The Rugby Premier League Will Reduce The Timeframe For India’s Rise In The Sport: Rahul Bose

Q. Every sport in India fights the battle to be No. 2, after cricket. It’s a very crowded space. Where does rugby figure in that?

It’s not crowded at all. People just don’t work hard enough. Listen to the sponsors, listen to broadcasters, listen to other stakeholders who tell us that nobody has ever talked to them like we have. We were awarded the best federation in the country (development) a few months ago by Ficci not because we won the world championship, but because enshrined in Rugby India are truth, accountability, transparency and ethics. My five-year vision for the RPL is that every child who’s thinking of a career in sport should put rugby in their top five. 

Q. Do you plan to start a women’s league too? 

I wish there was one right now, because women in rugby are better than the men in the international set-up—they are ranked 10th in Asia compared to 15th for men. In the bones of Rugby India is gender justice and gender equality. And I take no credit for this. For the last 20 years, every single championship for men and women has been done at the same time with the same facilities, so when it comes to the women’s league the only thing that stops us is economic considerations—you need six more teams at a time your team owners have just taken on a new sport. To get sponsorships for that is a challenge because nobody yet knows the sport much. I would think to myself that there can be a women’s edition in Season 2 or 3, but no decision in Rugby India is unilateral, so the governing council and the team owners will take a call eventually. We already have three owners interested in a women’s team, so a women’s league is inevitable. 

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