Las Vegas, a city built around extravagance and opulence, with the blinking bright lights of giant electric billboards, garish neon signs and enormous flashing video screens, feels about as far away from the traditional northern England rugby league heartlands as its possible to get.

Saturday’s game day began with an English Super League match in which the Wigan Warriors routed the Warrington Wolves, 48-24. Bringing the Brits into the fray was a brilliant move, because no fan base sings and parties harder than the Brits. They were heard all week up and down Vegas Strip and in every casino.

Four games of rugby league, traditionally played in the north of England and Australia, will be played in Sin City this weekend. Why?

Rugby league returned to Las Vegas on Sunday in its continuing mission to convert Americans to football without pads, drawing 50,000 fans to Allegiant stadium where the grit of the quintessential Australian sport mixed with the glamor of the entertainment capital.

For those not familiar with rugby league and rugby union, it would be easy to confuse the pair as simply 'rugby'.