‘I play for this flag’: Emirati players eye Dubai Sevens success ahead of Gulf Men’s League debut

UAE Shaheen are entered into one of the premier tournaments at the Sevens for the first time, and they are dreaming big

Emirati rugby player Mohammed Ali is part of the UAE Shaheen team that will debut in the Gulf Men’s League this weekend. Antonie Robertson / The National

For the first time in the history of an event which predates the country in which it is played, a side with an Emirati core has serious designs on winning one of its premier tournaments.

When the Dubai Sevens was first played in 1970, the emirates were still a year away from formally establishing the new federation which would become the United Arab Emirates.

Other than for interruptions for the Gulf War and Covid 19, it has been staged every year since. It has changed out of sight since those early days when British servicemen based in what was then the Trucial States won an invitational tournament on sand.

And not solely because Stormzy and the Sugababes will be playing on the main stage. The changes are more subtle than that, too.

Emiratis – both male and female – have been playing in increasing numbers in recent years. Now five Emiratis – Mohammed Ali, Majed Al Balooshi, Mohammed Hatem, Mohammed Al Marar and Ibrahim Doori – will be part of the UAE Shaheen squad who will debut in the Gulf Men’s League this weekend.

The Emirati players are no novices themselves. For example, Al Balooshi has been immersed in UAE rugby since he was introduced to it in a PE lesson at school via the Princess Haya Initiative 12 years ago.

But Shaheen’s chances of winning one of the Sevens’ blue riband events are complemented by playing alongside some of the finest locally based talent available.

The rest of the squad are all Fijian, including a trio of players – Sakiusa Naisau, Niko Volavola and Emosi Vecenaua – who have won the Sevens multiple times before.

The players are employed as rugby development officers by the UAE Rugby Federation, as part of an agreement with Fiji Rugby. That involves giving classes at national schools, and spreading the word about the sport within the indigenous population.

Playing alongside them has helped fast track the development of players like Ali, for example. The 23-year-old wing has been playing for three years, after a friend invited him along to rugby training.

He said he fell for the sport after his first tackling session, prompting him to forego a promising football career with Al Wasl.

“When I first saw rugby, I saw these really big boys, with big muscles, and I was scared before I started playing,” Ali said.

“Then, when I made my first tackle, I saw that nothing would happen. It is all about heart. It is not about muscles or how big you are.

“I started to get active in rugby and the sport touched my heart. It was all about being one family, which is what I loved about it.”

According to Ali, Shaheen are not just going to be making up the numbers when they face the leading teams in the Gulf, starting against Bahrain on Friday.

“Having this [UAE] flag on my chest is everything to me,” Ali said. “It is how I get the chance to give my thanks for what my country does for me. I play for this flag.

“To win the Dubai Sevens for the first time, Inshallah, alongside these boys would be a great experience. Our coach always says we are not going to the Sevens just to have fun, we have to go there to try and win. We are serious.”

Al Marar, 27, started rugby aged 16. The physical nature of the game appealed, given he had already been playing ice hockey since he was nine years old.

“My neighbour played rugby and he invited me for training,” Al Marar said. “Hockey is a contact sport, too, and after I went to training a couple of times I thought, ‘I think I should continue with rugby.’

“I like the community. Rugby is about one family, more so than in other sports. And you can play rugby anywhere you want. For ice hockey, you can’t just find any place with ice.

“Rugby, you can play at home, in the field, with friends, family, wherever. And if you are lucky you get to travel the world with the national team, and see other communities. That is what I like about rugby.”

Al Marar played for Al Ain Amblers in the past, and he is happy to have been brought into the Shaheen fold, even if it does mean a longer commute to training in Dubai.

“We are not going to be fun to play against for any team,” he said of his side’s chances in the Gulf Men’s League.

“It is sevens, and you don’t know what is going to happen. You might have been playing well in training, but in the game situation anything can change. I hope we can make it. We have to believe in ourselves.”

The progress of the Shaheen side is an endorsement of the work done by Apollo Perelini to develop the game among the local population.

Perelini arrived in Dubai in 2008, and was busy developing Emirati players long before his role was made formal with the Shaheen side in 2015.

“A lot of our Emirati players have come through the player pathway system, right from a very young age,” Perelini said. “It is fun to see them out there. It makes me think, ‘Gee, it was worth it.’”

Perelini, who is the performance manager for UAE Rugby, says he has more Emirati players attending training regularly than ever before. He will even be fielding a second-string Shaheen side in the Sevens, too.

He believes the agreement with Fiji Rugby has had a significant impact in developing the sport.

“They inspire the locals to get into rugby,” Perelini said. “Just because of those boys coaching in schools, it has attracted a number of 16- and 17-year-old boys to join our Shaheen set-up.

“Because of their enthusiasm with the ball and for the game, the local players can appreciate it. They see fellow Emiratis playing with Shaheen, and they get even more excited.

“Culturally, they connect. The Pacific Island culture and the Arab culture are very similar, in the way they communicate, laugh, and make fun out of each other. It dovetails with everything we are looking to do, and the growth of Shaheen this year has come off the back of that.

“It doesn’t matter whether they are speaking to each other in Arabic or Fijian, they still understand each other. Communication is open and the Emirati boys really appreciate they are helpful to their growth.”