'India Will Be A Great Rugby Nation', Says Sumit Kumar Roy
Indian rugby will benefit immensely with more international exposure says Sumit Kumar Roy, adding that the experiences from the Rugby Premier League helped the team win the silver medal in Asia's top rugby sevens competition.
Indian rugby will benefit immensely with more international exposure says Sumit Kumar Roy, adding that the experiences from the Rugby Premier League helped the team win the silver medal in Asia's top rugby sevens competition. India finished runner-up after losing to Kazakhstan in the final in Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy last year, securing their promotion to the Sevens Series which is the top-tier rugby sevens event. “It's about getting as many matches and exposure as possible. The most important thing is that we will play with different teams from different countries. We will get to know more about rugby and its rules.
"It will be great if we play more matches,” Sumit, who is playing for the tournament finalists Hyderabad Heroes in the RPL, told PTI.
Sumit said the arrival of RPL certainly helped the Indian players in sharpening the game as they got to learn from overseas players with different backgrounds.
“We used to wait for one tournament in a year be it U-18, U-20 or even senior. We learned a lot from RPL last year. We applied for the Asia Cup Senior and we won a silver medal as well as qualified for Series 1,” he said.
“The players we play with are also big players in their country. They play in the World Series. It is a big thing for us to learn from them as there are many countries do not get the opportunity to play with them. We have got the opportunity. We will use this opportunity to play for India,” Sumit added.
Sumit said in a “contact sport” like rugby, it is equally important to have discipline which is something he learnt from playing with overseas players.
“But after playing with them, I do not feel tired and I do not feel down. They motivate me all the time. I learned discipline from them,” he said.
“Rugby is played with discipline. If a referee whistles, you have to listen to him. There is no point in arguing with him. This is the best thing I have learnt.” Sumit said the Indian team has set its sights on winning for the Commonwealth Games in 2030 which will be held in the country.
“There are going to be two big events in India. One is the Commonwealth Games in 2030 and I hope there will be the Olympics in 2036. India plays rugby so we will participate in it,” he said.
“World Series players from countries like Fiji, New Zealand, Kenya, and Uruguay will come and we will play with them. Our main target is to become champions in Series 1, then the Asian Games which will help us qualify for the Commonwealth Games and play in the Olympics,” Sumit added.
Diego Ardao, who captained the Uruguay team in the rugby sevens event in the Paris Olympics, believes India will need a right mix of players as well as coaches to spread the game in the country.
“You can't separate these two parts; they go together. You need coaches that have the required skills to develop rugby, but you of course need the players to put what these coaches are trying to show and are bringing to the sport,” Ardao said.
Ardao said India has the advantage of using its manpower in any sport they want to.
“I truly believe that India has the potential to be a great nation in rugby and in any sport that they want, because they have the people. That's the most important resource, having persons that play the sport and from there on, you can develop as much as you intend to,” he said.
"They are aiming for the Olympics nowadays, to be honest, I think that they are far away, but they know that, and that is why they are doing all this planning and development in the long term,” Ardao added.
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