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Call season one of PRO Rugby, the fledgling U.S. league, a success.

“What we set out to prove in year one: that we had enough players, that people cared, that we could run proper training and coaching,” Doug Schoninger, the man bankrolling the league told The Province over the phone from his New York office this week. “We proved the infrastructure.”

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On the field, players and coaches went about their business. The quality of play improved as the season went along. Some players had been involved in a professional set up before, but many had not. As fitness levels improved, so did the play.

“Ultimately we want people to want it, not to be pushed,” he said. “We’ll help them get up but were not going to shadow them.”

At the box office, ticket sales proved as solid as Schoninger hoped, with crowds in the low thousands.

The next steps are pushing for further improvements to league’s off-field structures and also adding a handful more teams for the 2017 season.