For, Aga Raza Hussain, 42 and going strong, will captain the historic team, the first Indian rugby side to play in an international event. And he will keep an eagle eye on ``son''.

``He is just another player for me. It's a team sport. We all take care of one another,'' said the skipper. Rugby, a physical and supposedly violent sport, requires each player to ``cover another's back''.

For someone playing the sport for the last 20 years, its been a dream come true for Hussain to participate in an international meet. Though, he admits, being under pressure to quit the sport altogether as age is catching up.``People are known to play till they are 34-35 years old. After all, its just a question offitness,'' he stated.

His Irish professor in Wilson College, where he studied, introduced him to the sport and together, with some others, they formed the Wilson Club in 1973. The club lasted 10 years, but Hussain's love for the sport sustains.The reason why the sport is still not popular in the country is because schools don't play it, he said. Once schools and colleges start encouraging the sport, which is what the Indian Rugby Football Union aims to achieve, the sport will pick up.

Which explains why Nasser started playing only after he passed out of school, even if rugby is in the ``family curriculum''. And, in just three seasons, said the proud father, Nasser has found himself a place in the National side. ``That is because he is better than I was at his age,'' said Hussain.

Naseer aims to be a part of the under-19 team and play in the Junior World Cup in Wales next year, though it has not yet been decided if a team will be sent.

But if the Indian seniors qualify for the World Cup, to be heldsimultaneously at Wales, then maybe Nasser will fulfill his ambition. To take on, one-to-one, New Zealand's Jonah Lomu, one of the world's best. ``And chances are, I will be tempted to run,'' he grinned.