James Kennedy wants you to know something about Rugby United New York right away. “We’re not the Knicks,” he said.

Though New York City’s new professional rugby union team is an expansion team, he said, it will not wind up at the bottom of the standings like its basketball brother. Kennedy, the team’s owner and chairman, did not hedge when he spoke about the team’s chances in Major League Rugby. “We are certainly playoff bound,” he promised.

And why not? The team is 4-1, having played only road games so far in a 16-game season, and is ready for its home opener, against the Toronto Arrows, on Friday night at MCU Park in Coney Island.

New sports leagues — Major League Rugby is in its second year — have a habit of failing, and a professional rugby outfit would seem to be particularly perilous in a country where even many die-hard sports fans don’t know a scrum from a line-out.