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Victorious rugby team back home

Staff Reporter

Tribal students won the tournament in London in which 10 nations participated

—Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

HEROS’ WELCOME: Under 14 rugby players of the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences with the trophy on their arrival in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.

BHUBANESWAR: Tribal students of the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) arrived here on Wednesday after winning a “friendly” rugby tournament in London last week.

Sponsored by charity Touraid, the 12-member KISS team won the competition in which students from 10 nations participated.

The teams were chosen from “disadvantaged” locations in developing nations, including Rwanda, Cambodia, Swaziland, Moldova, Zambia and Kenya.

First outing

The charity organisation hosted the event coinciding with the ongoing Rugby World Cup.

For the majority of the boys from different countries, it was the first outing from their abode.

KISS team coach R. K. Jena claimed that his boys beat South Africa’s national team in the finals on Saturday last.

The “Touraid Under-14 International School Rugby Tournament” was widely covered by the media.

Just the catalyst

“Rugby is just the catalyst. This is about facilitating friendships among boys from some pretty desperate situations,” Nick Avery, a Touraid trustee, was quoted as saying.

Meet Chief Minister

On their arrival here, the students met Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Governor Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare before being taken out in a procession to their school.

KISS is home to 3,000 tribal students hailing from different parts of the State.

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