India national rugby union team is a national team that represents India in the international rugby championships and matches. It is governed by

Rugby India Rugby India, also known as Indian Rugby Football Union is the governing body for sport of rugby union in India. It is situated at Marine lines, Mumbai in Maharashtra. It was founded in 1968 and became affiliated to the International Rugby Boa ...

organization which is recognised by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of government of India. It was admitted to the IRB in 2001, but it took three years before

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

won a match, beating

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

56–3 in the third tier competition of the Asian Biennial tournament. In 2005, they started their attempt to qualify for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

, but a 22–36 loss to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

sent them out of the running for that tournament. They also were disappointed with an 8–8 tie in

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, but still managed to finish second in their group of four teams thanks to beating

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

48–12. However, as only the top team in the group qualified for the next stage, India were out.

History

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

in India dates back to a scratch match or two played in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

and

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

during the visit of MS Galatea in 1871. The first recorded match was played on Christmas Day 1872, at CFC in Kolkata, it was played between

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and a combined team of Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The national team was not started until 1998 however when the India national team played

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

in Singapore, they lost 85-0. The team were then admitted into the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

in 2001 and then in 2003 the team undertook its first UK tour. This consisted of playing three sides from the Midlands which all resulted in large defeats, including a staggering 153-0 defeat from a Leicester Tigers XV at Welford Road. They also failed to score a single try during their visit. Despite the sheer lack of success, the head did have some positive words, stating: "It's all a learning process for us. The difference in size and body weight between the two teams was huge, but when we get back to Asia we'll be playing against teams roughly our own size." In 2007 India attempted to qualify for the

in France,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. They were placed in Asian Division 3, Pool B for the qualifiers in which India finished second of four teams with 1 win, 1 tie, and 1 loss. As only the first place team moved on to the second qualification round India was officially knocked out of the 2007 World Cup. In 2008 the India Rugby Union Team attempted to qualify for the Rugby World Cup again. This time though qualification was different as instead of the group stage India had to play in the

2008 Asian Five Nations ''For divisional competitions, see: 2008 Asian Five Nations division tournaments'' The 2008 Asian Five Nations, known as the 2008 HSBC Asian 5 Nations due to its sponsorship by HSBC, was the inaugural series of the newly formatted Asian rugby un ...

and win it in order to move on to Round 2 in qualification. India though lost their first match against

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

and had to settle for 3rd place after a 2nd place match win against

in which India achieved their biggest ever victory as they beat Pakistan 92–0. In 2019, South Africa legend and former South Africa national rugby union team player Nass Botha became the head coach of Indian men's and women's national teams. Under his supervision Rugby India held practice sessions, tryouts in different part of the India. As per Botha India have to play at least 10-12 matches per year per season. India have 1.3 billion people, the country can form a competitive national team. 800 schools in the country have rugby 7 teams, these schools also have to make 15 players teams, It will increase talent pool. Even if 50-100 started their 15 player side.

Stadium

India does not have its own personal stadium to use. When they play they usually do on local

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

fields throughout India.

Strip

India have worn dark blue and black for all of their Rugby Union games since 2011 and prior to that, from 1998–2010, they used the traditional Indian sports colours of light blue and white. At present, the shirt and socks are dark blue and the shorts are black.

Record

Asia Rugby Championship

India competes annually in the Asia Rugby Championship, which is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

competition held amongst national rugby sides within the Asia Rugby region. India participated in the inaugural

(as it was then known) competing in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, finishing in third place, and missing out on being promoted. During the

2009 Asian Five Nations ''For divisional competitions, see: 2009 Asian Five Nations division tournaments'' The 2009 Asian Five Nations, known as the 2009 HSBC Asian 5 Nations due to its sponsorship by HSBC, was the second series of the rugby union Asian Five Nations, th ...

India again finished in 3rd place in the

but then during the

2010 Asian Five Nations ''For divisional competitions, see: 2010 Asian Five Nations division tournaments'' The 2010 Asian Five Nations, known as the 2010 HSBC Asian 5 Nations due to its sponsorship by HSBC, was the third series of the Asian Five Nations, the flagship com ...

India just lost out on promotion to Division 1 when they were beaten 34-12 by the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in the final game. They then suffered a setback in

2011 Asian Five Nations *''For divisional competitions, see: 2011 Asian Five Nations division tournaments'' The 2011 Asian Five Nations, known as the 2011 HSBC Asian 5 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the HSBC, was the 4th series of the Asian Five Nations r ...

as they were relegated to Division 3 after losing both their matches in Second Division tournament. In 2012 India were successful in winning the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

tournament earning a promotion back to Division 2 the following year. In 2013 they finished fourth in the

tournament, relegating them back to the third division. In 2014 the

Division 3 In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football * Belgian Th ...

tournament was split into an East and West competition, with four teams in each. India finished in fourth place in the Division 3 West tournament. In 2015 the

tournament was split into three brackets, East, West and Central, with three teams in each. India competed in the Central tournament, however due to the withdrawal of

the remaining teams India and

Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...

played two matches against each other. As both team scored respective victories India was declared the winner on points difference. In 2016 the

tournament was split into four competitions, East, Central, West and West-Central. India plays in the South-Central bracket where it is scheduled to compete against Pakistan.

World Cup

India has never played in the

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

but they have attempted twice in 2005 and 2008 to qualify for the

and

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

s respectively.

Overall records

The Test match record against all nations, updated to 25 November 2022, is as follows:

Recent matches

;Matches played in the last 12 months. ----

Squad

Squad to 2022 Asia Rugby Championship Division 3 South *Head Coach:

References

External links

The Official Website of Indian Rugby

Indian Rugby Internationals

2007 Rugby World Cup qualifying procedures

2007 Rugby World Cup results
{{DEFAULTSORT:India National Rugby Union Team Asian national rugby union teams