Amandeep Kaur was the joint-third-most expensive player in the Rugby Premier League 2026 auction. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

When the player auction for the inaugural women’s edition of Rugby Premier League was happening in April, Amandeep Kaur spent most of the day wondering if her name was going to get announced at all.

“The players in Mumbai Dreamers, Delhi Redz, and Kolkata Banga Tigers had all been announced, and I was starting to think my name wouldn’t come only,” she recalled to Sportstar. “I was really nervous; I waited from nine in the morning to eight in the night.”

“My name wasn’t coming in the auction, and I got very demotivated. I had to do a gym workout, and I didn’t even feel like doing that. Eventually I decided to just work hard, and finally at 8:00PM, I was about to go home and my friend who was training with me saw on Instagram and told me I had been selected by Chennai Bulls.”

As it so happened, Chennai Bulls had made her the joint-third-most expensive player in the auction at Rs. 1.6 lakh, and six weeks later, it seems a wise investment. She has been a key contributor as the team topped the league phase of the tournament and finished runner-up overall and was named as the Emerging Player of the Season.

The tournament, which has enabled her to interact with some of the biggest stars in rugby sevens, is one she relished. “We’ve got to learn a lot of new things. There are a lot of Olympic-level players, and we’ve developed a good bond and communicated well.

We’ve got to learn a lot of new things about the game, like how to think in the game and what to do in specific situations,” she said.

From javelin to rugby

It is an opportunity that would have scarcely seemed possible for a player who only took up the game in 2021. Amandeep was initially a javelin thrower pursuing her Bachelors in Physical Education and Sports at Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University in Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, when a confluence of circumstances led to her discovering rugby in her final year.

“I used to do javelin throw, and the financial support was a bit less. The coaches I used to work with had their centers changed and it became very difficult for me to train. I didn’t really want to leave that, and my performance was good as well.

“I used to see a lot of things in rugby that I could do well, and I could see a good future in it,” she further explained.

Amandeep names New Zealand’s Portia Woodman as one of her inspirations – particularly her strength and power – and it was those attributes that drew her towards rugby. “I used to see aggression in rugby, and I could bring whatever anger I had inside out,” she said with a chuckle.

Her decision to move from javelin to rugby was one that her family viewed with some trepidation. Her brother – himself a wrestler – was keen that she should stick to an individual sport over a team sport, and it meant that she would occasionally resort to subtle means of subterfuge to keep playing.

“I told him I would play rugby, because I have a good future in it. But in the beginning, I used to get injured regularly. I would take time to tell them that I had stitches in my head, or my hand had a fracture, or that I would need surgery,” she recalled. “I have managed these by myself, because if I had told them, they would have told me to stop.”

Those questions, she notes, have stopped now. “ Kabhi chodne ka naam nahi loongi, na kabhi sawaal aisa aata hai (Neither I talk about leaving nor I get asked about it),” she said with a smile.

National honours calling

In 2025, she was called up to the national team camp for the first time for tours of China and Sri Lanka. Initially named in a preparatory group of 30 players that was set to be cut down to 14 for the tour, she recalled the nerve-wracking meeting where it was announced she would be an India international.

“There were three cut-offs. First, it was the top 20, then the top 16. From the top 16, the top 14 would go to Thailand first for exposure. When I was in the top 16, there was a week to go for the final selection. I was very nervous, because I was the only one in the camp for the first time, everyone else had played for India for some time,” she remembered.

“I was really scared about whether they would take my name. So I went to the meeting, sat down, and then my name was the first to come up! I was so happy! At first I was looking around, but then I was so happy that I didn’t hear the other names.”

Her debut would come in China in the Asian Rugby Seven Series. “It was an incredible feeling. We were playing against China and Hong Kong, some of the top players in Asia,” she remembered of the occasion.

“When I was on the field for the first time, I got a wonderful feeling that I was doing something for the country. Whenever I get the chance, I will always give my 100% effort. It’s a different feeling, you feel so proud to be on the field for India.”

Playing for India also gave Amandeep the opportunity to play alongside another of her idols, captain Shikha Yadav.

“When I had just started playing rugby, there was a show on social media about the rugby players including her. I used to go on Google and see everything about her, her videos. I loved didi’s strength and speed, I saw how good a player she is. And when I first came to the camp in 2025, she used to give me lots of small tips and even now she motivates me,” Amandeep said glowingly.

The future: Asian Games and beyond

Amandeep’s rise with the national side has coincided with a growth in Indian women’s rugby, which coalesced with the launch of the women’s edition of RPL this year. “When the women’s edition was announced, we were very happy,” she said. “We are getting the opportunity to play with the big stars we have seen on TV in India. It’s a massive exposure for all of us, we can gain experience and learn new things.”

Amandeep and the Indian team will be looking to carry forward that newfound experience into a massive 2026 for the side. Having finished an impressive sixth in the 2025 Asia Rugby Emirates Women’s Sevens Series, it will be looking to improve again in the 2026 edition.

But along with that, there is the (not so) small matter of the Asian Games. The goal for that? “We want to bring the medal for India.”

Published on Jun 24, 2026