Call of national duty is first, UAE Rugby Federation tells clubs

In an administrative circular last week, the federation said players who refuse to answer a call-up without justification could be suspended for their next two club fixtures.

Outstanding players in the UAE, such as Sean Crombie of the Jebel Ali Dragons, above, are ineligible to play for the country, thus making the situation more dire in terms of talent available for selecShow more

DUBAI // The Rugby Federation (RF) is trying to address the national team’s chronic availability problems by threatening to ban players from playing for their clubs if they do not report for representative duty.

In an administrative circular to the clubs last week, the federation said players who refuse to answer a call-up without justification could be suspended for their next two club fixtures.

“Any player who has been nominated/selected by the UAE performance manager for national duty and/or training camps and not [attend] without expressing a valid/reasonable excuse will be sanctioned,” wrote Qais Al Dhalai, the RF’s secretary general.

“The breach will be sanctioned by the said player not being available for his club for two consecutive domestic matches.”

The RF’s directive is broadly in accordance with the International Rugby Board’s (IRB) regulations regarding participation in international rugby.

They stipulate that any player refusing to attend national selection without just cause can be suspended from other rugby commitments for up to 10 days after the date of duty.

The IRB’s Regulation 9 states: “The future development and extension of the sport at all levels and throughout the world would be threatened if a union was not able to select and have available the players it requires.”

The federation’s advisory is the most conscious effort yet to head off a problem that has hindered the representative side here for years.

Rarely has the team tasked with representing the region in international rugby been an accurate reflection of the best players plying their trade here.

Some of the outstanding performers in the domestic league are ineligible, anyway.

Sean Crombie, the leading light in Jebel Ali Dragons’ recent domination of the game here, is ruled out as he represented Scotland at sevens in the past.

Many more, such as Ben Bolger and Jeremy Manning at Abu Dhabi Harlequins, have not completed the three-year residency qualification criteria.

The cosmopolitan make-up of the domestic game also means players usually have a choice over who they would want to play for internationally.

JJ Fanucci, a Dubai Exiles product, was flattered to receive an invitation to play for the UAE two years ago. However, he is also eligible to play for Italy and South Africa and chose to keep his options open as he moved to Cape Town to further his rugby career.

Those problems apart, many leading, eligible players have shown ambivalence towards committing their time to a national team that has often struggled.

The UAE have a win rate of 12.5 per cent from 20 Test matches. That is going to be difficult to improve on unless the top players make themselves available to Roelof Kotze, the performance ­manager.

However, enforcing the threat to ban players from club rugby might also prove difficult for the federation.

The IRB’s regulations allow dispensation for players who are either injured, have officially retired – in writing – or may be hindered financially by time away on national duty.

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