UAE U18 boys dominate to retain Asian sevens title

Coach Andy Jones praises players for 'delivering highest standards' with five wins out of five in Malaysia

UAE U18 boys rugby sevens side after winning the Asian Under 18 Championship in Malaysia. Nicholas March / The National

The UAE's under 18 boys rugby sevens international side retained their Asian crown in Malaysia this weekend, going through the 2024 tournament unbeaten. Remarkably, UAE scored more than 200 points in five games, while also completing five defensive shutouts.

After a strong performance in the pool stage at Stadium Ragbi in Johor Bahru, the UAE faced Hong Kong China in the Asia Rugby Emirates U18 Boys final, who could not match the UAE's intensity or desire.

The 43-0 margin of victory did not flatter an impressive and ruthlessly efficient UAE side, who ran up a total of 221 unanswered points in their five matches in typically hot and humid Malaysian conditions.

The UAE's Nicholas Fritz finished as the tournament's top scorer with six tries and 11 conversions.

The draw for the Asia Rugby Boys U18 Sevens had put the UAE in the same pool as Saudi Arabia, Singapore, India and Malaysia.

The U18s swatted aside their Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia 57-0, before beating Singapore 24-0 later on day one.

On day two in Johor Bahru, the UAE boys began with a 48-0 victory over Malaysia, before following up with a 49-0 win over India, who had shown flashes of brilliance on day one but faded a little as the tournament progressed.

That result put the UAE into the final against Hong Kong China, who had squeezed Sri Lanka out of top spot in Pool B by securing a big win over Chinese Taipei in their last group game to move into the final on points difference.

UAE coach Andy Jones said the U18 boys team had "delivered the highest standards" of rugby sevens at the tournament to retain their crown.

"Although the high humidity and heavy pitches made conditions difficult, the UAE played with expansive width that challenged their opponents throughout the weekend.”

He said that the UAE’s victory was testament to "outstanding work being done at schools and clubs to nurture talent".

Sri Lanka won the bronze medal match, narrowly defeating hosts Malaysia 17-14.

At last year's championship, the UAE had achieved an historic double victory in Taipei, with both boys and girls teams winning the tournament. There was to be no repeat this year.

The girls lost 15-0 against India in their first group game – the two teams had contested the final last year – before a last gasp try by hosts Malaysia forced a 10-10 draw in their second pool match. UAE girls rounded off day one of the tournament with a rousing 17-12 victory over Thailand.

The UAE girls beat Singapore early on Sunday, but lost their final group game to Hong Kong China and eventually secured fifth place by running up 51 unanswered points in a playoff against Singapore.

Hong Kong China went on to beat Thailand 27-0 to claim the girls continental crown, while Malaysia delighted the home crowd by winning the bronze medal match, with a flowing and industrious 12-0 victory over India.