India take on rugby

Have you ever read an adjectiveladen cricket match report in one of the Indian newspapers? It is thoroughly worth your time, I promise. It turns out this style of passionate Indian sports reporting is not limited to cricket. A piece in the Times of India about “Why Indians are having a ball” may not be as dramatic as an India v Pakistan review column, but it still has a few cracker lines. The description of the Rugby World Cup as a “muscle-slamming, bonecrunching, testosterone-driven frenzy” is one of them and instantly reminds you of the Bollywood rugby film that made headlines here earlier in the year. This kind of local rugby angle, to tie in with the World Cup, is being replicated just about everywhere. The BBC looked into the history and future of rugby in India last week. The Times piece focuses on Jalandhar — a city in the northwestern state of Punjab that manufactures rugby balls and has done so for some time. “Between 15,000 and 20,000 balls are manufactured here daily for the past few months,” the paper reported in regards to the increase in production because of the World Cup. The paper also revealed that large international brands get rugby balls manufactured in Jalandhar “under strict confidentiality”. It reported: “Sources in the industry reveal that a few prominent brands which have licence to provide balls during the World Cup also have their manufacturers in Jalandhar.” Another rugby-related story in the same paper, this one a little less interesting, talks about the towels being used by players at the Rugby World Cup.