India national rugby union team

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India
Indian Rugby Logo.jpg
Union Indian Rugby-Football Union
Ground(s) Fatorda Stadium (Capacity: 24,000)
Coach(es) Mitsutake Hagimoto
Captain(s) Nasser Hussain
Team kit
First international
 Singapore 85–0 India 
(26 October 1998)
Largest win
 India 92–0 Pakistan 
(14 June 2008)
Largest defeat
 Singapore 85–0 India 
(26 October 1998)
World Cup
Appearances 0

The India national rugby union team represents India in rugby union. India is currently Division 3 champion of Asian 5 Nations.

The Indian national rugby union team was admitted to the IRB in 2001, but it took three years before India managed to win a match, beating Pakistan 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, but a 22-36 loss to Kazakhstan sent them out of the running for that tournament. They also disappointed with an 8-8 tie in Guam, but still finished second in their group of four teams thanks to beating Malaysia 48-12. However, as only the top team in the group qualified for the next stage, India were out. Their current record in IRB-recognised internationals is ten wins, one tie, and twenty four losses.

History

Rugby Union in India dates back to a scratch match or two played in Kolkata and Madras 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 and a combined team of Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

The national team was not started till 1998 however when the India national team played Singapore in Singapore, they lost 85-0. The team were then admitted into the International Rugby Board 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 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, Scotland, and Wales. 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 and win it in order to move on to Round 2 in qualification. India though lost their first match against Thailand and had to settle for 3rd place after a 2nd[clarification needed] place match win against Pakistan in which India achieved their biggest ever victory as they beat Pakistan 92–0.

Stadium

India does not have its own personal stadium to use. When they play they usually do on local university 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 colors of light blue and white. At present, the shirt and socks are dark blue, while the shorts are black.

Record

Asian Five Nations

India competes annually in the Asian Five Nations, which is played against five other Asian nations in 4 divisions. India participated in the 2008 Asian Five Nations in the Second Division and ended in third place, missing promotion. During the 2009 Asian Five Nations India again finished in 3rd place in the Second Division but then during the 2010 Asian Five Nations India just lost out on promotion to Division 1 as they were beaten 34-12 by the Philippines in the final game. They then suffered a set back in 2011 as they were relegated after the 2011 Asian Five Nations division tournaments. For the 2012 Five Nations Division Tournament India will play in the Third Division.

Year Host Champion India Record (W-L) India Finish
2008 Thailand Thailand Thailand Thailand 1-1 3rd Place in Division 2
2009 Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia 1-1 3rd Place in Division 2
2010 India India Philippines Philippines 1-1 2nd Place in Division 2
2011 Thailand Thailand Chinese Taipei Chinese Taipei 0-2 4th Place in Division 2
2012 Indonesia Indonesia India India 2-0 1st Place in Division 3

World Cup

India has never played in the Rugby World Cup but they have attempted twice in 2005 and 2008 to qualify for the 2007 Rugby World Cup and 2011 Rugby World Cups respectively.

Year Host Champion India Finish Results
1987 to 2003 Various Various India did not participate
2007 (Asian Qualification) Various  Kazakhstan Second in division 3 Pool B Round 1a India did not qualify
2011 (Asian Qualification)  Thailand  Thailand Third in first round India did not qualify
2015 (Asian Qualification)  Thailand Second in division 2 and 3 India did not qualify

Overall records

Their Test match record against all nations, updated to 8 June 2013, is as follows:[1]

Opponent Played Won Lost Drawn Win percentage
 Arabian Gulf* 1 0 1 0 0%
 China 3 1 2 0 33.3%
 Chinese Taipei 1 0 1 0 0%
 Guam 3 2 0 1 83.3%
 Iran 3 1 2 0 33.3%
 Kazakhstan 3 0 3 0 0%
 Malaysia 4 1 3 0 25%
 Pakistan 5 5 0 0 100%
 Philippines 2 1 1 0 50%
 Singapore 3 0 3 0 0%
 Sri Lanka 2 0 2 0 0%
 Thailand 7 0 7 0 0%
Total 37 11 25 1 31.08%

Squad

Indian Squad for 2016 Asian Five Nations - Division 3

Coach

Name Tenure Tests Won Drew Lost Win percentage
Norman Laker 1 January 2011 – present 2 0 0 2 0%

References

  1. ↑ http://stats.espnscrum.com/statsguru/rugby/stats/index.html?class=1;team=105;template=results;type=team;view=opposition

External links

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