Rugby union in Bangladesh
Encyclopedia
Pre-independence Bengal
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and brought to the subcontinent during the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
, such as cricket, rugby union has a long history. Bangladeshi rugby's history may be discontinuous, but it dates back to the Bengal Presidency
Bengal Presidency
The Bengal Presidency originally comprising east and west Bengal, was a colonial region of the British Empire in South-Asia and beyond it. It comprised areas which are now within Bangladesh, and the present day Indian States of West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Meghalaya, Orissa and Tripura.Penang and...
, when East Bengal
East Bengal
East Bengal was the name used during two periods in the 20th century for a territory that roughly corresponded to the modern state of Bangladesh. Both instances involved a violent partition of Bengal....
(future Bangladesh) and West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
(now in India) were politically united. Rugby became particularly popular in Calcutta
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, the capital of Bengal at that time. The earliest trace of Rugby Football in the subcontinent dates back to a scratch match or two played in Calcutta and Madra
Madra
Madra, Mada or Madraka is the name of an ancient region and its inhabitants, located in the north-west division of the ancient Indian sub-continent.-Uttaramadra division:...
s during the visit of H.M.S. Galatea in 1871. The teak goal posts used on the occasion of the Calcutta Match were afterward used by the C.F.C.
Calcutta Cricket and Football Club
The Calcutta Cricket and Football Club located in Ballygunge, South Kolkata, is a cricket and association football club with rugby, hockey, swimming and tennis sections as well in Kolkata , West Bengal, India...
up to at least 1886. The first recorded match was played on Christmas Day 1872, at CFC in Calcutta, it was played between England and a combined team of Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The game caught on and had to be repeated within the week. This is why the Calcutta Cup
Calcutta Cup
The Calcutta Cup is a rugby union trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Six Nations Championship match between England and Scotland. It is currently England's since the 2009 Six Nations Championship....
, the oldest trophy in international rugby bears the name it does.
A number of Bengali noblemen sent their children to English private schools, and they also picked up the game there.
However, because of the climate in the region, other sports such as cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, polo
Polo
Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a...
, and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
became more popular, and rugby went into decline in the region. And like other areas in Asia and Africa, the game became too connected with the British expatriate community, meaning that when Bangladesh became independent (as East Pakistan
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...
), the game more or less died. However, despite not being successful in Bangladesh, rugby union in Sri Lanka
Rugby union in Sri Lanka
Rugby union in Sri Lanka is mainly played at a semi-professional and recreational level. It is a popular team sport with a history dating back to 1879.-Governing Body:The Sri Lankan Rugby Football Union is the governing body in the country...
, which has an even hotter climate has been highly successful.
Post-independence
Rugby had little or no presence from the period of independence from Britain, and thence from Pakistan.However, in 2007, after a long period of dormancy, some Japanese coaches started a youth programme. Amongst the schools which sent under-12s to the training camp were the Sunbeams, the Sunnydale, Marie Curie School, The Agha Khan School, Playpan, Reading, Green James, Khilgaon Oxford School, Dhanmondi Boys' High School, Khilgaon Model School and East Khilgaon Primary School. The Bangladeshi Rugby Association has been training these children in order to start an inter-schools tournament.