You sensed before the sevens began in Paris, the kick-off event at the Stade de France, that rugby’s profile was set to receive an enormous boost. We may actually look back on the action of the last few days as being a transformative moment for the sport’s global profile.

It is no secret that rugby has chased cracking the United States for decades, with Telegraph Sport last week revealing further plans for engagement building into the 2031 and 2033 Rugby World Cups held Stateside.

Those verbal commitments matter but really nothing is more effective than winning over new fans than passing the eye test, and there have been enough moments across the last few days of action – especially in the women’s competition – to sound the horn on the hype train. The sport is gaining momentum in the US with viral clips and endorsements from celebrities watching rugby for the first time and wondering what on earth they are witnessing. Or, as the American comedian Leslie Jones put it:”‘I’ve been sitting here watching this going holy f------ s---, they don’t have on no pads.”

Rugby regulars might scoff at the importance of Snoop Dogg on US television raving about France’s men winning gold – specifically Antoine Dupont, who you might have read about in the past few days. But the aftereffects could be seismic. Clips are now garnering big numbers. Ireland’s Erin King phenomenally holding up team-mate Emily Lane in the air has been viewed almost 25 million times on Twitter.

To break America however you need a US success story, and the Olympics have actually served up two. A bronze medal, defeating much-fancied Australia to finish third, was hailed by Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders and, uh, the rapper Flavor Flav. Jason Kelce, the revered Philadelphia Eagles player now enjoying retirement from the NFL, seemed to become the women’s unofficial mascot.

Winning in such dramatic fashion thanks to Alex Sedrick’s try, cracking Australia’s defence and racing clear from her own 22, was as dramatic a finish as the US (and World Rugby) could have hoped for. Just imagine if Canada had pulled off another shock by defeating the always excellent New Zealand to win gold.

The second triumph is that in an age where rugby is frequently told that it lacks marketable stars, one player now has more social media followers than any other: the USA’s Ilona Maher. More than South Africa’s Siya Kolisi and Dupont, with Maher adding a million followers on Instagram in the space of five days. Her bulldozing run earlier in the Olympics against Japan, sending an opponent flying with a fend, was an instant hit among NFL circles and was shown to one of the league’s leading running backs, Derrick Henry. He was suitably impressed.

Maher, 27 and born in Vermont, has amassed millions of followers across Instagram, TikTok and X, sharing memes and training footage and messages of body positivity. She used an interview after collecting her bronze medal to call for more investment in the sport. “I hope it means we get more games in stadiums like this, that we get more money and funding for the women’s game. We deserve it. We need more girls in the U.S. trying rugby and seeing what it can do for them,” she said.

Well, her request has been heard. Michele Kang, the Korean-American businesswoman and philanthropist, gave the USA women’s rugby sevens team a $4m (£3.1m) donation following their Olympic success, which will be rolled out over the course of four years providing resources to players and coaching staff, building into the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. It is a significant investment.

Where are Great Britain during this surge of momentum for the game, you might ask. Well, the women’s side finishing seventh felt respectable given the lack of success in this year’s HSBC SVNS series, with two wins in Paris over Ireland and another against South Africa. The highlight of their entire tournament might have been Jaz Joyce’s unreal try-saving tackle on, of all people, Maher.

The men’s side did not qualify for the Olympics, a sad but accurate indictment of how the importance placed on GB Sevens has died off since the silver medal in Rio in 2016, largely down to a dearth of funding. Their eighth-placed finish in this year’s SVNS Series felt accurate. Lisa Thomson was the only Scot in the GB Women’s squad for Paris, the lone representative from the country where the sport was born.

That feels rather desperate. There are serious questions now about the future of the programme. Where next?

Which all means that a time when the sport feels primed for an extraordinary leap following the success of Maher and the US women’s side, Great Britain are an afterthought. There is time ahead of LA 2028 to change that, because the past week has shown that the global interest – and potential investment – is clearly out there.