Monday 18 September 2017 18:07, UK
Premiership Rugby says its latest trip to the United States created "a genuine legacy" despite poor attendance figures.
A crowd of 6,271 saw Saracens beat Newcastle 29-7 in the second Premiership game to be played in the States - barely a third of capacity at Philadelphia's Talen Energy Stadium.
The match marked the start of a four-year agreement between Premiership Rugby and promoters AEG Rugby with the aim of growing the game across the Atlantic.
A spokesman for Premiership Rugby said: "You always want to get more people to the match. But the crowd isn't the difference between whether we have a sustainable strategy in the US.
"It would be wrong to judge the American Series of Premiership Rugby matches on the attendance figure in our first year in Philadelphia, as this trip was about so much more than an Aviva Premiership rugby match.
"We are in partnership with AEG Rugby, USA Rugby and NBC Sports to help grow the game in America and the brand of Premiership Rugby.
"We had coaches in the two weeks before the match in New Jersey, Washington DC and Philadelphia running sessions for more than 1,000 young American players and dozens of coaches.
"We also created a genuine legacy from this match, as our partnership with the British Council has allowed us to award 35 Premiership Rugby scholarships to 20 teenage American players and 15 coaches who will come to England in 2018 and spend time with our world-class academies."
