In the final analysis, the Indian women’s rugby team didn’t win many games at their first international tournament. But given the fact that they were novices pitted against experienced and physically tougher opponents, they put up a show of grit. “We saw that the other teams were of a different class altogether. But we focused on our strengths and gave it our all and a little bit more,” said Avani Sabade, 20, captain of the side. No one expected them to even win a match. They ended their tournament with a victory over the Cambodian side.

The origins of rugby, often called a ruffian’s game played by gentlemen—a definition that our girls surely want changed—are clouded in mystery. Some credit it to Lancashire guy Webb Ellis who, legend has it, picked a football in his hands during a match in 1823 and ran to the goalpost, thus changing the rules of the game. Others date it further back to the Roman Empire. But what is clear is that the Indian women’s rugby squad found itself in Pune. Eleven of the 13-member team belong to the city. The two other girls, Joshobanti Behera and Sangeeta Minz, are from Bhubaneshwar.

Twenty-five-year-old Behera is a student at the Utkal University in Orissa and Minz, also 25, is studying arts at the Rourkela University. Both are national kabaddi players and play rugby in the off-season. They come from impoverished backgrounds and their coach Nita Mohanty takes care of them. After a local men’s team won the Under-14 Rugby World Cup in 2007 in London, the sport has been promoted heavily in Orissa. That’s how many girls were introduced to it.
The ripples of this game have been felt elsewhere. Irfan Butta, general secretary, Jammu & Kashmir Rugby Football

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