'We don't have facilities but we have passion': India's rugby love meets Premier League platform but challenges remain

Sumit Roy first tried his hand at rugby when he was 10 years old. His motivation was not the sport but the fact that he would get a free jersey and some good food if he went to play. Just after a few years of rugby, he left the sport and joined a football club. However, rugby called him back again and this time he never left.

Sumit is currently the highest-paid player (Rs 3.75 lakh) at the Rugby Premier League (RPL), which is the world's first franchise-based rugby sevens tournament. It is an ambitious project that hopes to make rugby one of the most popular sports among youths in India. And youngsters like Sumit are definitely getting the benefit.

More from Sports

RPL changing Indian rugby

21-year-old Sumit, who plays for Hyderabad Heroes in the tournament, told Firstpost in an exclusive interaction that a tournament like RPL has been a game-changer. The stars that Indian players could only watch on their screens were suddenly playing with and against them.

"This is a big thing. When we started rugby, we used to watch some players on mobile to understand what rugby is. We learned from watching them. Now, we are playing with them. This is a big thing for Indian players," Sumit said. "The experience is good. We learn what to do and what not to do. We are learning a lot from them. The environment is making us better. We will continue to learn. RPL is a platform that is helping our Indian players."

Regan Ware, an Olympic medallist for New Zealand and a teammate of Sumit at the Hyderabad franchise, feels that within a season and a half, the improvement in Indian players can already be seen.

"Mixing with a lot of international players, you know, already, I think it's lifted the level of rugby up for them, which is, always just going to improve how they play the game," Ware tells Firstpost. "The more we can play with them and get them up to speed with, you know, where we are playing, then like I said, it's only going to make them better through the years."

Rugby is New Zealand's top sport. Regan had been dreaming of playing for the All Blacks since he was 5. The sport is strongly embedded in the country's sporting culture, much like cricket is in India's.

Off-field challenges for Rugby stars in India

While cricket can be considered even bigger in India than rugby is in New Zealand, it is also true that, unlike New Zealand, where other sports too have made a place for themselves, Indian fans do not usually want to split their attention. Sports like rugby are far behind in the pecking order and that is why, for players like Sumit, challenges begin right at home.

Sumit's mother was totally against him playing rugby, even though he enjoyed support from his father. Things got so bad that at one point, his mother would not even talk to him.

"Rugby is a game where there is a lot of injury. Once, my eyebrow got hurt. It was torn. I got a stitch. At that time, my father said, leave rugby. Why are you playing? It's a game of injuries. You are not getting anything in return. There is no point in playing. My mother stopped talking to me. She did not tell me anything, saying, 'what should I even say to you?'" he recalled.

Things have changed a lot for Sumit since then and for Indian rugby too.

Sumit was a member of the Indian team that recently entered the final of the Asian Trophy. This was the first appearance of the Indian team in the final of the prestigious event. The women's team is also seeing a rapid rise.

"Now, my mother calls and asks, when is your game? Tell me. I will see. She calls me all the time. She keeps asking me, how are you? I feel good."

'Indian players extremely passionate'

RPL aims to popularise rugby among Indian youth and a lot of young players are already highly passionate about the sport. This, Regan believes, is the best quality in Indian players.

"I think the best part for me is like they're willing to learn and they're willing to listen, you know, like so we've got some good leaders within our international boys that are happy to help. So it's been awesome for Indian boys to be able to listen, learn and then play some good rugby. They're extremely passionate," Regan says.

Regan Ware praises Indian rugby talent. Image: Special arrangement

But he acknowledges that there remains a big gap between Indian talent and the top players of the world.

"You compare the level of the World Series to, you know, where the Indian rugby players have been playing and naturally it is a massive step up from where the level of rugby we're playing. So the intensity of the game could be improved, but naturally that will come with time and more tournaments that they play."

Sumit says Indian players work hard and try to make up for the lack of infrastructure for the game with their passion.

"We don't have the facilities to maintain such good fitness. We have the passion to play."

The road ahead

So, how can India continue to move ahead in rugby?

"I think just continuing to have, you know, more and more sevens tournaments in India. You know, like, because the Rugby Premier League is an awesome thing. And I can imagine it does awesome things for the people and a lot of people will start watching Indian rugby. So, like, the more tournaments and the more events that India can run throughout the year, man, the better," the All Blacks star said.

"The more people that are going to be watching Indian rugby, the bigger the sport's going to grow, the more money it's going to bring in, the more you can have, the more events you can hold. And I think, like, things like that will slowly grow the sport in India," he adds.

"If we play more matches, we will get more experience. If we play with good players and good teams, we will learn good things which we can apply in the series. We have to prepare for the series."

To conclude, he repeats the mantra, "We have to work hard. We have to work hard."