ISSUE 4 MARCH 2018
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Contents 3)
Asia Rugby Championship
4)
Arab Rugby Federation
5)
RWC 2019 Pt 1
6)
UAE Rugby Review
7)
Corporate Touch 6s 2018
8)
Dubai Exiles Girls Tour the UK
10) Special Feature on Jordan Rugby 13) Money and Rugby 14) Problems with the league structure 16) RWC 2019 Pt 2 18) Social Media 20) School vs Clubs Pt 2 21) Women’s 7s 2017 / 2018 review 22) April Rugby 23) Injury threat to Rugby
SideLine Rugby is the online magazine of Gulf Rugby Paper, we aim to bring insight to the background stories of rugby in the Gulf region. Gulf Rugby has a rich and also sometimes complicated history and sits now at a time with massive expansion in Asia , where Gulf Rugby, on its Western fringes are still looking for a more permanent cultural rugby identity. This month witnesses the end of the 2017 / 2018 season, where yet again a jumble of teams and fixtures and calendars and tournaments has slowly resulted in West Asia. UAE league and school finals. Asia Rugby is also celebrating the hosting of both the Rugby World Cup, in 2019 and the Olympics in 2020, around which much rugby development momentum has occurred in the Asia and also the UAE in particular who have used the Get Into Rugby Program to maximum affect to become 3rd most participated GIR country in the World. Thanks as always to regular photograph contributors—Graeme Forbes, Melissa Lear, Latifa Redha.
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Asia Rugby Championship This year’s Top Tier Asian Rugby Championship is also a RWC Qualification event and last year’s Division 1 winners Malaysia (who are currently preparing for the tournament in New Zealand) will play Hong Kong and Korea, with Japan already qualified for RWC 2019. Malaysia won last year’s Division 1 Tournament to move up to the premier event, but with Japan already qualified there was no relegation pr promotion around Division 1. HOWEVER - The UAE has withdrawn from the Division, which takes place in June leading to much speculation with regards the future of representative rugby in the country, with news that the U19 team has also withdrawn from Asia competitions. (see Arab Rugby story page 4)
Local Interest then settle on ARC Division 3W in a fascinating tournament this year hosted in Beirut in April. This event holds particular interest as much with the surrounding political connotations as with the actual rugby. Regionally all these countries have been involved over the years in ASIA rugby ranking matches. Now though with the emergence of the Arab Rugby Federation, Lebanon and Jordan are active in the ARF 7s series, (which Iran are not part of) and Qatar are currently not participating in West Asia leagues, due to the inability to travel in the UAE. Another point of interest is the eligibility criteria utilized by each Federations development programs. Qatar’s 7s team in Dubai (2016) were notably “Pacific Island” in origin whereas Jordan are unique in the completely home grown program. This is a very hard to predict tournament, one would favour Lebanon as favourites at home, but Iran will be unpredictable and physically strong, Jordan are very passionate and no one has seen Qatar play for a year.
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Arab Rugby Federation
in the Arab World, (which to an extent IS West Asia Rugby), the Arab Rugby Federation has hit upon a concept of internal and (indigenous) growth among themselves. It is exclusive and ignores World Rugby’s eligibility criteria, although by branding themselves as an Olympic governed body, the rejection of expats from their players base is understandable as much as a requirement.
When a sport becomes global and becomes a ‘product’, it becomes hard to manage. There are two reasons for this. 1) The game is institutionalized towards the countries of origin and the power base. (In Rugby’s case read Tier 1 nations).
There is maybe more to all this. The Arab Rugby Federation creates a competition environment among peer groups just as historically England and Scotland have enjoyed a healthy rivalry. At West Asia club level, Premiership cross border teams have failed to provide that rivalry to the majority incoming indigenous players, who are still learning the game. Arab Rugby competitions do provide an environment that is not only exclusive for them, but also a society and cultural competition that provides the backdrop for proper rivalry and suitable competitive-
2) The game starts to move into geographical areas where, not only is the sport unknown, but sport itself is not so woven into the fabric of society; meaning it is difficult enough to provide sport itself, let alone a sport they have not heard off. World Rugby, like FIFA, have regional management hubs which create competitions, but unlike football, where Australia (or even Japan) and Iraq, might play a credible and competitive fixture, such a match up is unlikely in Asian Rugby, where so many countries are still learning the game, not to mention the luxury of money for travel, which rugby does not enjoy.
Gulf Rugby falls under the Asia Rugby ‘hub’ and for many years the term West Asia Rugby has been synonymous with development plans and cross border mandated directives. Until now maybe! With the growth of the game
ness. There is a rethink happening in West Asia and it might just be the key to sustainable local rugby in the region.
