Rugby poised for big leap in India, says development official

Rugby in India is all set for a big stride forward given if few key factors are addressed, says Indian Rugby Football Union's development manager Greg Davey.

"The key to our success is funding and in getting dedicated grounds we can use alongside sports like soccer and field hockey," New Zealand-born Davey told PTI here.

Davey, who has been in India for the last three years, has seen interest and participation in the game grow multi-fold.

But he has also been frustrated by the lack of proper grounds for the players to play the game without fear of injuring themselves.

"The sport is growing quickly in India. It has grown from 20 city centres last year to 39 this year and from over 300 schools to 400 schools," he noted.

In Mumbai itself there has been growing interest in the schools with 40 of them being represented in this year's inter-schools meet as compared to eight two years ago, Davey said.

"The number of age group teams, under 16 and 20, too has tripled. Rugby is being played in 21 states. But there are only four grounds for 18,000 players," he bemoaned.

Davey said in places like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa too there's visible interest because the game, at the international level, is being televised by sports channels. "Rugby in India can be the fourth best international team sport after cricket, football and hockey," said Davey, who isamong the 29-member staff with the IRFU.

"All we want are grounds for rugby, if not of full size but at least half the size. In some places, the Sports Authority of India are coming on board. But the cost of hiring the grounds otherwise is excessive. Some ask us Rs3,000 per hour of use," he said.

As yet another example of the growing interest in India, he said when the rugby body held a clinic in Nanded in Maharashtra, 1000 children had turned up.

Davey said as much as 80% of the schools who have introduced the game are government-funded. Whereas there were no tournaments for under 16 two years ago, there are five currently.

"We have two divisions at the national level for 15-a-side and two for the 7s. It bodes well for the future. At present there are club competitions in Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Delhi," he noted.

"Size-wise the Indian players are getting closer to the players from other countries but skill-wise they have a long way to go," Davey said. The official said it was understandable simply because a rugby player in England plays a lot many more games than his Indian counterpart.

Davey said the progress shown by the juniors was encouraging and has impressed the two referees from England officiating in the ongoing 76th All India and South Asia
tournament.

"They are of the opinion when watching matches between the younger people and the older players that the juniors have better technique."

He wished the 15-a-side tournament in progress at the Bombay Gymkhana is held during the Christmas period when the temperature is a lot more conducive than during the monsoon season.

According to him, 15-a-side tournaments form the base for building up a good team for the 7s which is the format that's to be played in the CWG next year and expected to be included in the Olympic Games programme next month.

"The 15-a-side game is like a cricket Test match. It's the training ground to identify the 7s players. In South Africa, the Currie Cup 15-a-side tournament is used to pick the team of 7s," Davey pointed out.

He said the game's rules and coaching manuals have been translated into Hindi and Tamil and translation in Bengali was next in line.