The monumental shift by Patrick Odongo in the just concluded World Rugby Sevens Rugby Series has been rewarded with the winger’s inclusion in an inaugural elite competition to be played in Mumbai, India from June 1-15.

Odongo, the newest sensational flier in the Kenya Sevens rugby team will play for one of the six franchise teams Delhi Redz coached by New Zealand’s Tomasi Cama and includes players from Argentina, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Spain and India. 

Other franchises are The competition that has taken six years to conceptualize also has players from South Africa, USA, Great Britain, Australia and Fiji. Some of the players like Perry Baker and Scott Curry have come out of retirement for one more dance.

Could India’s Premier League ignite a much needed change in the shorter version of the game? This innovation is modeled along the same lines as that of the highly successful cricket tournament could revolutionise seven-a-side rugby competition. 

Revolutionary Competition

The idea of this revolutionary competition has been in the making for the past six years and the inaugural tournament shall be played at Brihanmumbai Kreeda Ani Lalitkala Pratishthan Andheri Sports Complex (Mumbai Football Arena) from June 1-15. This is a window after the completion of the World Rugby Sevens World Series circuit in Los Angeles scheduled for May 3-4, 2025. 

The model replicates the India Premier League, a professional Twenty20 cricket league in India which is organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and founded by Lalit Kumar in 2007. According to Statistica, the winners collect $7 million. The average player salary in 2019 was $5 million which is just below that of NBA players at $8.32 million. 

The cricket competition that features 10 states or city-based franchise teams is the most popular cricket league in the world. In 2008, it had eight teams comprising a minimum of 18 players and a maximum of 25 with a limit of eight overseas players acquired through an auction. 

Inaugural Tournament

For this inaugural competition, 18 players from Germany, Hong Kong China and Canada will be included in the six teams. The core players are from Argentina, South Africa, Kenya, Great Britain, Spain, USA, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and Ireland. Thirty Indian players have been chosen from an auction pool of 71.

There are six franchises namely Bengaluru Bravehearts, Chennai Bulls, Delhi Redz, Hyderabad Heroes, Kalinga Black Tigers, Mumbai Dreamers that represent Indian cities.

For quite sometime now, World Rugby, formerly International Rugby Board has looked for a good balance to ensure the flagship competition remains attractive and competitive. An idea of a rugby circuit for some of the top teams was started in the 1999-2000 season as the International Rugby Board Sevens Series that ran until 2014 before a change of name to World Rugby Sevens World Series in the 2014-2015 season. 

Iconic Venues

Since being founded 26 years ago, the competition has made a stop at some of the most iconic and remotest venues embracing many formats. For a long time, the tournament maintained a format of 16 teams but that changed when in 2009, a decision was made to include rugby in the Olympics scheduled for 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

In an effort to keep up with the changes and rapid development of this shorter version of the game. World Rugby has over the past 26 years made many noticeable changes. One of the most significant was the reduction of teams to 12 and an inclusion of the women’s teams.

This season has seen further changes with the introduction of a time limit in which to kick over a conversion after a try is scored and restart the game. Also, World Rugby modified the competition format in back-to-back tournaments where, in the second tournament, the teams will be placed in four pools of three teams each with the winners proceeding to the sem-final and the rest of the teams playing in ranking tournaments. 

Promotion and relegation

Last season also saw the introduction of relegation and promotion as well as the introduction of a ‘World’ Championship after the completion of the league. In this new format, the top eight core teams proceed to the final event where a world champion is decided.

The teams are divided into two pools of four teams each and must win every match to proceed. Teams that finish in the bottom four play in a qualifier tournament that has four top teams from the World Rugby Challenger Series. 

In this competition, the top four teams are promoted to core status. What has remained as a constant in they 26 years is an absence of a monetary incentive for the teams and winners. The deliberate attempt by World Rugby to exclude monetary rewards has received mixed reactions. At the moment, it is only in Hong Kong where each of the participants receive a a token amount for participation and the winners also walk away with a prize money. 

New York Sevens

Attempts to have an invitational tournament in New York along the same lines did not come to fruition. 

Michael Kwambo, a former Kenya Rugby Union communications who also has a wealth of experience as a player and rugby commentator has mixed feelings about the tournament especially after the highly publicized New York version failed to take off.

He cast an eye over the composition of the teams but also urged rugby pundits to look beneath the surface at the driving forces and a near familiar outlook that has familiar faces at invitational tournaments and teams.

Teams/Franchises

Delhi Redz: Matias Osadczuk, Matteo Graziano (Argentina), Alejandro Laforga (Spain), Patrick Odongo ((Kenya), Jordan Conroy (Ireland), Thomas Richards (Canada), Michael Coverdale Hong Kong, China), Moritz Nol (Germany), Rajdeep Saha, Deepak Punia, Raj Kumar, Sunil Chawan, Mohitt (India). Coach Tomasi Cama.

Mumbai Dreamers: James Turner (Australia), Waisea Nacugu (Fiji), Henry Hutchinson (Australia), Aaron Cummings (USA), Santiago Mare (Argentina), Elias Hancock, Rhys James, Briar Barron, Neeraj, Davendra Padir, Akash Balmiki, Nayan K, Ganesh Majhi. Coach Tim Walsh.

Kalinga Black Tigers: Rosko Specman (South Africa), Lucas Lacamp, Perry Baker (USA), Harry McNulty (Ireland), Maurice Longbottom (Australia), Kyle Tremblay, Etthan Turner, James Thiel (Canada), Ajay Deswal, Asis Sabar, Pappu Todkar, Pardeep Singh, Arjun Mahato. Coach: Mike Friday.

Hyderabad Heroes: Luciano Gonzaleez (Argentina), Joji Nasova (Fiji), Manuel Moreno (Spain), Terio Veilawa (Fiji), Regan Ware, (New Zealand) James Christie (Hong Kong, China), Max Roddick (Germany), Fong Fung (Hong Kong China), Prince Khatri, Sumit Roy, Javed Hussein, Sukumar Hembrom, Sambit Pradhan. Coach: DJ Forbes.

Chennai Bulls: Terry Kennedy (Ireland), Joseva Talacolo, Ratu Sauturaga (Fiji), Joaquin Pellandini (Argentina), Alexander Davis (Great Britain), Hannes Adler, Haakon Oeeb, Nikias Lohe (Germany), Vallabh Patil, Shanawaz Ahmed, Vinayak Hariraj, Muhammed Jasim Ep, Vinay A. Coach: Ben Golliings.

Bengaluru Brave Hearts: Akuila Rokolisoa, Tone Ng Shiu, Scott Curry (New Zealand), Iowanee Teba (Fiji), Pol Pla (Spain), Henry Kirwan, Liam Poulton (Canada), Mak Chung (Hong Kong China), Mohit Khatri, Karan Rajbhar, Arpan Chhetri, Suresh Kumar, Prashshant Singh.. Coach: Francisco Hernadez.