By IANS
Mumbai : Indian rugby could be in for a makeover. The first indication came when Army Red won its maiden rugby title at the 74th Vodafone Essar All-India and South Asia Rugby Tournament at the Bombay Gymkhana.
Army Red beat defending champions Chennai Cheetahs 12-5 Saturday despite the latter having fielding India stalwart Emil Vartazarian and four Sri Lankans, including an international.
The win may well have set in motion a movement that could catapult rugby to new heights. With Services being one of the pillars of Indian sport alongside Railways, Indian rugby may have found a new benefactor.
The All India and South Asia Rugby Tournament is the most prestigious event on the Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU) calendar. Since 1924, the annual tournament is held alternately in Mumbai and Kolkata featuring premier clubs of the country and some invited foreign clubs.
This year’s list included Lahore Rugby Football Club, while the British Asian Rugby Association (BARA) had sent a team that won the cup in 2005. This year’s event had 13 teams.
Services’ tryst with rugby began in 2003 when IRFU president Pramod Khanna suggested to a senior army officer that the game cold help the armed forces reach much-needed fitness levels and also offered national coach Willie Heteraka of New Zealand for help.
Ahmednagar may well be deemed the birthplace of rugby in the army.
In 2003, the trials were held in Ahmednagar with 75 aspirants, mostly footballers, wrestlers and kabaddi players. Since the management needed two teams of 22 each to practice they pruned the field to about 50.
Army’s infantry battalions also began playing rugby, and soon Ambala, Kolkata and Bangalore began providing players to the Ahmednagar centre.
Now, Colonel Tomy Mani from Kerala, who has represented Services in football, says: “We have a huge ground and the latest gym facilities. Rugby is the major work these players do. Rugby and cycling are the two major sports at Ahmednagar.”
But one of the major hurdles faced by the centre is that teams find it difficult to travel to the high security zone since most teams have at least one or two foreigners who need prior security clearance.
Giving the Services effort the thumbs-up Saturday was the chief cuest, Francois Pujolas, consul general of France, currently hosting the Rugby World Cup.
He said: “I have been here just three weeks and could not have imagined the sport was played here and other parts of country.”
And this is just the beginning of a new age for Indian rugby.