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RWC Part 1 Rugby World Cup 2019 qualification began at the Rugby Americas North Championship in 2016, with the final qualifier only to be known in November 2018. Here is the scenario for the remaining teams to qualify. One European qualifier: The highest-ranked team from the Rugby Europe Championship (excluding Georgia) will qualify – Europe 1 Everyone thought it was world football (and at present cricket) that would provide the off pitch talking points, but in this last month RWC 2019 qualification has descended into chaos. Romania became the latest teams to qualify as Europes 2nd spot, but only after Belgium beat Spain, with a Romanian referee. After many allegations of impropriety, silence and time will probably bring an end to this story and Spain will have to try and get to RWC 2019 through the repecharge Georgia are already qualified for RWC 2019 thanks to their third-place pool finish in RWC 2015. Two Oceania qualifiers: Two teams to qualify for RWC 2019 from a Pacific Nations Cup played on a home and away basis over June 2016 and 2017 – Oceania 1 and 2 Leading to One Europe/Oceania play-off qualifier: The third place team from the Pacific Nations Cup will play a home and away play-off with SPAIN in the Rugby Europe Championship (excluding Georgia) with the winner on aggregate qualifying for RWC 2019. The loser will qualify for the repechage tournament – Play-off 1 Two Americas qualifiers: Canada and Uruguay will play home and away now against the topranked South American team (excluding Argentina) with the winner on aggregate qualifying for RWC 2019. (The USA already qualified). The loser of this match qualifies for the repechage tournament – Americas 1 and 2 One African qualifier: The winner of the Rugby Africa Championship (Gold Cup) will qualify. The runner-up qualifies for the repechage tournament – Africa 1 Teams for the 2018 Gold Cup are Tunisia, (who are members of the Arab Rugby Federation) Namibia, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Morocco (also ARF members). From 16th June to 18th August 2018. Asia/Oceania play-off for repechage place: Malaysia Rugby are still in the RWC2019 reckoning after winning the Asia Rugby Championship Division 1 title last year. Malaysia were promoted to Top 3 for 2018 and play Hong Kong and Korea and a chance for a play-off with the Oceania Cup 2017 winner. The winner gets a place in the repechage tournament that will determine the 20th and final qualifier for RWC 2019. Sadly the RWC 2019 dream for UAE Rugby ended in that 2017 Division I tournament after coming forth, but they at least remain in Division I again for 2018. Leading to One repechage qualifier: The repechage tournament will feature four teams playing in a roundrobin format with the winners qualifying for RWC 2019 – Repechage tournament
6 The DUBAI EAGLES had a hard baptism into Premiership rugby this season, but did not finish last which has earned them a chance of some silverware in the Overall, the rugby in the Gulf has seen a great level West Asia Trophy against DUBAI HURRICANES . of competitiveness in every competition.
UAE Leagues Review
The West Asia came down to the last weekend for JEBEL ALI DRAGONS to snatch the title after Harlequins were looking so strong early season, although WEST ASIA PREMIERSHIP it is the DUBAI EXILES
and ABU DHABI HARLEQUINS who will be playing the UAE Premiership final on April 13th in AL AIN.
UAE PREMIERSHIP
The West Asia competition produces two Trophies however and Dragons (as champions) were edged out in the semi final by a strong season finishing Dubai Exiles who travel now to Bahrain for the West Asia final.
The conference league traditional top and bottom split was amended so that league points accumulated would be kept for fixtures played after. This was an incentive for the teams finishing top of the league, allowing them a buffer of maybe one poor game, but still maintaining an advantage. With that in mind, Dubai Tigers, who just managed to sneak into the Top 6 have had a dominant second half of the season and will play a semi final to try and go from Trophy winners to Cup Winners in one season. Every game in the Top 5 has been a hard fought competitive fixture and the accumulated points indicating the tightness of the league which saw both Amblers and Dragons miss out.
UAE CONFERENCE TOP 5 Dubai Exiles have come through some early season lack of form and are firing on all cylinders in both premiership competitions and as Dubai 7s winners are looking to end the season with 3 of the 4 (Continues page 17) top level titles.
