It was a red-letter day in the sport of rugby as the inaugural season of the Rugby Premier League (RPL) kicked off in grand style on Sunday evening at the Shahaji Raje Bhosale Sports Complex (Andheri Sports Complex). All six franchises were in action on the opening day, giving the fans a fantastic experience of one of the oldest sports in the world.
On Day 1, the Bengaluru Bravehearts and Delhi Redz played out a nail-biter that ended in a tie, whilst the Chennai Bulls and Hyderabad Heroes bagged comprehensive wins.The opening match of Season 1 of the RPL had the Bengaluru Bravehearts taking on the Delhi Redz, in what turned out to be an absolute humdinger.
After four quarters of intense rugby, with both sides going for the kill, the Bengaluru Bravehearts and the Delhi Redz shared the spoils, as the scores read 21-21.For the Bengaluru Bravehearts, Akuila Rokolisoa scored two Tries in the first and second quarters respectively, whilst Philip Wokorach added a third in the penultimate quarter.
Akuila Rokolisoa was also on hand to complete the conversions as well. The Delhi Redz, who conceded early, though roared back with Patrick Okongo scoring two Tries, in the first quarter and third quarter. The Redz also had Matias Osadczuk get on the scoresheet with a try in the second quarter.
Matias Osadczuk and Deepak Punia were also able to convert their kicks, helping the Redz level things before the final whistle.Match two of the opening day saw the Chennai Bulls win at a canter against the Mumbai Dreamers, with the score reading 24-5.
It was a tight first quarter, with neither side getting on the scoresheet. However, after that, the Chennai Bulls settled in and took control. Terry Kennedy scored tries in the second and third quarter, and Vaafauese Maliko along with Muhammed Ep, added to the list of tries with their efforts in quarter two and four.
Terry Kennedy was also able to convert his kick, and Joaquin Pellandini added another couple of points for the Bulls. For the Mumbai Dreamers, it was Henry Hutchinson who managed to get the first points of the tournament for his side when he scored a try early in the final quarter.
In the final game of the day, the Hyderabad Heroes put on a fine display – showing great co-ordination within themselves, as they swatted aside the Kalinga Black Tigers, with the score at 24-14. Joji Nasova’s try put Hyderabad in the lead before Maurice Longbottom’s try brought things to level pegging.
Both the sides had also converted their kicks, and continued to trade blows in the second quarter with Hyderabad’s Manuel Moreno and Kalinga’s Harry Mcnulty adding tries for their teams. Moreno and Longbottom converted the kicks after that once again, as the teams stayed locked on points, with the game on a knife-edge.
In the second half, Hyderabad were out of the blocks quicker than their opposition as Javed Hussein and Kevin Wekesa, added a try each in the third and fourth quarter to put the seal on the win.