Rugby returns to La Martiniere after 48 years

LUCKNOW: After a gap 48 years, rugby will return to Lucknow at La Martniere College when Kane Turoa, the coach of the New Zealand national rugby team will train boys of the school in the sport.The college is among the few in the country where students are taught rugby. “The revival of rugby at La Martiniere Collge is on the insistence of the former students who had enjoyed the sport when they were in school.It seems to be the quintessential `all-boys’ game which fits into the ethos of this college,” said principal Carlyle McFarland.

The team of old Martinians which proposed the idea includes Lt Col Rajendra SinghSM, Lt Col AK Srivastava and Salahuddin Ahmed, all former rugby players from the school.

Rugby was played in the college till 1968 at Fairydale Field.

“When the boys try their hands at rugby on Friday , we will walk down the memory lane. Thanks to the rugby I played in school, I got an opportunity to train the Army’s rugby team,” said Lt Col Singh.

Apart from Turoa, a coach of international repute who will be here for a month, the school will also have a coach from the Indian Army rugby team for a week, added Singh. The school now has a new field called Baker’s Field. As many as 300 students from classes VII-IX have volunteered to learn the sport.