Slowly but surely Sharjah Wanderers are moving forward

The UAE Conference club seem to have put barren times behind them, writes Paul Radley.

Even players of the calibre of Carlos Spencer, centre, has played in the 10-a-side tournament of the Sharjah Wanderers, in red and black. Satish Kumar / The National

SHARJAH // One of the UAE’s most historic rugby clubs aim to continue their quiet renaissance this afternoon when they host a fixture that is perennially poignant.

It has been a long time since Sharjah Wanderers were headline acts in domestic rugby. They are in third place in the second-tier competition, the UAE Conference, safely confirmed as part of the season-ending mini-league that decides the division’s top places.

Their first opponents in the new programme are the Dubai Hurricanes second XV, a club that was initially formed by a group of Wanderers players who left to start a new team.

To say the two entities have had contrasting fortunes in the time since the split is a bit like saying the UAE has warm summers. It does not really cover it.

The Hurricanes are one of the biggest clubs in the country now, supported by a massive junior section and boasting plenty of recent titles at senior level.

Sharjah have endured some barren times, but the present and future are looking bright.

They have not racked up any three-figure scores this season, like the runaway Conference leaders from Al Ain.

They may have a decision to make at the end of the season, though. If they carry on their current rate of progress, top-flight rugby would become a possibility.

Al Ain Amblers, the champions elect, will have to accept promotion to the Premiership at the end of this campaign.

Their current counterparts will refuse to play the Amblers again, given the thrashings they have meted out to more or less everyone this season. The Garden City club turned down promotion this season as they wanted another year of Conference rugby to consolidate after some tough years of their own.

Sharjah think exercising caution in a similar way would be the sensible thing to do, should the option come their way.

“We would need to reassess and see where we stand,” said Shane Breen, the club chairman who plays at scrum-half for the Wanderers.

“At the moment, we are not a Premiership side. We have a number of quality players who could quite easily play in the Premiership, but we still don’t have the numbers and the depth to make that step up.

“Watching the Gulf Top Six matches, it really is a big step up. We need another really good season.”

Caution such as that is well-founded, and pragmatic rather than pessimistic. Sharjah’s history is in many ways unparalleled here. Even in recent years, they have seen the likes of Carlos Spencer and Christian Cullen playing in their 10-a-side tournament.

Furthermore, they have had one of their former players selected for the British & Irish Lions. Ryan Grant, the Scotland prop who played in the Lions midweek side on their tour of Australia in 2013, was a one-time Wanderer.

The club has some of the best facilities anywhere in the UAE, as a result of matches in the 2006 Under 19 World Championship being played there.

However, the city no longer supports the same base of expatriates from rugby-playing nations that it once did.

Only five of the current team live in Sharjah. The upswing in fortunes on the field correlates with the time it was decided to shift training to Dubai.

For the past two years, they have opted to use public facilities at Zabeel Park in Dubai – and recently at the Modern Academy in Nad Al Sheba – rather than their own high-spec playing facilities.

Results show it has worked, but Breen says the club remain committed to maintaining their identity.

“When the players go to Sharjah on game day, they really get a sense of the history of the club,” Breen said.

“We don’t plan on rebranding and forming another team based out of Dubai. But we changed the mindset when we moved to Dubai and attracted more players.

“Rather than going out as a social side, we went out focused on winning. If we didn’t win every week, we took it pretty hard.”

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