7 every year. The venue change to the Polo Club to allow for growth of team entries Corporate Touch 6s 2018 was the 7th edition of this and (of course ever growing event. One of the calendars favourite the amazing faevents, it is arguably the largest showcase for the cilities and backgame of Touch in the region . drop) and the This is a non sporting event in a sense and highlights entertaining the how the game of Touch is such a flexible and invalu- crowd concepts, almost making able tool to rugby development and growth. the teams comThe Corporate Touch event has become successful peting a sideline element to the whole event. not only because of the excellent organisation and the unique corporate nature to the tournament, but To a certain extent they are, because at the end of the day this IS a business event. A networking day the use of Touch Rugby highlighting in this one instance exactly why the sport of Touch is such a use- with a difference and it with no doubt that a large element of that, makes the companies that do atful tool. That is ANYONE can play. tend (and certainly the massive support from Zurich The sport of Touch, has allowed parents to look at they receive ever year) come back. ‘rugby’ as a sport they are happy to let their kids Girls TOUCH play and allowed ‘office workers’ an alternative sport to running and one that gives a good chance of them being able to walk into the office on a Sunday morning, without looking like they had been in a street riot the night before.
Corporate Touch
It is Touch that has seen girls rugby thriving in schools not only in the UAE but in the UK and around the World and in the UAE, both the corporate Touch event and the game of Touch have seen clubs with Touch teams and spin off events such as the Touch Super 6’s league develop with such enthusiasm. One additional element of the Corporate Touch event has been the subtle improvements each and
Looking at both the club leagues and the DASSA school girls Touch leagues and the participation numbers are astonishing. UAE has always had touch and girls rugby, but the introduction of FIT and the formation of school age group series has seen numbers explode. With 9 schools at U15 and as many as 13 at U13 level. Team of the year has to be Arabian Knights U15’s girls, many of whom we might see in Middle East Touch’s team for the European Championships in Scotland later this year.
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Dubai Exiles U19 on Tour Touring teams have been coming to the UAE for quite a few years and the Dubai Exiles certainly get their fair share of visiting teams, but the girls have had few opportunities to test their game against overseas opposition. It was great news to see the Dubai Exiles U19 team head off to the UK earlier this month. The Dubai Exiles have seen strong development with a consistent team and coaching group. They are leading the U19 Sevens Series this season and won the title at the Dubai 7s. However, it must have been with a sense of unknown when the team decided to head to the UK to tackle the girls game in the UK which has recently seen an surge in popularity and a country with a dedicated pathway from U15 to National Senior Level.
We asked Andy Williams, one of the teams coaches (and a parent) about the tour and its implications. Is this the first girls rugby tour to the UK. Who did you play and how did you come to play those teams? How did you gauge the strength of the opposition before leaving Dubai? It came about following the fixtures last year against SGS Filton (Bristol Academy), when their coach suggested a return fixture. We reflected on this suggestion at our year end review and decided that a tour would be the best way to benchmark ourselves and to provide the girls a wider understanding of rugby values which are amplified in a touring environment. We spoke to SGS and their tour organizer and requested fixtures of a similar level. The tour organisers had seen us play so were able to pitch fixtures at a similar level. In additional to SGS Filton we played Cobham RFC and Nelson RFC. Both of who are the strongest in their respective regions. Was this a 15s tour? How was the adaptation of playing scrums as we are a predominantly 7s country. Did you find that they were stronger forwards and you better in the backs or was it not like that at all?
9 We took a squad of 15 so it wasn’t possible to play 15s as we needed bench cover, so we positioned the tour as a 10s tour. We played games in 3 periods of between 15 and 20 minutes. We played 5 person scrums and this gave the girls an understanding of a more structured game, but also allowed us to draw on our experience and grounding as 7s players. What would you say if anywhere that the Exiles girls were superior in any way, and can you give an indication as to why that might have been – training methods or more of it? Or maybe even just a really excellent group of girls that comes by every now and then or elements of all of it. We were most definitely fitter and this told in the last period of every game where we were able to stretch our leads. Also the core ball skill levels were higher across the team. The UK teams were definitely more physical and especially around the ruck, but we adapted quickly to this more physical game and as the tour developed were able to counter this with our own power. The training environment (dry warm conditions) no doubt plays a major role in defining our strengths, but the teamwork and camaraderie was also a major factor – the girls played so well as a team, and this was clearly a key factor in how they were able to come from behind in all 3 games. What was the reaction of the opposition, coaches particularly? Surprise at the standard? Interesting! They were clearly surprised at the skill level of the Exiles girls and were certainly not expecting to lose…there were lots of references from parents that “it would be different if we were playing 15s!”. The coaches (SGS Filton in particular) were happy to help their girls see that they needed to learn new skills to develop – particularly in a short format game. SGS Filton have been selected to play in a 8 team global 7s invitational in Japan in April as the UK representatives, so he was pleased to test his girls so that they can develop an approach for the 7s game. They are favorites for the Rosslyn Park 7s this year apparently so for us to beat them in the short game (we did play some 7s against them at the end) was amazing. Do any of the Exiles girls have any ambitions, (even at a university level) to carry on playing, if their future is the UK, and are they now more inclined and possibly now starting to think that maybe they could do well in rugby in the UK (or of course elsewhere). Were they surprised at the level of their performance or the level of the ability if rugby in the UK. I think many of the girls were very proud and pleased to see how they benchmarked against top UK sides. We played against a number of international U18 girls from both the England and Wales set ups. There were some amazing individuals, but what was pleasing was that our stronger players looked comfortable at that level. I am sure that a large number of them will now be considering rugby alongside their University applications whether in the UK or elsewhere. (Editors note - with such a massive growth in girls rugby in the UK this is a interesting comparison example of the skill level reached in the Middle East and the growing interest in girls rugby here). Thanks to Dubai Exiles for Photographs
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Special Feature on Jordan Rugby
matches. This is why Dr. Zubi thinks Jordan rugby future will be successful.
