Rugby Premier League
Current season, competition or edition: 2025 Rugby Premier League | |
 | |
| Sport | Rugby sevens |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2024 |
| First season | 2025 |
| Administrator | Rugby India GMR Sports |
| No. of teams | 6 |
| Country |  India |
| Headquarters | Mumbai, Maharashtra |
| Most recent champion(s) | Chennai Bulls (2025) |
| Broadcaster(s) | India: Star Sports JioHotstar Others: RugbyPass TV |
| Tournament format | |
| Official website | RPL |
Rugby Premier League, also known as RPL, is a professional rugby sevens league based in India.[1] It is organized by Rugby India, the governing body for the sport in the nation.[2] It is the first franchise-based sevens rugby league in the world.[3] It was founded in 2024 to boost the growth and popularity of rugby sevens. It debuted in 2025 with 6 city-based teams.[4]
History
[edit]Rugby Premier League was first announced in early 2024 as a league with six teams and a mix of Indian as well as overseas players.[5] Baseline Ventures, who has worked with Pro Volleyball League, was supposed to be the partner for the league. In December, Rugby India announced a 10-year partnership with GMR Sports to launch the league in 2025.[6]
In April 2025, the six teams were announced: Bengaluru Bravehearts, Chennai Bulls, Delhi Redz, Hyderabad Heroes, Kalinga Black Tigers and Mumbai Dreamers. The dates and venue were unveiled with the league being held from 1 June to 15 June at the Mumbai Football Arena. World Rugby granted RPL a 15-day window, ensuring no rugby sevens tournaments took place during this period.[7] This allowed the participation of some of the biggest names in the sport.[8]
A lineup of 30 marquee international players from rugby powerhouse nations were bought during the auction. The broadcasting and streaming rights were sold to Star Sports and JioHotstar. Renowned coaches Mike Friday, Ben Gollings, DJ Forbes, Tomasi Cama, Francisco Hernández, and Tim Walsh were roped in for the league.[9]
From the domestic circuit, 30 Indian players were selected from an auction pool of 71.[10] The 2025 season will debut with the men's league and the 2026 season is expected to feature both men's and women's league.[11] Dream11 CMO Vikrant Mudaliar revealed that the platform, which has 240 million users, will launch a rugby fantasy sports category to coincide with the rugby league.[12]
Organisation
[edit]Rahul Bose, the president of Rugby India, revealed the league brings massive changes in infrastructure and scouting with it. The six owners send scouts across the country, find the best players and bring them back to the cities. They take care of infrastructure, from grounds to physical therapists to masseurs and nutrition coaches.[13] The league has the best players in the world, best broadcasters plus World Rugby match referees, medical commissioners, commentators and match commissioners.[14] The first edition was held from 15 to 29 June 2025 at the Mumbai Football Arena, Maharashtra, India.[15]
Format
[edit]The teams compete against each other during a 34-match schedule over 15 days.[16]
- Rugby Premier League will feature two matches per night on weekdays and three matches per night on weekends.
- Matches will be four minutes per quarter with two minutes break between each quarter, or 22 minutes per match, leading to a unique style of play as it differs from world rugby 7s format.
- A double round-robin format will see 30 pool games played, with each team playing 10 pool matches. There will be two semi-finals, a bronze medal match and a final for a total of 34 matches.
- Teams will play a maximum of 10 pool games and two playoff matches over the 15 days of competition.[17]
Auction and draft
[edit]Each RPL franchise will consist of a 13 player squad with the main attraction being 5 active and former international marquee players from tier-one nations, 3 bridge players and 5 local Indian players.[17][18]
- 5 international marquee rugby 7s players: Meant to be active players from the World Rugby Sevens ecosystem.
- 3 international bridge players: From Hong Kong, Germany and Kenya[19]
- 5 Indian players: Meant to be India’s best rugby 7s players.
- Management team: Head Coach, Indian Assistant Coach, Physiotherapist, Massage Therapist and Team Manager.
