In a tweet, he had said: "Briefly watched college rugby today while getting a hair cut b/c they wouldn't turn on golf.
"Conclusion: If you gave me a year, Urban Meyer, Zeke Elliott, JJ Watt, Leonard Foutnette & an NFL practice squad, the US would so thoroughly dominate rugby, other countries would quit."
My guess is good old Kev must have been a tad bored and, perhaps, based his ill-conceived assertion on the IRB (International Rugby Board) Sevens Series.
Van Valkenburg was making a retreat of sorts after a swag of rugby greats got stuck into him, including US senator Neale Thomas who said it was "a ridiculously ignorant comment".
The irony is Van Valkenburg, in taking a step back on college level competition, said something plausible: "No chance a team of US studs would dominate. But our best football players would absolutely be successful if given time to learn the nuances."
Now there's the ball fed in the scrum, IRB, so pick it up and feed it to the backline.
What could possibly be more exciting than finding out whose biceps have a bigger bulge?
It takes me back to an eight-day junket in Canada in April 2007. British Columbia Tourism guide Tom Ryan, always up for a joust with a group of know-it-all journos, ignited a debate in a two-hour drive from Vancouver to the Whistler and Blackcomb Ski Resort.
However, a jovial Ryan's assertion was more tenable: "Who hits hardest in a tackle — football or rugby?"
Having seen rugby in numerous clubs with a British heritage in Canada and on TV, Ryan was of the view that rugby came second to gridiron where the cases of concussion were high.
The Kiwi contingent came away feeling like they had won, of course, on the grounds that rugby didn't wear as much protective gear as football.
But I wonder if Ryan still thinks that after reading about more and more concussion cases coming to light in rugby.
As futile and entertaining as that brainstorming session was for a road trip, it seems there are no winners in such exercises.
However, there appears to be some merit in opting for a bit of cross pollination between codes — such as football and rugby — to see if the increasingly cynical and apathetic sport audiences can be rejuvenated with a hybrid concept.
That, of course, will require participating codes to play ball, as it were.
In a world of fiscal slavery, one must never say never.
The sales pitch right now to entice sleep-walking fans through the turnstiles to watch an All Blacks versus France Steinlager-sponsored test series is pretty flat even when New Zealand coach Steve Hansen becomes the trump card at press conferences.
I think Hansen is a little late — almost to the day in a year — when he asserts "people are underestimating how good they'll [France] be".
Now, had he said that this time last year, when coach Warren Gatland landed on our shores with the British and Irish Lions, it would have made perfect sense.
With a rash of French marquee players out due to suspension, rest and rotation, injuries and Top 14 final, it is fair to say Shag's declaration smacks unashamedly of a billboard.
If anything, the French squad again shows only the ABs treat every test as a black-tie banquet.
It's pointless going on about who will form a formidable midfield against a backpacker-type tourist outfit.
For goodness sake, chuck in a line up that will make it an equitable spectacle for those willing to fork out as little as an elderly couple's month's electricity bill ($167) to as much as a weekly grocery bill for a family in an affluent suburb ($374) for a seat.
Instead of the All Blacks venturing to Japan or the US to boost their profit margins, why not incorporate elements of football and rugby for a universal code that can be more aligned to the economies of scale for the viewers?
Sure, the purists will baulk at any such suggestions of distorting the tenets of an ancient sport but why not play it every four years with other leading nations akin to the Lions tours?
Wooing the US has to be a win-win formula for rugby. Look at how American baseball is making inroads in New Zealand, mindful its world series is, after all, a play on words.
Sevens rugby, despite Fiji's dominance in the IRB series, is finding more traction with crowds globally.
Even international netball has more parity with England's Commonwealth Gold medal-winning stint in the Gold Coast as well as the rise of countries such as the Malawi Queens.
