The 2025 Rugby Premier League was the first season of the Rugby Premier League. It was held from 15 to 29 June 2025 with 6 city-based teams. Chennai Bulls defeated Delhi Redz 41–0 to win the inaugural title.
History In April 2025, the six teams were announced: Bengaluru Bravehearts, Chennai Bulls, Delhi Redz, Hyderabad Heroes, Kalinga Black Tigers and Mumbai Dreamers. World Rugby granted RPL a 15-day window, ensuring no other rugby sevens tournaments took place during this period. This allowed participation of some of the biggest names in the sport.
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.
From the domestic circuit, 30 Indian players were selected from an auction pool of 71. Mohit Khatri, captain of the national rugby 7s team went for ₹4.5 lakh. Dream11 chief marketing officer Vikrant Mudaliar revealed that the platform, which has 240 million users, will launch a rugby fantasy sports category to coincide with the RPL.
Format and venue Format The teams competed against each other during a 34-match schedule over 15 days.
Rugby Premier League featured 2 matches per night on weekdays and 3 matches per night on weekends. Matches were 4 minutes a quarter + 2 minutes break between each quarter which meant 22 minutes per match. A round-robin format saw 30 pool games with each team playing 10 pool matches. There were two semi-finals, a bronze medal match and the finale for a total of 34 matches. Teams played a maximum of 10 pool games + 2 playoff matches over 15 days.
Venue The matches were held at the Mumbai Football Arena, Mumbai, Maharashtra.
MumbaiMumbai Football ArenaCapacity: 7,000
Teams ClubCityHead CoachCaptainBengaluru BraveheartsBengaluru Francisco Hernández Scott Curry Pol PlaChennai BullsChennai Ben Gollings Alex DavisDelhi RedzDelhi Tomasi Cama Matías OsadczukHyderabad HeroesHyderabad DJ Forbes Manu MorenoKalinga Black TigersBhubaneswar Mike Friday Harry McNultyMumbai DreamersMumbai Tim Walsh Akash Balmiki
Squads Experienced marquee rugby players were picked up at the draft. The bridge and Indian players were bought at the auction. Bengaluru BraveheartsChennai BullsDelhi RedzHyderabad HeroesKalinga Black TigersMumbai Dreamers Akuila Rokolisoa Iowane Teba Tone Ng Shiu Scott Curry (C) Pol Pla (C) Philip Wokorach Liam Poulton Mak Chung Mohit Khatri Suresh Kumar Karan Rajbhar Prashant Singh Arpan Chhetri Terry Kennedy Joseva Talacolo Joaquín Pellandini Filipe Sauturaga Alex Davis (C) Nikias von der Lohe Haakon Oeß Va'a Apelu Maliko Akhil Anand Shanawaz Ahmed Aryan Dixit Muhammed Jasim Vallabh Patil Matteo Graziano Patrick Odongo Jordan Conroy Matías Osadczuk (C) Alejandro Laforga (es) Robin Plümpe Michael Coverdale Moritz Noll Rajdeep Saha Deepak Punia Mohit Tushir Sunil Chawan Raj Kumar Kevin Wekesa Joji Nasova Terio Tamani Lautaro Bazán Manu Moreno (C) Motu Opetai Max Roddick Wolfram Hacker Prince Khatri Sumit Roy Javed Hussain Sukumar Hembrom Sambit Pradhan Rosko Specman Lucas Lacamp Perry Baker Harry McNulty (C) Maurice Longbottom Kyle Tremblay Ethan Turner James Thiel Ajay Deswal Asis Sabar Deepraj Rajabhosale Pardeep Singh Arjun Mahato Waisea Nacuqu Henry Hutchison Aaron Cummings Jerry Tuwai James Turner Elias Hancock Rhys James Briar Barron Neeraj Khatri Devendra Padir Akash Balmiki (C) Nayan Kumar Ganesh Majhi
Points table
League stage
Playoffs
Semi-finals
Third place playoff
Final
Statistics Most points Player Team Points Va'a Apelu MalikoChennai Bulls75 Akuila RokolisoaBengaluru Bravehearts69 Terio TamaniHyderabad Heroes66 Philip WokorachBengaluru Bravehearts64 Joji NasovaHyderabad Heroes52
Source
Most tries Player Team Tries Va'a Apelu MalikoChennai Bulls15 Philip WokorachBengaluru Bravehearts12 Joji NasovaHyderabad Heroes10 Javed HussainHyderabad Heroes8 Terry KennedyChennai Bulls8
Source
Most conversions Player Team Conversions Terio TamaniHyderabad Heroes18 Akuila RokolisoaBengaluru Bravehearts17 Maurice LongbottomKalinga Black Tigers14 Filipe SauturagaChennai Bulls11 Joaquín PellandiniChennai Bulls10
Source
Most tackles Player Team Tackles Max RoddickHyderabad Heroes31 Manu MorenoHyderabad Heroes30 Joseva TalacoloChennai Bulls28 Michael CoverdaleDelhi Redz27 Filipe SauturagaChennai Bulls27
Source
Awards CategoryPlayerTeamPlayer of the Tournament Va'a Apelu MalikoChennai BullsEmerging Player of the Seasom Philip WokorachBengaluru BraveheartsIndian Player of the Season Javed HussainHyderabad Heroes
Broadcasting India JioHotstar Star Sports
Online RugbyPass TV
References