Nasser Hussain Exclusive: Former Rugby India captain on Talent Transfer Programme, Infrastructure and Vision 2028

The game of Rugby is still at a nascent stage. But slowly yet steadily, it is spreading wings and promises to take flight towards a potentially bigger dream in the coming years.

Rugby India has taken the initiative to bring certain changes to the game and recently we caught up with Nasser Hussain from Indian Rugby Football Union. He envisioned the path of Rugby's growth in India and the initiatives they are looking to take to propel the sport forward. Here is an exact extract of the interview.

The vision of Rugby India

"For the last five to seven years, we have focused on grassroots development. Strategically our energies have been invested in growing the game. Where we are today is thanks to our efforts as we have footprints in the country in 26 states. We're very proud of building a strong foundation.

We want to focus a bit more on performance now, we want to try and support the players and help them play at a representative level. That will give them more exposure and resources so that the sport grows globally. We had a fair bit of success in 2022-23 with the girls, and we want to build upon that."

What is the immediate target for Rugby India?

"The eventual aim is to make it to the Olympics and we've got LA 2028 as a target for us to try and qualify or get as close to qualifying."

Elaboration on the Talent Transfer Scout Scheme

MyKhel asked Mr. Hussain about their newly launched Talent Transfer Scout Scheme, and he elaborated on their perspectives.

"We want to look outside Rugby playing fraternity here. We want to explore other athletes playing other sports, and try and convert them into playing rugby. We have to attract them to the sport. We looked at various sports where a talent transfer would be feasible.

We are obviously not looking at the top brackets of those sports as they would be committed to their game, but the middle and bottom brackets may consider the switch. Without being disrespectful, they probably would have plateaued at their sport, hence it would be an avenue for them to flourish in Rugby."

Has the Talent Scout started already?

"We don't want to be disruptive. We've reached athletes from the track and field and this has been done through the Athletics Federation of India. They were gracious to understand our proposal and allowed our scouts to visit the athletes. We also worked closely with one or two states to identify some talents there. It is something that will continue as we go along."

We asked Mr. Hussain the reason for them trying to convert players from other sports instead of forming the love for rugby in youngsters.

"Our focus is grassroots development, that will continue. We know 80 90 pc players who will come from Rugby League development pathway. But the remaining ones who will boost the team will come from other sports. As a silver bullet, we're looking at initiatives like this. It is something we want explore and see where it goes."

Your experience with Rugby and the changes in the demography of Rugby in India

"Overall, there have been massive strides in the right direction. The reach of the sport has increased. If you look back in 2010, 12 states were playing, and now around 27 states are involved. There was no focus on grassroots, but now we have under-14s, and even under-11s are being considered.

There's huge progress on that front. In terms of resources, we want to work on educating the wider sporting ecosystem in terms of awareness of the game of Rugby. That boils down to the visibility of the sport as well. We are trying to live stream all the national competitions and the quality has improved.

Infrastructure is still a bit of a challenge, but the support from the states and central have been encouraging. But still, the more the merrier. We've started paying our players at the national level, I don't think it happens anywhere apart from cricket."