Dire game across the Atlantic without ball? (7)
I believe the answer is:
ruinous
'dire' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'game across the atlantic without ball?' is the wordplay.
'game' becomes 'RU' (rugby union).
'across the atlantic' becomes 'in US' (in the United States).
'without' is an insertion indicator ('without' can be similar in meaning to 'outside').
'ball?' becomes 'o' (letter resembling a ball).
'inus' enclosing 'o' is 'inous'.
'ru'+'inous'='RUINOUS'
(Other definitions for ruinous that I've seen before include "Exorbitant" , "Causing destruction" , "far too expensive" , "Disastrous, destructive" , "Catastrophic" .)