Jordan is in a unique position in the Gulf Rugby Community which sits on the Western edge of Asia Rugby and where the game is just about working its way into the local culture.
Right now, Jordanian Rugby is in rude health, the 3 Amman based sides involve enthusiastic players who have been around for a few years now, but Zubi and his committee know that sustainability is the key to the teams future in the country.
For governance reasons Jordan Rugby Union follow the standard template of most developing rugby nations. There is a 7s program, there are committees and paperwork and there is a XVs league and now a growing women’s program. But unlike many other regional rivals, Jordan is 97% national player participation and this sets them apart from their West Asia regional opponents.
This is why people like Zaid Jardeneh who is the driving force behind Amman Citadel and ladies coach Frieh Kewar have been on TV. Rugby also has regular spots on the local radio, but there is a lack of progress in school curriculum programs despite regular Get Into Rugby events and lack of resources to throw development officers into the game to drive the future players through.
For a while Jordan have been looking to the assistance of countries with established rugby history, such as the UAE and Qatar, but when the West Asia tournaments are conducted, the national players always come up against Western opponents from the countries largely expat dominated leagues.
The biggest sadness being that ironically the one country in the region that has been able to attract a healthy national player base is finding assistance to grow the game so hard to come by.
Jordan Rugby’s XVs season started in February and includes just three teams, all within the vicinity of the capital Amman.
Jordan Rugby’s yearly budget would be less money than to buy an average Saloon car, yet they have a Committee, a national selection panel and three teams playing both 7s and 15s and all with all but a handful of expatriate players taking part.
Jordan XVs
The Union is supported nationally by Al Kindi Hospital and Mahmoudia Motors (who are agents for World Rugby Supporters Land Rover), but getting financial support at club level is difficult for such a unknown sport in the country.
There are a couple of other teams in Jordan who participate in the national 7s series, but for XVs the leagues centers around the capital Amman. It is no surprise then that the current strongest side would be the team that started it all. The Amman Citadel are not only the city’s first team, but are still leading the way when it comes to innovation and growing the name of the game of rugby in Jordan. They are very active on social media and have taken to showing their games live on FB.
In the words of their Secretary General Dr Zubi Al Zubi however; rugby is an excellent sport for Jordanians, it exemplifies their culture and characteristics. Game days on Friday at the pitch at Petra University will see people of all ages, and families with their kids, come and watch the
It is Citadel that are driving the current move into women’s rugby in the country with the creation of the ‘Queens’ and it is Citadel that has the strongest presence at game time with VIP tents and seating areas for guests and it is Citadel that has created club committees for sustainabi
11 -lity of a club beyond game time.
Nomads and already look served to contribute a number of their team to the National side in Citadels Main rivals are Amman Nomads, April. whose players departed Citadel as a breakaway team. Partly as always because some players Jordan Rugby XVs final will take place on May wanted a different approach to the game and 11th where the country will also hold exhibition partly because the country needs teams. It is games for women’s and junior rugby. the ‘first’ partly that gives the matches between Nomads and Citadel an extra edge and contact situations are often as verbal as they are physi- Jordan Women’s Rugby cal. There is seemingly a lot of on field animosity for a country with so few players who all Jordan Rugby are not resting on their successes in developing rugby in the country after the start of the 2018 fifteens season last Friday 9th February. Before the game kicked off between Citadel and Nomads, an exhibition of women’s Touch rugby got the weekend underway and highlighted the latest direction of rugby in the country for both the clubs and the Jordan Union.
