Long before Major League Rugby, before rugby returned to the Olympics, and before professional rugby found a foothold in America, there was World Arena Rugby.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a group of entrepreneurs set out to create a uniquely American version of rugby—one built for indoor arenas, fast-paced entertainment, and Friday night crowds. Their vision was World Arena Rugby (WAR), a modified 7-a-side game played inside hockey arenas on synthetic turf, complete with padded walls, unlimited substitutions, and four quarters of non-stop action.
At the center of it all was Dallas.
The league’s flagship team, the Dallas Outlaws, featured several Dallas Harlequins and was coached by former Quin coach Hennie Viljoen. The concept was simple: take rugby’s physicality and continuous play, bring the fans closer to the action, and package it as a spectator sport for an American audience unfamiliar with the game.
The first major exhibition took place at Reunion Arena in 1998, where the Dallas Outlaws faced the Los Angeles Road Warriors in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Los Angeles escaped with a 41-34 victory, but the response from fans was overwhelmingly positive. Spectators reportedly spent much of the match on their feet, captivated by the speed and intensity of the game.
According to Hennie Viljoen, the matches were every bit as physical as advertised. He recalls hard collisions, plenty of blood, and a style of rugby unlike anything most players had experienced before. When the teams met again, the Outlaws earned their revenge, defeating Los Angeles and claiming a trophy that we’re sure is around here somewhere …
The league attempted several launches over the years, including plans for a full professional competition and a revival effort in 2013. While those ambitions ultimately never materialized, World Arena Rugby remains one of the most fascinating “what if” stories in American rugby history. It was an ambitious effort to introduce rugby to new audiences, years before the sport’s current growth in the United States.
Today, the WAR experiment is largely forgotten. Much of its history has disappeared from the internet, surviving only through old press releases, newspaper clippings, grainy videos, and the memories of those who took part.
For the Harlequins, however, it remains a unique chapter in club history. A handful of Quins found themselves playing in front of thousands of spectators, helping test one of America’s earliest attempts at professional rugby and proving, once again, that the club has never been afraid to be part of rugby’s next big idea.
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