Developing Rugby Nations – All India National Under-19 XVs Tournament
The 2013 All India National Under-19 XVs Tournament, organized by the Orissa Rugby Football Association (ORFA) under the aegis of the IRFU was held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa from 7th to 11th August, 2013.
The day featured a total of 12 teams from across the country – Future Hope, Jungle Crows, Bombay Gym, KISS, Bhubaneshwar, Delhi Hurricanes, YRC, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Rajasthan, Kerala and Karnataka.
The tournament was also a platform for identifying and selecting players to join the Indian National Under-19 training camp in preparation for the upcoming Asian Under-19 Championship to be played in Lahore, Pakistan from 2nd to 5th October, 2013.
The first 3 days of the tournament saw league games being played as the teams were split in 4 pools of 3 teams each. The top teams from each pool qualified for the CUP Semi-Finals whilst the teams that finished 2nd and 3rd in their pools qualified for the PLATE and BOWL Semi-Finals respectively.
As expected, the 4 top ranked teams qualified for the CUP Semi-Finals making for a keen contest.
There was very little separating the 4 teams in question - Future Hope, Jungle Crows, KISS & Bombay Gym.
The first Semi-Final saw the experienced Future Hope boys take on the electric KISS team. A few early errors by KISS in the first half saw them down 12-0 after conceding 4 penalties but not dampening their spirits and the will to want to fight back.
Both teams looked dangerous with the ball but were met with some crunching tackles. The relentless effort eventually paid off for Future Hope as they wore down the mighty KISS defence to score the only Try of the game and register a 17-0 win.
The second Semi-Final witnessed the finesse and speed of Jungle Crows against a formidable and structured Bombay Gym outfit. Besides the one penalty (early in the game) there was very little that separated the 2 teams.
The score line read 3-0 till the final whistle as both teams unleashed attacking plays and made defensive tackles like their lives depended on it. It was, however, the flying Crows that managed to sneak past a try in the dying seconds of the game to secure an 8-0 win and place in the Finals.
Thus, the CUP Finals set the stage for some local rivalry as - Jungle Crows were looking to spoil Future Hope's party as they planned to defend their title - all was at stake for some Kolkata pride!
It was, however, Future Hope that defended their Title in Style beating the Jungle Crows 27-5 in the CUP Final of the All India Under-19 XVs Tournament with some dominant display of rugby.
The final day also witnessed two other nail biting encounters where Delhi Hurricanes edged past the impressive hosts Bhubaneshwar 10-7 to win the PLATE and YRC squeezed through to win the BOWL beating a spirited Karnataka 3-0.
All in all, the tournament showcased some great rugby action played in the right spirit by all players and teams... Well done to all teams... The Future of Rugby looks bright...!