know each other, but it doesn’t seem to spill over in social occasions and somehow adds to the competitiveness of the matches. In fact it is the drive for competition and the desire to win for your club that personifies Jordan Rugby and again adds to their distinctiveness as a rugby nation. Amman 3rd team used to hail from the mostly expatriate player base of the Embassy based Saracens, but a recent tightening of the club membership meant for another breakaway team, this time players from Nomads, where were joined by a few from Citadel and Jordan now has a healthy 3 team competition. The new team, Al Ahli are based at one of Jordan’s football teams premises in a move that is hoped will forge a common name link between the football and rugby clubs for marketing and promotion purposes. It may help their cause that Al Ahli won their second game as a team against the
Rugby for women in the country started with the introduction of World Rugby’s Get Into Rugby programme in schools back in 2014. At a senior level, in 2016 Jordan Rugby collaborated with Amman Saracens Club to develop women’s rugby however, with the majority of the clubs players being expatriates the focus shifted to look to introduce the game to the Jordanian women. Now, one of Jordan’s pioneer clubs, Amman Citadel Rugby Club has created the ‘Queens’, a team full of Jordanians and coached by Frieh Kewar who has developed the Queens last year to reach the level they are today. The women have taken to the game enthusiastically and in such a short time have shown a great promise to developing a full women’s league in the country. As such the Jordan Union is working with the other clubs to include and build their own women’s teams before the end of the year.
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Money and Rugby An Editorial
There is no bigger struggle to all rugby clubs in the world than sustainability due to money. The 2017 – 2018 season witnessed the demise of Dubai Wasps and the end of a major sponsorship for Abu Dhabi Harlequins, immediately putting the record breaking Harlequins M&Y tournament in jeopardy. Rugby clubs in the UAE are purely private institutions with no self-financing revenue generation in place save membership and sponsorship and as the well-known saying goes. “There is no money in rugby”. The UAE has a large rugby playing community which has been playing for more than 40 years as a social amateur league, but the costs of playing matches has become a heavy burden for both club and player. Most rugby clubs in the UAE do not have actual grounds and subsequently pay a heavy proportion of their revenue on pitch hire. And with so little choices to hire from, this cost is becoming prohibitive. What maybe is the future for rugby in the country? Is it time for a fundamental change and are there even the options change? If the Dubai Sport City Eagles are to be the template of Rugby clubs, (a team not tenants of a facility but operating as part of the facility), how many clubs in the region can have a similar set up and is this then an unfair advantage making the league unbalanced. Most clubs operate on a business model with regards covering their cost with membership fees and sponsors, with the majority of the revenue from membership fees. Fees which as costs increase year on year. While the smaller ‘social teams’ can exist on a almost pay as you play principal, which is just about sustainable for the locally based clubs who do not venture far from Dubai. For bigger teams, with Premiership players and the ambitions of development both on and off the pitch, dipping ever further into the players pockets is becoming an uncomfortable option. Would the situation be different if there were less clubs to target potential sponsors, 3 or 4 Dubai teams could absorb some smaller clubs and capitilise on economies of scale. It would be the same amount of teams, but with a much larger selling market as a club to a sponsor. Smaller teams could become ‘named’ social teams of larger clubs. Of course, rugby is a comraderie sport and teams such as the Sharks and Beavers and even Barrelhouse, (who are looking to enter the league system next season) have been around the UAE club scene for 10 years or more. This is the fundamental issue with rugby in the UAE, this is a forward moving society by culture and UAE Rugby at the top level is aching to move onwards with movement towards paid players and ambitions for a more demanding level of competition. We are still however an old school rugby society with historical clubs with closely bonded teams. In a way we need both, but with the demise of the Wasps as a example we are losing some and the we are getting no further with the other.
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Problems with the League Structure
Here then is the argument for Arab Rugby (which also takes care of the pathway concept), and can include teams like Citadel from Jordan; but what is the future for Gulf Rugby?
Gulf Rugby used to be simple. Each city had a club, Sharjah, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Dubai, etc. and they played each other in a league. Then rugby grew and AGRFU broke down and clubs in the one UAE league alone outnumber the Gulf league of old.
UAE LEAGUES
This is not a problem as such, merely a consequence and teams do enjoy a structured hierarchy of competition that reflects their level of play. However, there are a lot more teams in the bottom end than at the top. Top-level players want to play regularly and clubs want more top level rugby to showcase to sponsors, but decry there are not enough teams or games.
Players are also very job dependent and as social players will not have arrived in the Gulf to play the Top level of rugby available, but often, just to enjoy playing a game as frequently as possible.
