Indian Rugby Premier League (RPL) – Will The New Professional 7s Franchise Tournament Match The Hype?

The world’s first franchise-based sevens competition the Rugby Premier League (RPL) will launch in India in 2025 and run from June 1 to June 15 taking place in Mumbai at the Brihanmumbai Kreeda Ani Lalitkala Prarthisthan Andheri Sports Complex (Mumbai Football Arena, MFA). The team names and logos were unveiled as the competition’s first player draft was held on 4th April 2025. 

Updated 9 April 2025 – Teams & Coach news

Rugby India, the national governing body for the sport in India, in partnership with GMR Sports, are running the Rugby Premier League (RPL) with the support of World Rugby.

The week before at the Hong Kong Sevens, Rugby Asia 247 was among a handful of media invited to hear directly from World Rugby and Rugby India as their President Rahul Bose explained the format and goals of the tournament which is very much based on the IPL (Indian Premier League) T20 format in cricket.

What To Know About The Indian Rugby Premier League (RPL)

Rugby India President Rahul Bose told the media that the purpose of the RPL was to “grow rugby interest and participation in India, create a sustainable career pathway for sevens players outside of international commitments.” We have been following the news of the tournament for more than a year and they have already missed some of their own milestone dates they laid out but they have said this has been a long ongoing process to get off the ground, working with World Rugby throughout.

The Indian actor and former national Indian rugby player said, “Is there a lot of potential in the Indian sports market for rugby? Massive. We have a population of 1.5 billion and rugby is played in 322 out of 760 districts. If we capture a fraction of that, one per cent, that’s 15 million.”

The initial RPL will be men’s 7s rugby only but they said they do want to expand to women’s 7s in the future. The women’s competition is scheduled to launch in 2026, following the Rugby World Cup 2025 where many current Sevens rugby players will be in action.

World Rugby’s role in the planning of the RPL has been to provide expertise, and advice, and develop the minimum standards while liaising with unions and player groups. The Rugby Premier League is sanctioned by World Rugby with support from Unions and players.

World Rugby and Rugby India leadership discussed the RPL at the Hong Kong 7s 2025 in front of a small group of media

World Rugby chairman Brett Robinson said in Hong Kong that the RPL was exactly the type of innovation that could help the game grow by saying that “this ticks all the boxes in terms of taking the product to a new market, an emerging market, an enormous market. It provides an opportunity for people to try the game, see the game, and grow the game. So, from our perspective, it’s a perfect fit.”

The RPL timing was also agreed to fall in an exclusive window on the international rugby calendar ensuring the participation of the sport’s biggest stars said both World Rugby and Rugby India.

Mr. Satyam Trivedi, CEO, of GMR Sports, added: “The Rugby Premier League marks a pivotal moment in our mission to elevate rugby in India. By showcasing a vibrant mix of international and Indian talent, and with the unwavering support of our franchise owners, this league is poised to redefine the future of the sport. 

We believe that the RPL will not only captivate a wider audience but also provide Indian players with invaluable opportunities to compete alongside the world’s best, thereby raising the standard of rugby in our country. As rugby continues to grow as an Olympic sport, GMR Group is excited to contribute to its holistic development in India,” added the GMR Sports CEO.

RPL Format 2025 & Impact on Indian Rugby

In terms of how the RPL will grow the game in India Bose was more cautiously optimistic, “Let’s not jump the gun. For India to make the Olympics, we have to be in the top two nations in the world, in Asia. What’s the reality? Our women are ranked 10th in Asia right now and our men are ranked 15th…. If we make the top four in Asia then we qualify for the Olympics. We’re working towards achieving that by 2032.”

There are 6 Sevens Rugby franchises in the RPL are teams from the cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad & Bhubaneswar and each Franchise is backed by an Indian industry leader such as Adani Sportsline, Manipal Hospitals & the Bagmane Group.

The schedule sees all matches be played at one venue (Mumbai Football Arena) across 15 match days in June 2025 (initially it was scheduled for September). 

• RPL will feature 2 matches per night on weekdays & 3 matches per night on weekends
• Matches will be 4 minutes a quarter + 2 minutes break between each quarter, so 22 minutes per match.
• A round-robin format will see 30 pool games with each team playing 10 pool matches. There will be 2 Semifinals, a Bronze Medal Match and the Final for a total of 34 matches
• Teams will play a maximum of 10 pool games + 2 playoff matches over 15 days.

Rugby Premier League Draft –  4 April 2025

Each RPL franchise will consist of a 13-man squad, with the main attraction being five current and former international marquee players from tier-one nations, three bridge players (from Germany, Canada and Hong Kong) as well as five local Indian players.

• 5 International Marquee Rugby 7s Players – these are meant to be active players from within the World Rugby Sevens ecosystem
• 3 International Bridge Players – These will come from Kenya, Hong Kong China, and Germany
• 5 Indian Players – These are meant to be India’s best rugby 7s players
• Each team will be supported by a management team of a Head Coach, Assistant Coach (Indian), Physiotherapist, Massage Therapist, and Team Manager. Some top coaches have been linked such as Ben Gollings and 

A draft was held on 4 April to determine the 13-member squads as all international players will be allocated across the 6 teams via the draft process (initially they were posting on their social media channels the players and teams they had been drafted to but this was then removed).

