DUBAI // There was a big clue to rugby’s global appeal in London on Friday night, when a team from some tiny South Sea islands took on an economic powerhouse at the sport’s headquarters, at the start of a Rugby World Cup in which six continents are represented.
Half the world away from Twickenham, in front of a small contingent of the players’ close friends and family in the Dubai desert, UAE rugby was doing its best to prove the sport is something for everyone, too.
For the first time, a side made up exclusively of Emirati players was playing a competitive match of 15-a-side rugby.
UAE Shaheen went down to a 73-5 defeat against Jebel Ali Dragons’ third team — a side of veterans and talented trialists — in the Community League.
It was not too sizeable, though.
Four years ago, Abu Dhabi Saracens lost their first fixture at a similar level of competition by a similar margin.
While Shaheen were making their debut on Pitch 2 at The Sevens, Saracens were on Pitch 5, competing in the West Asia Champions League as the top team in the Middle East.
Everybody has to make their start somewhere.
“As Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid says, a thousand mile journey begins with one step,” said the onlooking Mohammed Shaker, a UAE Rugby Federation board member who was one of the first Emirati rugby players.
“This is our first step. This is an emotional day for me. We started out with just five of us. Now we have a 15-a-side team of Emirati players. I cannot explain how this feels to me.
“We will not stop here.”
There is much these rookie players need to learn — the basics of the offside laws, how best to clean out a ruck, the neatest formation for the post-match tunnel.
Commendably, though, they already have a keen grasp about respecting match officials. Just before half time, the referee had to admonish one of the Shaheen players.
It was the sort of dressing down to which an experienced player would have responded with “Sorry, sir”.
The two Emiratis — the player who erred and the captain who was called in to interpret — both went one better. Once the lecture was over, each shook the referee by the hand.
“The boys have learnt so much,” said Apollo Perelini, the Shaheen coach.
“They are having to take on the rugby culture. They came off the field through a guard of honour, and that is all part of the rugby culture.
“We are educating them every week on things we grew up on, that became second nature. When you get smacked in the face, these guys’ first reaction is to retaliate.
“I told them they are going to get punched in the face, kneed, elbowed. That is rugby. You have to get back up. That is part of their learning.”
When Walid Al Balooshi scored the lone Shaheen try, against the 13 the Dragons ran in, it delighted the squad of younger brothers who were there on the sidelines watching their older siblings.
“These young boys only know about football,” Al Balooshi said. “We have brought them along and told them about this sport called rugby, and they would like to play it. They have had fun, too.”
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