In the UAE, the suggestion is that some Conference teams could and should make the step up to Premiership with the idea that making the league larger will create a bigger audience and more attractive to players. A premiership league Now, we have internal UAE Leagues and there with five teams makes for a very short season. is still a Gulf competition including Muscat, KuPutting a player allocation system in place could wait, Bahrain and Doha, but this is barely hangeven up the squads with controlled player ing on as a concept. movements to Premiership teams. Plenty of Rugby then on paper, but are any ultiEveryone has to remember though the differmate goals being achieved? Any other Unions ence between Premiership, Conference and would have rugby leagues to slowly progress Community is not necessarily player skill level. the level of rugby towards a National side. That is not the purpose here in the UAE. Structured One League travels (Premiership), one league rugby continues as a habit of the structure be- stays at home, (Conference) and one league fore the breakdown of the AGRFU, but it is not plays every two weeks (Community). Promotion in place as a pathway in any form. and relegation with this format is not feasible.
THE DUBAI SEVENS and other distractions
A serious spanner in the works for the fixtures calendar every year is the timing of the Dubai The irony is the players who have the busiest 7s, which can lead to teams having over two schedules are the players that signed up for months off from league rugby. less rugby in the first place. The calendar might sat October to April, but of GULF CONFERENCE RUGBY the roughly 27 weeks from mid September to Gulf Conference Rugby seems to exist as a mid April the Premiership only plays 12 to 15 mechanism to enable the old Gulf clubs to keep matches. playing. This is not just because of lack of teams. The No UAE teams will take part in Gulf Conference conference league has nine and quite a packed fixtures any more based on cost, and the fact calendar, but simply run out of time. (see fixthey don't need to. (money being the major is- tures list next page). sue for the other Gulf sides forced into this School Holidays are also a major factor in fixleague situation). ture considerations, with many players being With such little competition then for Bahrain and away for Winter and Spring breaks. Doha sides, it is very difficult to player manage Can the league then even add more games? the squads to ensure league competitiveness against Muscat and Kuwait with only one team
15 The UAE is not the only country with issues on promotion and relegation, which seems an emotive subject everywhere. Here in the UAE forcing Sharjah Wanderers and Dubai Tigers and a possible rejuvenated Dubai Sharks into the Premiership would hand the League to 2nd teams of top clubs. The battle in the UK is an interesting template for the debate in the UAE. Moving to the Premiership brings rewards of audience, but substantially increases cost. It is perhaps no surprises, (all factors considered) that the most successful and competitive league this season in the UAE has been the community league (once all the team withdrawal issues were sorted).
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RWC Part 2 Rugby’s World Cup is the pinnacle event for the sport, but to look away from the sport element for a moment, rugby is managed as a product and that product needs to compete with other sports for audience numbers and ultimately revenue. World Rugby’s growth tool is the Get Into Rugby Program which claims to have introduced 1 million players to the sport since inception. The GIR program is particularly active in development nations. Tier 2 and 3 Nations or more accurately D1 and D2 Nations. But to look at the Rugby World Cup and to an extent the World Rugby rankings and there is not a lot of international love spreading. New Zealand winning a test match is almost an inevitability. Go below 5th place in the rankings and you might be looking at a 50 point game. Ok FIFA World Cup has its inevitabilities. International football hasn’t really looked past Brazil, or West Germany too many times, but most International matches these days are met with a certain degree of hopeful anticipation from both sides. In a recent article authored by George Wood on his site, The 1014Rugby he argues that after recent success of teams like Spain (who recently beat World Cup Qualifiers Romania in Madrid) and Russia then it may be about time to expand the current World Cup format to include more teams. If (for instance) Spain qualifies as Europe 1, then one of Romania, Samoa or Canada will definitely not be competing in the 2019 World Cup. A situation that could be severely damaging to the rugby development of that country. In 1995, both the USA and Fiji didn’t qualify for the (then) 16 nation World Cup. World Rugby reacted by expanding the 1999 tournament to 20 teams. Is it now time to expand again? George Wood argues. The Rugby World Cup is the ultimate product showcase, it generates a massive global audience, but World Rugby must balance team entries to the possibility of very rare upsets, Wales v Samoa, close and exciting near upsets, Wales v New Zealand, Ireland v Australia, or horrible one sided matches, New Zealand v Namibia, England v Georgia. It may be a few more years yet before we get 30 teams anyway near close enough to make every match in a world cup an exciting event.
