The United States is often said to represent a new frontier for rugby, a sizable destination and more importantly a sizable population the game must attract if it is to become a genuinely global sport rather than a sport played around the globe. And the good news for rugby is that it is becoming ever more popular Stateside and USA Rugby chief executive Nigel Melville says "it would make sense for World Rugby to bring the World Cup to the USA".

The All Blacks rolled into Chicago just 10 months ago, when the Eagles were but road kill for the world No.1-ranked juggernaut; more importantly, the fixture attracted a sellout crowd at the 61,500-capacity Soldier Field and raised exposure for the sport - exposure that has since risen further with the United States claiming their first HSBC Sevens World Series title and with the story of 'Rugby War Goddess' Georgia Paige going viral.

Now the Wallabies are in Chicago to play the Eagles, as both teams play their final fixture ahead of the Rugby World Cup, and Melville says "it's good to have them here".

"If you're going to showcase rugby in this country, what two better teams to bring over," Melville told ESPN exclusively. Melville said the visit of the All Blacks had given rugby in the United States "a little bit of a higher profile".

"People realise what it's all about. They're starting to see these games, saying 'wow, rugby's a better game than I thought it was'. Rugby's traditionally an expats' game, probably not very athletic, some guys playing in a field crawling around … they're starting to see this new game and changing that picture in their mind and now they're getting behind the team and getting behind the game."

And given that increasing awareness of the game, Melville told ESPN "obviously we'd like to host the World Cup". USA Rugby this year withdrew their bid to host the 2023 World Cup, but that was considered to be more of a test run and the nation will host the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018.

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Melville acknowledged "there are a lot of commercial concerns about hosting a tournament of that size" in a non-traditional marketplace "but we have the facilities and the infrastructure and I think it would make sense for World Rugby to bring the World Cup to the USA for the good of the game".

More immediately, Melville said of the Wallabies fixture that "a good result's a win obviously … but you've got to be honest, we've got to compete with a Tier 1 team".

"If we compete with a Tier 1 team here now before we go away, it gives us confidence before we get to London; we've got South Africa and we've got Scotland also. We played Samoa a few weeks ago, we got close to Samoa, we beat Japan, it just means we're not frightened; we go there with no fear, to enjoy ourselves, and put the best performance we can."

Melville said the aim of fixtures such as those against New Zealand and Australia was to keep the game "moving forward at every level".

And that movement includes working with National Rugby Football League, despite having refused to sanction the latter's proposed games between Leicester Tigers and an NRFL team of athletes and international elite players, and Saracens and the Crusaders. The former game, to have been played in Philadelphia, was rejected on grounds of player welfare while the second fixture, slated for New Orleans, was denied because of concerns about the pitch.

"It's one community," Melville said. "Everyone should just come together and play together and work together for the good of the game. And if you heart's not in it, and your whole story's not about the good of the game, the future of the game, then maybe you're not the right fit for it. But I think everyone wants to come together and is probably keen to move the game forward, and I think at the end of the day we'll get together with the same goals."

"Every year we want to keep moving forward, the club game, college game, high schools, youth …

"The Olympics is a big focus for us in 2016 [USA have qualified for both the men's and women's tournaments] and we'd like to get some medals and maintain our gold medal status."

"And we'd like to keep building our XVs because we'd like to qualify for Rugby World Cup semi-finals and finals, and not just turn up."