The news that’s been rumbling on the sidelines for months is now official: USA Rugby is launching a professional league, to be titled simply “ProRugby.”

As had been rumoured in recent weeks, there will be no Canadian participation in 2016. In the press release announcing the league, Rugby Canada’s Jim Dixon said “Rugby Canada looks forward to working with Pro Rugby on sanctioning the competition in Canada for the 2017 season and beyond.”

Careful words from Dixon, but the release used the word “will” in reference to the Canadian teams, so we’ll see. Those teams would most likely play out of Vancouver and Toronto.

The CEO, Douglas Schoninger, also runs a New York City-based business called Stadium Capital Financing Group, which is involved in venue construction.

At present, the league has been sanctioned by both USA Rugby and World Rugby. Six teams will begin play in April, playing ten games over the following weeks, with a final in July. There will be a break in the league’s schedule for the June international test window.

More to come.

pjohnston@theprovince.com

twitter.com/risingaction

facebook.com/tryandtackle