15K Show Up In India To Celebrate Rugby Ahead Of 2019 World Cup

Pardon My Take isn’t the only thing taking off in India right now…

Bollywood stars, a Chief Minister, & an estimated 15,000 people turned up at a historic temple in Bhubaneshwar, India. The reason? One of the fastest growing sports in the world. It’s the final stop out of 18 countries on the Rugby World Cup 2019 Trophy Tour before next year’s 15s World Cup in Japan. A majority of those attending were kids who then participated in the Get Into Rugby training session delivered by Rugby India coaches and men & women’s players.

The tour is part of the ‘Impact Beyond‘ initiative to expand the sport’s audience and also includes ‘Project Asia 1 Million’, which aims to attract 1M new rugby participants by 2020. It’s already reached over 500,000 people across Asia according to the World Rugby organization.

I’m biased & therefore excited to see the sport continue resonating with new people. If you’ve never been to a game, you owe it to yourself to check one out. You might be a little confused by the rules & flow at first (the first couple of games I ever played in, I stood there like a moron looking at the sidelines for direction), but by the end your heart will be racing. It’s exciting, fast paced & every now and then you see a hit that takes your (and their) breath away.