RPL Franchises and Squads 2025

Brihanmumbai Kreeda Ani Lalitkala Prarthisthan Andheri Sports Complex (Mumbai Football Arena, MFA) – venue for the RPL 2025

There is a long star-studded list of current and former international Sevens Rugby players were drafted to participate in the Rugby Premier League 2025 with 30 marquee international players from Argentina, South Africa, Kenya, Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia, Spain, Fiji, USA, and Ireland.

In social a post that was removed, Hong Kong China captain Jamies Christie was among the players drafted.

There were 30 Indian players selected from an auction pool of 71 players and 9 of those come from Khelo Rugby by Future Hope.

Rahul Bose said: ‘This is a league that’s been six years in the making, but we wanted to do everything right. The first extraordinary development came thanks to World Rugby, who gave us a 15-day window in which no international rugby 7s would be played anywhere in the world.”

The Rugby India President explained, “This made the best global rugby players available to us. From there to partnering with GMR Sports and creating the best conditions for both the international players as well as our Indian players; choosing some of the most intelligent, committed team owners and getting a top-class broadcast partner in JioStar, it’s been a helluva ride. Rugby 7s is one of the most attractive television sports in modern history. Welcome, India and the world, to the Rugby Premier League.’ 

Marquee Rugby 7s Players Confirmed for RPL 2025

It was reported that the marquee players will be earning up to US $15-20k for their appearance in the RPL which was based on consultation with World Rugby.

Fiji

• Joseva Talacolo – Oceania Games Champions 2021, Commonwealth Games Silver 2022, RWC Gold 2022, 2024 Olympics Silver 
• Iowane Teba – 2024 Olympics Silver, World Series Dubai, Singapore & Toulouse Gold  
• Terio Veilawai – 2024 Olympic Silver, World Series Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong Gold
• Filipe Sauturaga – 2022 Commonwealth Games Silver, 2024 Olympic Games Silver, RWC Gold  
• Joji Nasova – 2024 Olympic Games Silver, Dubai 7s Gold 
• Waisea Nacuqu –  2020 Olympic Games Gold, 2024 Olympic Games Silver, World Series Gold 2018 & 2019, 2022 Commonwealth Games Silver, RWC Gold 

Argentina

• Luciano Gonzalez Rizzoni – Bronze 2024 Paris Olympics, World Sevens Series Champs 2023, HSBC World Svns Dream Team 
• Santiago Mare – Bronze 2024 Paris Olympics, World Sevens Series Champs 2023 
• Joaquim Pellandini – Bronze 2024 Paris Olympics, World Sevens Series Champs 2023 
• Matteo Grazziano – Bronze 2024 Paris Olympics, World Sevens Series Champs 2023 
• Matias Osadczuk – Bronze 2024 Paris Olympics, World Sevens Series Champs 2023, HSBC World Svns Dream Team 

New Zealand

• Tone Ng Shiu – Olympian, 2019 NZ Rugby 7s Player of the Year, Bronze, 2022 Commonwealth Games  
• Scott Curry – 4x New Zealand 7s player of the year, 3X Commonwealth Games medalist, Silver 2021 Olympics, 6 X World Rugby Sevens Series Champion & RWC 7s Gold  
• Akuila Rokolisoa – Olympian, RWC 7s 2018 Gold, 2022 Commonwealth Games Bronze
• Regan Ware – Olympian,  2022 Commonwealth Games Bronze, RWC 7s Silver

USA

• Perry Baker – 2X World Rugby 7s player of the year, 3X Olympian, Leading Men’s try scorer on HSBC SVNS 
• Lucas Lacamp – Olympian 
• Aaron Cummings – Olympian 

Ireland

• Harry McNulty – 2X Olympian + 2X Rugby World Cup Medalist  
• Terry Kennedy – World Rugby 7s Player of the Year 2022, World Series Top Try Scorer 2022 and 2024 
• Jordan Conroy – 2 X Olympian, World Rugby Sevens Series and RWC7s Medalist 

Spain

• Alejandro Castro – Olympian
• Pol Pla – Olympian
• Manuel Moreno – Olympian

Australia 

• Henry Hutchison – 3X Olympian, 2015 World Rugby Rookie of the Year
• Maurice Longbottom – 2X Olympian 
• James Turner – Olympian 

South Africa

• Rosko Speckman – 2 X Bronze Olympian

Kenya

• Patrick Odongo – Olympian

Great Britain

• Alex Davis – (England), Olympian 

Rugby Premier League 2025

The six world-class coaches confirmed for the RPL in 2025 are:

• Mike Friday (Former USA 7s Men’s Coach) – Kalinga Black Tigers
• Ben Gollings (Former Fiji 7s Coach) – Chennai Bulls
• DJ Forbes (New Zealand 7s) – Hyderabad Heroes
• Jnr Tomasi Cama (Former NZ 7s Player & Current NZ Men’s 7s Head Coach) – Delhi Redz
• Paco Hernandez (Spain 7s Men’s Head Coach) – Bengaluru Bravehearts
• Tim Walsh (Australia Women’s 7s Head Coach) – Mumbai Dreamers

RPL Franchise Teams

The six franchises in the RPL in 2025 and the confirmed international players following the draft (we will update this as more is confirmed).