17 Unfortunately the conference league bottom 4 split became a two team race as Sharks and Knights struggled with two teams who have been conference winners in their time. Arabian Knights may have struggled this season with results, but certainly not without courage. UAE CONFERENCE BOTTOM 4
The Community league started with some issues, and after the new year the struggling clubs were removed from the league and the slate was wiped clean. An additional two teams took their place and the teams have all done an excellent job in catching up on matches. The league ended up being the most competitive in depth since its inception with Saracens dropping from the Conference, Dubai Eagles entering the fray, Dubai Hurricanes becoming a permanent fixture and RAK Rugby developing a strong team. With one final league match to play, it looks like the final will be between Abu Dhabi Harlequins (IF they win their last match) and Dragons). UAE COMMUNITY
The GULF CONFERENCE suffered from the political situation in Qatar and Bahrain did not play them all season, the league then is a little misleading but credit must be to all the teams for continuing to play under all the circumstances. It remains to be seen if this league continues, with Kuwait looking to maybe follow Jordan’s example and set up an internal league to save costs.
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Social Media Social Media serves many functions for sport. It keeps clubs members updated, it can promote sponsors and it can entertain and educate. It is also a great way for people to opinionate. Clubs in the Gulf utilize their social media in different ways. @dubaitigersrfc (for example) are active on Instagram with club images with sponsor logos attached (which links directly with their Twitter account) and @DubaiSharksRFC are active on Facebook with club information, team sheets and occasional promotions, (again often backed up on Twitter). Sadly not all teams post match scores. @abudhabiquins occasionally during games as do Sharks and @sharjahrugby (who do at least post final scores) and @bahrainrfc have intermittent running scores. Most of the time the writer gets so caught up in the game they stop tweeting after the first half. Instagram is becoming popular with teams, especially the women’s teams, who are more active overall on social media. @dsceagleswrfc and @hurricaneswomens particularly active. Here are some of the more active clubs social media accounts. Jebel Ali Dragons @jebelalidragons, Abu Dhabi Harlequins @abudhabiquins, Dubai Hurricanes @caneseffect, Dubai Exiles @dubaiexiles, Sharjah Wanderers @sharjahrugby, Dubai Sharks @dubaisharksrfc, Dubai Tigers @dubaitigers, RAK Rugby @RAKRugby, Arabian Knights @getyourorangeon
While Instagram is utilized more for imagery and promotion; it is Twitter that is more the voice of interaction and opinion and some very interesting rugby analysis can be found with just a little searching. @thedeadballarea and @liamdunseath have some interesting match analysis and @The1014Rugby has some excellent opinions on the game. Locally @mattjones360 and @yallarugby are active on local rugby issues and just for the sheer antagonism of it all @middleeastouch will always have an comment to post.
Of course social media can have its controversies and once the format for opinion goes beyond the mere informational, there will always be opposing views as to whether the message has a positive influence on the game.
Which is why more often than not people no longer say much of anything at all.
19 The Gulf Rugby community could work harder on their social media presence if for nothing more than creating a community platform for audience numbers. For a sport that is struggling for revenue especially an economies of scale and innovation approach could be just the answer. Clubs could get more active on social media for product placements and try and encourage more sponsorship in this area. Although in the UAE the companies themselves are as interactive as other countries, it is still a largely underutilized area of sponsorship and advertisement in this region.
(product promotion – and our answer to early morning coffee). Any more promotion of the game will undoubtedly raise the awareness to supporters and sponsors alike and Jebel Ali Dragons for example have started video highlights on their Facebook page. Taking a step further Dubai Exiles have very successfully experimented this season with showing their premiership matches both home and away. Their Facebook Live which is finding 4000 plus views and a 60000 plus reach will be in action again at the West Asia Cup Final where the Dubai team travels to Bahrain.
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Schools v Clubs Part 2
preparation towards the whole event, including posting it live on social media.
In our last edition we asked if the rise of popularity and teams in school rugby was a threat to the sustainability of Mini and Youth Rugby in clubs. Club rugby has minimal competition for U16 and U19 and even then it is often only at 7s, whereas a full U19 XV’s league thrives in the school system. Since then, we had a look at Dubai English Speaking College (DESC) to look around their sports facilities and get some more personal feedback on their rugby program. Interestingly the school does not ring fence the students as ‘rugby players’, but sports athletes, a principal that guides the rest of the philosophy and the thoughts of the school towards the
This is something the clubs cannot deliver as they don't have the players anymore. Saying all this, this is not a cause of the schools making, who would prefer to see themselves as an additional element in a players sports learning and make specific accommodation to take into account club activities. Any player attending DESC’s elite player development program can only become an asset to any team they play with and this is the schools fundamental philosophy in general.
