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The fifth Jungle Crow Corporate Touch Rugby Tournament in March 2011. A Telegraph picture
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They may be busy tossing around million-dollar ideas round the year but for the past few weeks, office-goers in Calcutta are busy tossing something else — a light oval ball. That’s because the Jungle Crows Corporate Touch Rugby tournament is just round the corner.
The touch rugby tournament — which turns six this year — will be held on Saturday at Calcutta Rangers Club, near the Maidan, from 1pm. Fourteen teams have already registered, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, HSBC, Indismart, SREI, Terra Indica, Pal Transport, defending champions Jadavpur University, Future Hope and the British Deputy High Commission.
“It is an excellent opportunity for us to participate in a sport that is still unusual in Calcutta. Rugby is a team-based game and encourages trust-building. Also, we always encourage our employees to have fun at work,” said Emma Richardson, a human capital director at PwC, which is sending three teams.
Touch rugby is a non-contact version of the game, a frenzied and fun sport that is played on a small ground with five-a-side teams.
Boys from rugby club Jungle Crows have been coaching the teams for the past three weeks. Former British diplomat Paul Walsh, who set up Jungle Crows, promises that the tournament will conclude in “traditional rugby style”— with beer and snacks.
As the teams take on each other, families, friends and colleagues will cheer from the sidelines, making for a festive atmosphere and fun weekend.
The proceeds from the tournament will go towards the Jungle Crows sports development programme, Khelo Rugby, which takes rugby into disadvantaged communities around the city.
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