INDIA'S national rugby team will face Pershore next month.

The match is part of a three-date tour of the Midlands on their short visit to England.

One of the new members of the International Rugby Board, the Indians will play at Piddle Park on Sunday December 14. They will then play Coventry on December 17 and a Leicester XV at Welford Road on December 21.

The tour is being undertaken in an attempt to raise the profile of rugby among Asian communities and India will be based in Pershore during their tour.

"India has a rich heritage in the game but, due to some reasons, the sport has never taken off as it should have done," said Pramod Khanna, the Indian RFU president.

"Nevertheless, the potential is far more than what one sees, and therefore it is the concerted effort of a few dedicated die-hards and lovers of the game who have taken it upon themselves to promote and popularise it in India."

India are currently ranked 89th in the official IRB World Rankings having recently hosted their first-ever official Test Match when they took on Chinese Taipei in Calcutta in the IRB's Asian Quadrangular competition.