Kalinga Black Tigers

Former USA Men’s 7s coach Mike Friday is the coach.

Players

• Ethan Turner (Canada)
• Kyle Tremblay (Canada)
• James Thiel (Canada)
• Perry Baker (USA)
• Lucas Lacamp (USA)
• Rosko Speckman (South Africa)
• Harry McNulty (Ireland)
• Maurice Longbottom (Australia)
• Ajay Deswal (India)
• Asis Sabar (India)
• Pardeep Singh (India)
• Pappu Balasaheb Todkar (India)
• Arjun Mahato (India)

Bengaluru Bravehearts

The coach is current Spain Men’s 7s Head Coach Paco Hernandez

Players

• Akuila Rokolisoa (NZ)
• Iowane Teba (Fiji)
• Scott Curry (NZ)
• Tone Ng Shiu (NZ)
• Pol Pla (Spain)
• Henry Kirwan (Canada)
• Liam Poulton (Canada)
• Mak Kwai Chung (HKCR)
• Mohit Khatri (India)
• Suresh Kumar (India)
• Prashant Singh (India)
• Karan Rajbhar (India)
• Arpan Chhetri (India)

Chennai Bulls

The coach is former England 7s player and Fiji 7s coach Ben Gollings.

Players

• Terry Kennedy (Ireland)
• Joseva Talacolo (Fiji)
• Ratu Sauturaga (Fiji)
• Joaquin Pellandini (Argentina)
• Alexander Davis (GB)
• Hannes Adler (Germany)
• Haakon OeB (Germany)
• Nikias Lohe (Germany)
• Vallabh Patil (India)
• Muhammad Jasim EP (India)
• Vinay A (India)
• Shanawaz Ahmed (India)
• Vinayak Hariraj (India)

Hyderabad Heroes

The Head Coach is former NZ player 7s DJ Forbes.

Players

• Luciano Gonzalez Rizzoni (Argentina)
• Joji Nasova (Fiji)
• Terio Veilawa (Fiji)
• Manuel Moreno (Spain)
• Regan Ware (NZ)
• James Christie (HKCR)
• Fong Fung (HKCR)
• Max Roddick (Germany)
• Prince Khatri (India)
• Sambit Pradhan (India)
• Sukumar Hembrom (India)
• Javed Hussein (India)
• Sumit Kumar Boy (India)

Delhi Redz

The coach is Jnr Tomasi Cama – the current NZ 7s Men’s Head Coach.

Players

• Alejandro Castro (Spain)
• Matias Osadczuk (Argentina)
• Matteo Graziano (Argentina)
• Alejandro Laforga (Spain)
• Patrick Odongo (Kenya)
• Jordan Conroy (Ireland)
• Thomas Richards (Canada)
• Michael Coverdale (HKCR)
• Moritz Noll (Germany)
• Rajdeep Saha (India)
• Sunil Ramu Chawan (India)
• Raj Kumar (India)
• Deepak Punia (India)
• Mohit (India)

Mumbai Dreamers

The Head Coach is current Australian Women’s 7s Head Coach Tim Walsh.

Players

• Henry Hutchinson (Australia)
• James Turner (Australia)
• Waisea Nacuqu (Fiji)
• Aaron Cummings (USA)
• Santiago Mare (Argentina)
• Elias Hancock (Canada)
• Rhys James (Canada)
• Briar Barron (Canada)
• Neeraj (India)
• Devendra Raju Padir (India)
• Akash Balmiki (India)
• Ganesh Dhangada Majhi (India)
• Nayan Kumar K (India)

How To Watch the RPL 2025

The RPL will be broadcast on national Indian TV with prime time slots locked in said Rahul Bose. More will be announced for international audiences but the RPL will be broadcast live on Star Sports and JioHotstar in India.

Sanjog Gupta, CEO-Sports, JioStar, commented: “At JioStar, we are revolutionising the universe of sports entertainment by delivering compelling, fan-centric experiences. We are leveraging the combined power of Star Sports’s brand of story-telling, JioHotstar’s technological prowess, and the universality of our integrated platforms.

Our diversified portfolio of sporting properties seeks to serve audiences at scale as well as niche segments of fans, which can grow to be significant. The Rugby Premier League in the fast-growing Rugby 7s format offers the opportunity to attract new audience segments and also offer existing audiences a compelling, new proposition to develop an affiliation for.” 

Rugby Sevens News 2025

• HSBC Singapore CEO Kee Joo Wong On Why Their Partnership with the SVNS World Series Globally and in Singapore is Vital.
• DJ Forbes – This Sport I love Is Really Special.
• Third Leg Of HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger 2025 – Krakow.
• HSBC Global Ambassadors Abby Gustaitis and Alicia Lucas Explain Why Kai Tak Stadium and Rugby Sevens Are So Special