Association, says he had a few problems convincing parents to let their daughters play the physically demanding sport. “But we held a camp where parents could see the girls playing and this is what convinced them,” he says. Butta has seen his squad strength increase from a paltry 12 in 2004 to over 200 at present. Down south in Kerala too, it’s not uncommon to see an all-girls team engrossed in practice sessions of sprinting, ball passing and tackle-training. Mahesh Kumar R, secretary of Kerala State Rugby Association, is already looking forward to the day when one of his girls makes it to the national squad.

But till then, whenever the women’s national team goes into a huddle, the war cry is going to be: POONA! Surhud Khare, coach of the Pune rugby team, says that the willingness to train hard is why the Pune girls are doing well at rugby. For the players, the thrill of a sport that demolishes that damsels-in-distress image is what spurs them on. “We are not worried about bumps and bruises. We don’t even care if our complexions darken in the sun. We just love the sport”, says chatty fly-half, Surabhi Date, 18, who is the skilful Fijian of her team (If you have to ask, Fijians are to rugby what Brazilians are to football).

Bharucha, the explosive back, loves rugby for the aggression it allows her. “I like that I can be rough. I don’t have to feel guilty about hurting people as I know they will get the chance of hurting me back,” she says. The stocky teenager has just written her Class X exams at the Sardar Dastur Hormazdiar High School and started playing rugby just a couple of months back. Her other interests? Handball, wrestling, athletics and fencing.

... contd.