Conversion call for young legs

DUBAI // Jenny Thompson, the outgoing captain of the Arabian Gulf, believes the region's ruling body need to invest in a youth programme if they are ever going to see their women's team play at a World Cup. The Gulf women missed out on the chance to play at next March's IRB Sevens World Cup on home soil, after losing out at the Asian qualifying event in Hong Kong at the weekend.

They won two pool matches, but agonisingly missed out on a play-off place on points difference. Japan, Thailand and China, who were the tournament's top seeds and won the Gulf's pool, eventually qualified for the Dubai showpiece. Thompson, the Dubai Hurricanes player, predicts the tournament could be the last for many of the Gulf's old guard - including herself. "A lot of the older players were looking towards the World Cup and seeing it as the likely end to our career," said Thompson.

"For us older women, looking at the teams around Asia, they have a lot of young players coming through the ranks. "That is the way the Arabian Gulf has to go. They have to get younger players and strengthen that. If we had been automatic qualifiers, like the boys, I think it would have pushed the profile of the sport, and encouraged girls to play. "Looking at Hong Kong and the strength of their junior competition, I think that is what is lacking here.

Take the blueprint from what they do: they are not re-inventing the wheel. If I was playing in Hong Kong, they would be turning round to me and saying, 'You are to old - we have under-19s and under-21s coming through'." At 29, Thompson is almost certain she has played her last match. The Australian scrum-half and teacher by profession fears she could miss the whole of the domestic season, which starts next month, after suffering a suspected ruptured ACL in Hong Kong.

She added: "All the training we have done for the past two months has been with the men's side. We have been running up sand dunes, carrying bricks and it has often ended with us throwing up. "To go through all that and not qualify is not the way any of us wanted it to end. To work towards a World Cup is a major thing for anybody." @Email:[e-mail]