Children under 10 make Indian Rugby shine; clinics, school calendars play a major role

It was a balmy Wednesday afternoon in Calcutta, and there was a nip in the air. The year was 1872. It was Christmas day. Commandeered by Prince Alfred, the Royal Navy’s marquee ship, the H.M.S. Galatea lay docked in the city’s port. A round of celebratory lunches, evening parties, and balls were held. Soldiers’ games were organised at a local maiden for the ship’s crew - a motley group of seafarers drawn from across the British Isles. Teak goalposts were erected, and an egg-shaped ball, launched into the fray. In the first rugby match to be played in the subcontinent, the Englishmen squared off against a combined team representing Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The result was not documented.

Unlike other colonial imports, rugby never took off in the subcontinent. However, the sport is belatedly coming into its own, more than a century since the first matches were played in the dust-bowls of Calcutta “We got a result we did not expect so soon. It is terrific for raising the profile of rugby in the country,” says Mahesh Mathai, General Secretary, Rugby India, on the Indian women’s team’s first-ever victory in a full test-match against Singapore last month. For the sport’s governing body, favourable results on the pitch are a reflection of policy initiatives to promote the game at the grassroots level, and also inspired hiring calls.

“There’s a lot happening in terms of grassroots development. In 2018, 1,75,000 kids were introduced to rugby which made us no.1 in Asia in terms of reach and participation,” said Nasser Hussain, General Manager, Rugby India. The ‘Get Into Rugby Programme,’ an initiative of World Rugby, has been a hit in schools, with many children at the under-10 level taking a shine to the egg-shaped ball. Rugby clinics are organised where children are taught the rudiments of the sport. “Non-contact rugby – also called touch rugby - is played in a more protected environment where children are encouraged to enjoy the sport, rather than worrying about the rules. They just have to go out there, handle the oval-shaped ball, and have fun,” he added.


While rugby was resigned to being a minor sport, played only in pockets of the country, its inclusion in the calendar of the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) has helped improve the profile and reach of the sport. While there has been a tangible improvement in the standard of play, the move has helped increase participation and engagement. “More than 90 per cent of all schools in the country are a part of the SGFI. More youngsters are now aware of the sport. In Mumbai, around 35-40 schools participate, accounting for 3,000 registered players. The enrolment is not male dominated. That’s something we are very happy about,” Hussain said.

Less than a year ago, Rugby India, decided to try out a different approach to gain visibility in the country. “Any of these high-performance targets take years. We knew we had to manage a few podium finishes so that we are taken notice of by the government,” Mathai said. Budgetary allocation for bringing in better infrastructure and coaching teams for the national team was made for the next financial year. In the interim, Springbok legend, Naas Botha was touring India, and was impressed by what he saw. It was happenstance. The appointment proved fortuitous.

On March 31, former South Africa player and World Rugby hall-of-famer Naas Botha took over the reins as India’s head coach. He was tasked with overseeing the development of the men’s and women’s rugby teams. Botha’s first test was the Asia Rugby Championship in June. “The women’s team has come third in division one. The win by itself, is a testament to the change his team has brought about. It is our huge desire that Naas stays on for longer,” Mathai said. The men’s team has been around for longer, but Hussain insists that success should not be conflated with results. “It is too early to gauge whether putting the onus on performance over reach will bear fruit,” he said.

Mathai reckons that one of the biggest disadvantages smaller sports are faced with in India is the monopolization of our collective conscious by more popular counterparts. The prescription he recommends is greater exposure to non-mainstream sports. “The ultimate visibility goal would be to get live television coverage, but that is difficult in this country for anything other than cricket. Kabaddi had visibility not just as kabaddi. It got visibility as a league, as the Pro Kabaddi League. At the back of our minds, we have the idea for a league that we want to do and that might help attract all the big broadcasters,” Mathai said.

To work around the blackout on cable television, Rugby India has been up-linking live streams from national events on platforms like Facebook. Matches from the Senior National tournament were beamed live on Rugby India’s Facebook page using a two-camera setup. “We are trying to improve our own production capabilities. There is an audience out there that is longing to watch the game and we want to provide an avenue for them to experience the sport live. We are getting a fair response digitally,” Hussain said. The matches have also created a buzz outside the country. The stream for the Junior Nationals, which was cross-posted by Asia Rugby on their Facebook page, generated record engagement levels.