Teams
[edit]
| Team | City | Coach | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bengaluru Bravehearts | Bengaluru |  Francisco Hernández
|
MEMG InCred Soham Infrastructure |
| Chennai Bulls | Chennai |  Ben Gollings
|
AVID Sports |
| Delhi Redz | Delhi |  Tomasi Cama
|
RMZ Corp |
| Hyderabad Heroes | Hyderabad | DJ Forbes
|
KLO Sports |
| Kalinga Black Tigers | Bhubaneswar | Mike Friday
|
Hunch Ventures |
| Mumbai Dreamers | Mumbai |  Tim Walsh
|
Dream Sports |
Editions and results
[edit]| Season | Winner | Score | Runner Up | Venue | Teams | Player Of The Tournament |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Chennai Bulls | 41–0 | Delhi Redz | Mumbai Football Arena | 6 | Va'a Apelu Maliko |
Performance by teams
[edit]By season
[edit]| Team | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Bengaluru Bravehearts | 4th | |
| Chennai Bulls | C | |
| Delhi Redz | RU | |
| Hyderabad Heroes | 3rd | |
| Kalinga Black Tigers | 5th | |
| Mumbai Dreamers | 6th |
League positions
[edit]| Season | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | HH | CB | BB | DR | KBT | MD |
| 2026 |
| Champions | |
| Runners Up | |
| Third Place | |
| Playoffs |
Broadcasting
[edit]India:
Others:
Sponsorship
[edit]| Period | Sponsor | Tournament Name |
|---|---|---|
| 2025–present | GMR Sports | GMR Rugby Premier League |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ PTI. "Rugby India set to launch Rugby Premier League". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
- ^ "Rugby India set to launch Rugby Premier League". ANI News. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
- ^ Kaushik, Suramya (4 April 2025). "Rugby Sevens-World's first franchise-based league to start in Mumbai in June". Reuters. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
- ^ "Rugby Premier League Set to Start Next Year, Rahul Bose Calls It 'Game-Changer' For India". News18. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
- ^ Bhattacharyya, Gautam (13 February 2024). "Rugby Premier League: How actor Rahul Bose is close to achieving a pet project". National Herald. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
- ^ News, India TV; Malik, Varun (23 December 2024). "GMR Sports announces 10-year partnership with Rugby India to launch Rugby Premier League | Other News – India TV". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 23 December 2024.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "From Olympics gold medallists to World Cup winners: Meet the teams, best players, coaches in Rugby Premier League". ESPN. 14 June 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ "Rugby Premier League Set To Revolutionise Rugby 7s In India | Sports News". News18. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
- ^ "Franchise-based Rugby Premier League launched in Mumbai, set to take place in June 2025 - CNBC TV18". CNBCTV18. 4 April 2025. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
- ^ "Six years, one dream: Rahul Bose kickstarts India's own Rugby Premier League". English.Mathrubhumi. 5 April 2025. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
- ^ "The Bollywood star behind rugby's bold IPL comp". Nine. 5 April 2025. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
- ^ Laghate, Gaurav (1 June 2025). "IPL giant GMR tackles rugby with India League, aims to build Olympic-aligned IP | Mint". mint. Archived from the original on 9 June 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ "Rugby Premier League: World's best on board, new league could be gamechanger". ESPN. 15 June 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ Acharya, Shayan (14 June 2025). "Rugby Premier League will transform the sport both on-field and off-field, says Rugby India President Rahul Bose". sportstar.thehindu.com. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ "A New Era For Rugby 7s In India: Franchise-Based League Set To Launch In Mumbai On June 1, 2025 | Rugby Sevens News". NDTVSports.com. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
- ^ "Rugby Premier League to debut with six teams - The Economic Times". m.economictimes.com. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
- ^ a b rugbyasia247 (5 April 2025). "Indian Rugby Premier League - Will The New Professional 7s Francise Tournament Match The Hype?". RugbyAsia247. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "'Redefine the future': India unveils revolutionary Rugby Premier League". www.rugbypass.com. 5 April 2025. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
- ^ rugbyasia247 (8 April 2025). "Indian Rugby Premier League (RPL) - Will The New Professional 7s Franchise Tournament Match The Hype?". RugbyAsia247. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
External links
[edit]- rugbypremierleague.in
- Rugby Premier League on Facebook
- Rugby Premier League on Instagram
- Rugby Premier League on Twitter
- Rugby Premier League on YouTube
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