What might be needed is just a little more holistic coordination between clubs and schools to ensure that both systems can be accommodated as both offer development opportunities unique to each other. school and club debate. Schools such as DESC, Kings Al Barsha, and very recently Nord Anglia have all invested in playing pitches and sports facilities and there is an encouragement for physical activity in general as part of the school experience. All this alludes to the principle that schools look at themselves as part of the development of student at school. It may be a little semantics, as overall the general trend for M&Y rugby in every aspect from players numbers to match competitiveness and anyone attending the recent DESC hosted U19s match against Dubai College earlier this month can see not just the players demeanour towards the game but the entire attention to
It needs to be done early though as schools are already hoping to plan major tournaments next season as they look to offer more and more sports (and rugby) opportunities to students in an ever competitive off pitch market place.
21 hard and started to put the Eagles sporting calendar. under pressure in tournaments, with Harlequins winning round 4 Another comment must go to at the Eagles home tournament. Emirates Firebirds, who were outstanding enough to win a B league In Sharjah the 4 teams battled out title, force their way into the A again with some close games and division and start to make all while Eagles mathematically had other teams sit up and take noA busy and enterprising season clinched the title by round 6 it was tice. They made it to the finals of for women’s sevens this 2017 / only in the last minute of the last the Dubai 7s against the Eagles 2018 season. There have been game that they scored to be able and competed well, to then disaptwo new teams entering the to win the tournament title in Al pear from the league altogether league, with RAK Rugby and the after the new year. Dubai 7s enAin. Dubai Sports City Eagles. Although tered and job done is an expres-
Women’s 7s Series
with the demise of Abu Dhabi Saracens, and Dubai Sharks teams, there has sadly been no drastic increase in player numbers in the series.
Credit to Kuwait again for making another tournament, the only outside UAE team in this ‘cross border tournament’.
Interesting mentions must go to RAK Rugby, who entered their first tournament with 5 players and even then managed to beat a Saracens team of 7. It was a watershed moment for the team who had only played 2 games of rugby before in their lives and that was only in the preceding games of the pool. The RAK squad After the new year, the other alternate tournaments from GAA teams in the A league, particularly to Rugby in a fascinating observaAbu Dhabi Harlequins, Dubai Hur- tion into the structure and compliricanes and Dubai Tigers trained cations of the Gulf’s one season Dubai Sport City Eagles, the new Dubai Rugby Club, recruited well in the summer and started the season dominating teams with some overwhelming score lines and that confidence took them to a convincing and well deserved first Dubai Sevens title.
sion for many who play rugby in the Gulf, in what is fast becoming the chain around the neck dilemma of the pull of Dubai 7s. While a desire to play in the region’s biggest rugby event, teams (and players) withdrawing from leagues, makes it very difficult to sustain a viable and cohesive rugby program all year round.
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April Rugby The UAE Premiership finals which this season will be held in Al Ain on the 13th. AFTER which - local rugby take on a more social aspect. Barrelhouse will look to showcase their club as they look to enter the Community League next season and it sounds like they have a lot of teams already signed up, including now women’s 10s on the day.
Sharjah have always had some tournament down the years (the floodlight 15s springs to mind) and have become the traditional season ending event. This has been the event where all manner of strange celebrities have turned up so for that alone its well worth the trip. And the traditional BBQ and jump in the pool.
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Injury issues; a threat to Rugby? A recent discussion came to light in the UK regarding tackle height and the number of concussion injuries in rugby. Naturally any consideration towards injury management is increased tenfold to the social and non professional player at club level who does not benefit from the care provided at top level. Last season the tackle height law clarifications caused a surge of yellow and red cards at local level matches which has since settled into a more manageable situation, but to suggest lowering the tackle height beyond what it is already is will again make running the game at social level very difficult. However, the issue is injuries incurred, no matter how they come and the more this conversation come around the more rugby is looked at as a dangerous sport. A phrase which already comes to light with insurance policies. Is the continued risk management tightening becoming a factor in the future of rugby itself. Professional teams often need a team of about 50 to get through a professional season and an increasing number of players are retiring due to medical advice. Statistics are hard to come by and this seasons Concussion information tick box on the match reports failed to really ignite debate at local level on the subject, although Up and Running have worked hard with local clubs to raise awareness of the risks.
What can rugby do, the game prided itself on a game for all sizes and shapes. Quick players run around stronger players but strong players will always run through the quick and (smaller). Part of the attraction of the game is the risk itself. So to mitigate the risk, to eliminate the risk, removes an attraction for the game. World Rugby are always interactive with their sports participants, with global consultancy withy regards law changes. Here is a chance to have your say—
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