Eighteen states for junior national rugby

Eighteen states from the length and breadth of the country are to take part in the Societe Generale Junior (under 18) National Rugby Seven Championships at the Bombay Gymkhana turf here on October 20 and 21.
The championship is being organised by Rugby India in association with Rugby Association of Maharashtra and Societe Generale, it was announced at a media conference today.
The eighteen states are: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Daman, Uttarkhand, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir and hosts Maharashtra.
The 18 boys' teams would be split into six pools of three teams each while the 12 girls' outfits would be grouped three each in four pools.

The tournament has grown in size with the previous edition at Bhubaneswar in Odisha having witnessed boys and girls teams from thirteen states, the organisers said.
West Bengal and Odisha are the defending champions in boys and girls sections while Delhi and West Bengal had finished runners-up respectively last year.