Hyderabad Heroes and Delhi Redz crowned Rugby Premier League champions

Spearheaded by a stunning performance from their plethora of international stars, the Hyderabad Heroes have claimed the 2026 Rugby Premier League title at G. M. C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium, overpowering the Mumbai Dreamers 41-17 in the final.

The result capped off a historic fortnight of action in the central Indian city of Hyderabad, with the Delhi Redz claiming the inaugural Rugby Premier League women’s competition title, overcoming the Chennai Bulls 22-10 in the final late last week.

After the Mumbai Dreamers, spearheaded by Aussie 7s star James Turner, France 7s star  Guillaume Bouche and Blitzboks Ryan Oosthuizen and Sebastiaan Jobb started the competition winning their first five matches, a critical 22-all draw with the Kolkata Banga Tigers provided an opening for the hosts to capitalise.

Hyderabad stormed home in the second week of action, keeping Mumbai and Kolkata scoreless in their final two fixtures to top the ladder, before seeing off defending champions the Chennai Bulls 29-24 in a tense semi-final on the penultimate day of action.

After a tense first quarter of action in the final, the Heroes exploded into life with tries to local star Shivam Shukla and Samoan Taitaifono Tavita, Aussie 7s veteran Maurice Longbottom controlling affairs and topping the lead off with a drop goal to give the hosts a 15-0 lead at halftime.

Mumbai struck back with a try to Aussie Ethan Mcfarland, but the Heroes killed off any hope of a fightback with a double to Uruguayan international Diego Ardao and a third try to Kenyan Kevin Wekesa in the third quarter.

Tavita enjoyed a strong performance setting up two tries, and while Turner and local star Sukumar Hembrom managed tries for the Dreamers in the final quarter, they proved to be consolations only.

It proved a fitting end to a well-executed campaign by Hyderabad, though the contest was far from one-sided when it came to the inaugural women’s competition.

The Bulls topped the women’s regular season after drawing with the Redz 24-all in the opening match of the competition, but endured a tight race across the entire week of action, sustaining a draw with the Mumbai Dreamers before defeating the Redz in their second fixture 31-27, and the Kolkata Banga Tigers 33-28.

Navigating a mixed start to the season, the Redz stormed home to qualify for the final with a 21-12 win over the Dreamers, and back-to-back wins over the Banga Tigers in their final regular season fixture and the qualifying final.

After getting on the board in the final through Fijian Lavena Cavuru, the Redz had to endure a second quarter fightback from the Bulls, with tries to local star Muskan Piploda and Kenyan international Sheilla Chajira.

However, the Redz kicked away with tries to Fijian Silika Qalo, Canadian Eden Kilgour and Brazilian Isadora Lopes, with local star Shikha Yadav putting in a massive shift and setting up several tries to get her side over the line.

The successes for Hyderabad and Delhi ended what was a resounding success on the park for the second iteration of the tournament, with 2026 seeing a significant increase in the number of heavyweight international stars coming to play in the tournament.

Combining with up-and-coming subcontinent talent that also delivered on the park, the Rugby Premier League looks well placed to continue increasing the footprint of rugby in India through the sevens format.