2025 Rugby Premier League
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.| Mumbai |
| Mumbai Football Arena |
| Capacity: 7,000 |
Squads
Experienced marquee rugby players were picked up at the draft. The bridge and Indian players were bought at the auction.| Chennai Bulls | Delhi Redz | Hyderabad Heroes | Kalinga Black Tigers | Mumbai Dreamers | |
Akuila RokolisoaLeague stage-------- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- PlayoffsSemi-finals----BroadcastingIndiaOnline |