Ready for Rugby

• Two international coaches now work with Indian players, including New Zealander Willie Hetaraka, from top club side Maori Colts

• India play a one-off ‘international’ against top English side Leicester Tigers next month.

Affiliated to the International Rugby Board (IRB), the game’s international governing body, in April 2001, India is now ranked 89 out of the 94 nations. But that isn’t bad news, says Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU) president Pramod Khanna. ‘‘This is positive stuff, since India started playing international rugby under the IRB only a short time ago.’’

What India now needs, says Hetaraka, who spent a month here in August-September, is a consolidated development programme for coaches, players and officials. This area (development program) is now being addressed, he says.

And the thinking is out of the box. ‘‘We felt that the requisites of the game — speed, physique, discipline, aggression — would be found in the Indian Army, so we held a month-long coaching camp at the Army facility in Ahmednagar, where the results were promising,’’ says Khanna.

Hetaraka is, if anything, more excited about the exercise. ‘‘The camp was fantastic. The boys didn’t know the ‘r’ of rugby but, after just one month, they play the game at a good level. They understand the concept and the coaches and instructors understand the laws and are doing a great job. Over my years in coaching rugby I find the Army players were outstanding in picking up this game’’, he says.

The army, Hetaraka points out, has ‘‘huge potential’’ in strengthening rugby; fitness base levels are already in place. ‘‘Rugby suits a soldier. It has physical contact, aggression, team work, strategies and the like.’’

Indeed, before the game went professional in 1995, most players in the top rugby nations were either from the armed forces or the police.

But do Indians fall short when it comes to coping with the sheer physicality of the game (the top teams in the world boast of average weights of 95-100 kg and average heights of six feet or more)?

It could be a problem, says India team captain Chaitanya Sinh; the Indian team’s total weight is a good 100 kg less than that of top international sides. But he’s quick to point out that speed and fitness count as well.

Hetaraka agrees. ‘‘Rugby is a physical sport and size does matter, but India are in the Asia Region and play Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Japan. So given the right game plan and with the genetic size of Indian players you can play at speed. Take, for example, Japan who performed brilliantly against France in this World Cup.’’

Popular perception sees rugby as an overtly physical sport requiring nothing other than brute force. Its most famous Indian player differs. ‘‘I’ve played rugby through school, for my club Bombay Gymkhana and the Indian team’’, says actor Rahul Bose. ‘‘It’s a sport like no other, a game filled with passion, terrific rigour and spontaneity. It teaches certain things like teamwork, and needs ability to perform with heart,’’ says Bose.

The actor, who says cinema steals a march over rugby in his affection ‘‘by only a hair’s breadth’’, and rues the fact that the sport has taken a backseat due to hectic shooting schedules, is looking forward to travelling with the Indian team on the England tour next month. ‘‘These Tests against their professional clubs will help the Indian side evolve and grow,’’ he says.

What will also help is the involvement of Castle and Hutch Orange in pumping money into the sport. It’s not that tough to market, says Anil Singh, former India player and director of Procam International, a Mumbai-based sports marketing firm promoting rugby in India. ‘‘For six years, Famous Grouse, sponsors for the Scotland rugby team was sponsoring the sport here. Now Castle Lager (Springboks sponsor) and Hutch Orange have stepped in. Rugby is a game of great camaraderie off the field, and can reach out to the consumers.’’

In the end, it’s down to the money coming in. The IRFU, says Khanna, now receives an annual grant of 35,000 pounds. And Anil Singh says both Hutch Orange and Castle annually pump in Rs 40 and Rs 50 lakh respectively. This is targeted at the rugby clubs and for rugby-related celebrity bashes, promotional activity. All this goes into creating awareness and promoting the sport.

That’s what the players need at the ground level. ‘‘The Indian team plays on an honorary basis, while the successful sides are all pro’’, Faisal points out. ‘‘One can’t make a living playing rugby in India. More awareness (about the game) is needed.’’

Things are changing, though slowly. It may still be a couple of world cups before an India team can take part but the game seems to be on the right track.