viewers at home.

"This included introducing multi-sport superstar Sonny Bill Williams as a 'six-time boxing heavyweight champion,' which is evidently the same as winning six bouts."

3. Leicester Will Unearth an American Star

One thing that would make the trip worthwhile would be if Richard Cockerill could spot a superstar in the making from the Rough Riders team.

It would be interesting to see if a convert from gridiron could make the grade in rugby, and perhaps this platform will provide one of them with that chance, much as the Sevens circuit has made a star of Carlin Isles.

When the game was announced at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, three such converts were in attendance, per the Guardian:

"

Oregon defensive tackle Isaac Remington (6ft 6in, 305lbs) and Golden West offensive tackle Nic Purcell (6ft 6in, 300lbs) were cut by the Eagles in 2013, after playing preseason.

[...]

The third player, the squarer-cut Taylor Gentry (6ft 2in, 250lbs), made the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad as a fullback out of North Carolina State before injury put paid to such ambitions.

"

These players, along with others, will be put through an intense period of training to get them up to speed with the game and, you never know, one of them could be on the cusp of becoming a Leicester legend.

Certainly, former track athlete Carlin Isles has made his mark in rugby, lighting up the Sevens circuit with tries like those in the video above.

Could he do it on a wet Friday night in front of the Shed, though?

4. The Game Will Be a Sell-out

Of all the predictions on this list, this is the boldest.

Let’s assess what we have here for a moment: a Tigers team shorn of all its internationals and probably anyone over the age of 23 vs. a team of ex-college American football players and some NFL rejects, in a 68,500–seater stadium.

Despite that, National Rugby Football League administrator Michael Clements told the Guardian:

"

"I literally say we should have a sell-out. With the number of fans interested in following the crossover, the contact-tackle sports fans, the American fans looking for high-level sports entertainment, and with the Tigers and their passionate following and this destination venue, I’m not going to be happy till we can say that we’ve sold out.

"Now some people can say that’s ambitious, when you look at what we have here. But I don’t think it’s far-fetched."

"

The stadium usually houses the passionate fans of the Philadelphia Eagles, whose reputation could not unreasonably be compared to that of the Leicester fanbase in terms of its loyalty and vociferous support.

So should they want to see a team from another sport backed by spectators who share a lot of the values outlined in the video here, they might just make Clements' wish come true.

5.The Rough Riders Will Win

Marco Vasini/Associated Press

Stranger things have happened.

The Tigers could be prowling straight into a booby trap here.

This game could reveal to the unsuspecting rugby union community that the best athletes really do come from gridiron.

The dynamism and pace of American football’s wide receivers and the bulk of their defensive linemen could overpower a scratch Leicester outfit and pull off a stunning pre-season shock.

Imagine the look on Richard Cockerill's face if that happens.