ASIAN RUGBY SEVENS – 2015

ASIAN RUGBY SEVENS – 2015

Actor Sivakarthikeyan officially announced as the ‘Ambassador’ for the Indian Men’s and Women’s Rugby Sevens team.

Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) Pre-Qualifier & Development Sevens 2015
Chennai, March 6th, 2015:
The Tamil Nadu Rugby Football Union (TNRFU) officially announced Actor Sivakarthikeyan will be the ‘Ambassador’ for the Indian Men’s and Women’s Rugby Sevens team. He along with several prominent actors and actresses from the industry have come on board to support the event and team India. On the occasion ‘Rugby India’ also unveiled the Indian Men and Women’s jersey that the teams will be sporting for the event.

The Tamil Nadu Rugby Football Union (TNRFU) released the schedule and detailed itinerary for the 2-day event. The tournament will officially start with the first match played between India and Iran; this will be one of the most keenly watched games in the tournament. The first match is scheduled to take place at 11am and thereon the matches will go on till 8pm. Sunday (8th March) will have the Semis and Finals played from 3:30 pm onwards, after all the pre-qualifiers matches which start at 11am.

The Nehru stadium is all set to host the participating teams and is ready for the vibrant Chennai crowd that is expected to show up in good numbers. Free passes will be available to all at the venue and entry will be through ‘Stand B’ of the Nehru stadium.

The event day is expected to see dignitaries and a large number of expats who will be in to cheer their teams and follow this popular sport

Event Details:
Location: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai
Date: 7th (Saturday) and 8th (Sunday), March 2015
Time: 11am to 8pm
Entrance: Stand ‘B’
Tickets: Free entry passes available at the venue

About the event: Asian Rugby 7’s 2015 (Chennai)

After the success of the Men’s 7s event in Goa (2011) and Mumbai(2012 and 2013) and the Women’s 7s event in Pune(2011, 2012 and 2013). India has been given the honor of conducting the Men’s and Women’s Pre-Qualifier to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil. The Pre-Qualifier for both the Men and Women will be held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu on the 7th and 8th of March 2015.
QUOTE: On the occasion Mr. Raj Satyen – President, Tamil Nadu Rugby Football Union (TNRFU) said “It is a matter of great pride for the TNRFU that such a high profile tournament is being held in Chennai. This would not have been possible without the unconditional support from the Government of Tamil Nadu and SDAT. With such International Tournaments and ARFU’s tremendous support, Rugby in India will grow exponentially in the coming years.”

The Tournament will be intense and will feature 8 Men’s Teams and 8 Women’s Team from Across Asia. The Asian Sevens will be held at the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai.
QUOTE: Mr.Bharaneeshwaran, Board Chairman, TNRFU highlighted that “ The Government of Tamil Nadu and SDAT have been continuously supporting various International and National sporting events and disciplines in the state. We are immensely proud to have Chennai host the Rugby Pre-Qualifiers for the Rio 2016 Olympics.”
QUOTE: Mr. Aga Hussain, Sr.Vice President, Rugby India (IRFU) He also added that “With a host of grass root development programs for Rugby in India, we will continue to ensure the growth of this sport in every possible way and will also look at opportunities to host more such Rugby tournaments in our country.”
The Asian Rugby Sevens will be the first International Rugby Event conducted in Chennai. Local and National Celebrities, Expats from different countries will be invited to witness, Chennai’s first International Rugby Event.
QUOTE: Throwing light on the development programs for the sport,
Mr. Sendhil Thiyagarajan – Secretary, TNRFU reiterated “The TNRFU along with IRFU have conceptualized a strong grass root program across the state to develop rugby. Corporates in the country have to support non-cricket sports like rugby to make India a truly sporting nation.”

History of Rugby 7’s
Rugby sevens was initially conceived in 1883 by Ned Haig and David Sanderson, who were butchers from Melrose, Scotland as a fund-raising event for their local club, Melrose RFC. The first ever sevens match was played at the Greenyards, the Melrose ground. The first ever officially sanctioned international tournament occurred at Murrayfield as part of the “Scottish Rugby Union’s Celebration of Rugby” centenary celebrations in 1973.

Due to the success of the format, the ongoing Hong Kong Sevens was launched three years later, in 1976. The Rugby World Cup Sevens, in which the Melrose Cup is contested, was launched in 1993. Three of the best known sevens competitions are the Hong Kong Sevens, Wellington Sevens, and the Dubai Sevens , which now make up part of the World Rugby Sevens World Series.
About the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU)

The Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) is the regional governing body of rugby union in Asia. ARFU, which was founded in 1968, comprised of Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Its purpose was to provide international competition between its members by staging a biannual tournament. ARFU members actively participate in semi- annual council meetings and are supported by working committees to oversee rugby in Asia. ARFU organizes and manages five major tournaments per year for Men, Women and Youth and continually explores new and innovative opportunities to develop rugby in Asia. The growth of rugby in Asia is reflected in the increase of ARFU members, tournaments, events and activities.

About Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU)
Indian Rugby Football Union is the governing body for Rugby union in India. The earliest trace of Rugby Football in India dates back to a scratch match or two played in Calcutta and Madras during the visit of H.M.S. Galatea in 1871. The teak goal posts used on the occasion of the Calcutta Match were afterwards used by the C.F.C. up to at least 1886.

The recent history of rugby in India is an exciting one. Rapid growth over the past several years since the formation of The Indian Rugby Football Union in 1968 and it subsequent membership to the sport’s international governing body the International Rugby Board (IRB) in April 1999 has seen numbers of clubs and players increase dramatically in all versions of the game – 15s, 7,s and Touch (or Tag) rugby.
About Tamil Nadu Rugby Football Union (TNRFU)

Tamil Nadu Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby for the state of Tamil Nadu in India. The Tamil Nadu Rugby Football Union is a legally registered non-profit society with the goal of developing the sport of rugby union football in South India. The TNRFU conducts rugby development programs in schools across the state. In addition the TNRFU has helped get rugby started in Pondicherry, Kerala and Bangalore in South India. The government of Tamil Nadu will be shortly introducing Rugby in the school curriculum from the next school term.