Rugby, a sport that has been globally recognised and played by more than a 110 countries has eventually reached India. The Rugby World Cup 2019 (RWC 2019) Trophy Tour reached the Indian subcontinent as an attempt to engage the Indian crowd with the game. The greatest Rugby event is hosted every four years.
The Trophy tour initially began with Delhi and on August 8, it reached Mumbai at the Bombay Gymkhana. Former Rugby player and Bollywood actor, Rahul Bose was present at the Gymkhana and addressed the media. Brett Gosper, the World Rugby CEO too was present during the unveiling of the Trophy. He expressed his gratitude towards government as well as Asian officials for making it possible and said,
“We are delighted to bring the Webb Ellis Cup to India for the very first time as a part of World Rugby 2019 Trophy Tour. We extend our gratitude to our colleagues at Asia Rugby and Rugby India for making us so welcome and supporting our efforts to grow the game in India.”
Bollywood actor Siddharth Malhotra too arrived at the Bombay Gymkhana and being a former rugby player, the actor took to Twitter to express his eagerness for the upcoming Rugby World Cup:
Excited to see the Webb Ellis Cup in India ahead of #RugbyWorldCup2019.Was great spending the evening with the kids and Gautam Dagar-Team India’s current captain and my old team mate.Hope one day India qualifies for the #RUGBYWORLDCUP #RugbyIndia @WorldRugby pic.twitter.com/HkgdrqxTUJ
— Sidharth Malhotra (@S1dharthM) August 8, 2018
World’s top 20 teams have secured their place in the 2019 tournament and unsurprisingly, the only Asian team that would be playing RWC 2019, is the hosts, Japan. While people may rant about, "Why India won't give priority to other games?" or "Why hasn't Rugby been a successful game in India?", the statement by Rahul Bose answers the questions aptly,
India started playing Cricket in 1932 and to get itself in the top five or top three, it took India approximately 50-60 years. Similarly, India started playing Rugby 25 years ago. So India still has more 45 years to develop as a potential Rugby playing nation."
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