Mumbai schools to excel in unfamiliar kind of rugby

Mumbai schools all set to excel in an unfamiliar kind of rugby

Mumbai schools all set to excel in an unfamiliar kind of rugby

Banking on their experience gained from a trip to the United Kingdom last October, Guru Nanak High School are eager win the boys' under-12 Mumbai Schools Touch Rugby Tournament title which kicks off at the Bombay Gymkhana tomorrow. The Colaba team stood fifth in the under-13 Touraid Nation Cup in UK. Twelve countries took part in the championship for the underprivileged schools. "It was a great learning experience," said Aakash Maske, who captained his school.



Learning experience
"We met top South African players, got their autographs and spoke about rugby," added the 12-year-old.

Aakash's teammate Naeem Shaikh said the trip helped them learn nuances of the game. "We learnt tackling, passing, dogging and other tactics. It has helped us a lot in our game," he said. Aakash is however, confident that the experience will help them win the Mumbai Schools title this time. "We did not know many things about the game last season. But now we are confident to play better than last year," he said.

Pritom Roy, Indian Rugby Football Union's western region development officer, said: "This tournament is basically to make the sport popular. We want to tell people that rugby is not a dangerous sport. We will scout for talent for the state and national team."u00a0

Close to 40 schools will feature this year as compared to 16u00a0 last season.

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