If ever a tale of two cities is written about rugby in Asia, then it must be based on the different approaches taken by the powerbrokers in Beijing and New Delhi in their attempts to develop a game still quite new to them.
The arrival of rugby sevens as an Olympic sport has given it much-needed status and clout on the world stage outside the traditional rugby-playing countries. It has also given the International Rugby Board a huge boost in its attempts to push the game's boundaries in the two most populated countries, China and India.
Each has taken a different tack. While China depends hugely on the state to manage and run its game, India's is very much a laissez-faire, anything-goes approach, much to the chagrin of Pramod Khanna, the president of the Indian Rugby Football Union, as he watched his team hold Japan to 5-5 at half-time in the men's quarter-final on Tuesday.
'In India, people are not really sports conscious, unlike in China where, because of the government, people do what they are told, as is the case in rugby now that it is an Olympic sport. This is not the case in India,' Khanna says.
The Indian government did give rugby financial support over the past couple of years simply because Delhi hosted the Commonwealth Games. But now that is over, rugby is in danger of slipping back into forgotten territory, says Khanna.
It's quite the opposite on the mainland, where all the provinces have been told to encourage rugby and form teams so they can be represented at the National Games in 2013 in Liaoning. This is the premier sports event at national level and only Olympic sports are played.
With rugby sevens in the Olympic fold, provincial governments will scramble to field teams, which will result in the net being cast far and wide for players for the national team.