Rahul Bose Rugby: Rahul Bose Interview – Rubgy! A highly named yet the least known Sport in the country. Believe it or not, 40% of India plays Rugby and there is negligible broadcast for the sport. Mr. Rahul Bose, apart from his highly acclaimed persona as an actor and director, is currently the President of the Indian Rugby Football Union. A Man on a Mission to make the sport more appealable to all has been quite vocal as to how the sport is being played today. Here below, we share the wonderful interaction that we had with Mr. Bose. Follow Rugby LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN
Rahul Bose Rugby: Man on A Mission, Actor-turned Rugby Federation Prez Rahul Bose aims to make India Rugby Nation with Live Broadcast, urges Indians, ‘Watch fast muscle ballerinas with contact, thrill & skill’
Rahul Bose’s journey in the field of Rugby has been quite dynamic. He first started playing at the school level from where he was scouted into the Bombay Gymkhana. And finally, in 2009, he represented the country in India’s very first Rubgy International game. Following his retirement from the sport, Mr. Bose now continues his ambassadorial duties as the President of the Indian Rugby Football Union.
Earlier, Rahul Bose was a part of the board for a span of 6 months but then he decided to resign since he was engrossed in other work. “When I had the time, I came back on the board in 2020. I was there for a year till 2021. And then, of course, the government had said, you have to have elections. You can’t appoint any more. So then after that, on 21st December we had elections. I had to decide whether I wanted to stand or not, and I took a decision that it’s gonna be a four-year term. Do I have the time? Do I have the intent? Do I have the commitment? And I said yes to all three. In my head, I stood. And I was elected on the 18th of December, 2021. So it’s been about 15 months.”
Rahul Bose Rugby: Man on A Mission, Actor-turned Rugby Federation Prez Rahul Bose aims to make India Rugby Nation with Live Broadcast, urges Indians, ‘Watch fast muscle ballerinas with contact, thrill & skill’
𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 💪
Glimpses of our senior women’s team hustling at the training grounds, at @SAI_Kolkata 📸 pic.twitter.com/kqvxXvFLTK
— Rugby India (@RugbyIndia) March 10, 2023
Interviewer: So how would you describe the current scenario of rugby in India?
Rahul Bose: Well, I would describe it as being rugby is the least known, most played sport in the country. And the reason I say that, is because there are about 740 districts in India, and rugby’s played in 310. That is 40% of India plays rugby. I’m not saying in that district everybody’s playing in, but there’s a presence in that district. The reason why nobody knows about the sport is that it’s not on television.
Rahul Bose: But even that’s fading out soon. Television will fade, as it is already. Now you’re looking at valuations for these various sporting leagues at 50% online, 50% television. Five years ago it was 10% online, 90% television rights to buy the rights, and tomorrow it’ll go the other way.
Rahul Bose Rugby: Man on A Mission, Actor-turned Rugby Federation Prez Rahul Bose aims to make India Rugby Nation with Live Broadcast, urges Indians, ‘Watch fast muscle ballerinas with contact, thrill & skill’
Despite the game being widely recognized game, the Rugby fan following in India is marginal. But on the contrary, the Women’s team has been performing well at the Asian level. With the target set for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, Mr. Bose is determined that India will try their best to reach the coveted tournament.
With the Pandemic period being over, the Federation along with State Associations are working their best to support the players and thereby help the athletes push for medals.
Interviewer: What do you think has been maybe holding Rugby back from being recognized as a proper sport in India?
Rahul Bose: You know that rugby is a massive Olympic sport. To get to the Olympics, you have to be in the top nations. In Asia, it’s a quota system. Right now, Japan, China, and Korea are at the top. Our women are ranked number nine or 10 in Asia. Our men are ranked 14-15 in Asia.
Now that challenge is for the Olympics by 2028. You have five years and you’re eighth, you have to basically climb five spots from eight to two, so all six spots. So that’s the challenge. Now that’s what we have to do. That’s what we do. Everything is being put in place to push hard from 2023. The post-pandemic period is over. Our women won four silver medals at the Asian level last year in four definition tournaments. Our men, didn’t do as well. And now in 2023, We want to push more as we want to turn silver to gold and to get, want to, get the men for medal protection.
Rahul Bose Rugby: Man on A Mission, Actor-turned Rugby Federation Prez Rahul Bose aims to make India Rugby Nation with Live Broadcast, urges Indians, ‘Watch fast muscle ballerinas with contact, thrill & skill’
Interviewer: You mentioned that vision is very important in the world. So as a president personally, what’s your vision for the Sport?
Rahul Bose: My vision for Indian rugby? On the field, it would be a set of crack professionals, always playing the game hard, but always playing it fair and off the field it would be, whenever anybody’s in need or help, an Indian Rugby Player should come out there anyway. If there’s anybody in need of help in this world, the first hand I should walk to help should be an Indian Rugby Player.
How to describe the sport? It is interesting – It’s got the contact of Kabaddi, it’s got the speed and thrill of hockey and the skills of football, and more. So it’s a combination of these three things. If I was to tell somebody why you should watch it, It’s got contact, it’s got violence. It’s got physicality, it’s got speed, it’s got beauty, it’s got skill. It’s got, it’s like you’re watching fast muscle ballerinas. That’s what Rugby is.
Rahul Bose Rugby: Man on A Mission, Actor-turned Rugby Federation Prez Rahul Bose aims to make India Rugby Nation with Live Broadcast, urges Indians, ‘Watch fast muscle ballerinas with contact, thrill & skill’
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