Emirates Dubai Sevens: Belgium's Blommaert and Soens shine on return to where it all started

Emerging stars of national team grace pitches where they learnt to play as youngsters

Femke Soens of Belgium in action during the International Invitational match against Australia at The Sevens in Dubai. Pawan Singh / The National

Travelling thousands of miles to play in an international sevens tournament, then having the jersey presentation in your own back garden must feel like a surreal experience.

When Louka Blommaert and Femke Soens were growing up in the UAE, they used to mix with the players of the Belgium women’s side ahead of the annual Emirates Dubai Sevens.

Both are from Belgian expat families living in Dubai, and they would be rapt by seeing their compatriots in action in the tournament. All the more so given the players would come round to Blommaert’s family home ahead of it.

Each harboured hopes they might one day wear the same colours in the same event. On Friday afternoon, their goal was accomplished as they turned out for Belgium in the Women’s International Invitational, on pitches where they first learnt the game.

“I love the tournament,” said Soens, who was a Pitch 1 winner in the past in the Gulf Under-19 tournament with her school, Dubai College.

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  Femke Soens of Belgium in action during the International Invitational women's match between Belgium and Australia at the Dubai Sevens. All pictures by Pawan Singh / The National

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  Femke Soens of Belgium passes the ball during the match against Australia.

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  Femke Soens of Belgium carries the ball.

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  Femke Soens of Belgium makes a tackle against Australia.

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  Femke Soens of Belgium makes an offload against Australia.

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  Louka Blommaert of Belgium during practice before the start of the International Invitational match between Belgium and Australia.

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  Louka Blommaert of Belgium in action against Australia.

“Dubai Sevens definitely has a place in my heart. We are taking it all in, playing around people I love and wearing the colours of the country that I’m from.

“It is so nice to see so many old friends, it was a little overwhelming but in a positive way.

“I have missed one year, and a lot has changed in that one year. It is fantastic to be back here playing in Belgium colours. To be back here playing at the Dubai Sevens, which I have always been looking up to, is crazy.

“We would’ve wished for it to be on the world series and that is still a goal on the calendar, and hopefully we can do that next year in Dubai.”

Each of the former Dubai schoolgirls aspire to play on Pitch 1 again in the future. That would mean either reaching the Invitational tournament final, for a one-off game on the main field.

Or, by playing in the Women’s World Series. Belgium came closer than ever to doing that last season, via the Challenger Series, which involved a tournament played in Dubai. They hope to qualify for the World Series via the feeder competition this season.

“We have grown so much in recent years,” Soens said. “Me and Louka grew up watching them here playing in the Invitational. [Belgium’s sevens rugby] has grown so much, and we have the Challenger Series coming up, with all those opportunities.

“This year we have a largely new team, and we are going different places with new players, and it is getting somewhere, which is really good.”

Femke Soens with ball in hand as a young girl in Dubai, where she first learnt to play rugby. Photo: Femke Soens

Blommaert now lives in Brussels, where Belgium’s sevens side trains, but she was back on familiar territory this week. On the eve of the tournament, the shirts were handed out to the players at her family home in Al Safa.

“It was special,” Blommaert said. “All the years before they would come to our house, but we would be looking at them as fans. It feels like it has come full circle.

“Sevens was where it all started for me. Having watched my mum play, then the Belgium team play, this feels really special.”

The rookie players of Belgium are working out how best to manage their time at major tournaments. For Soens and Blommaert, this represents a challenge, given how many distractions there are for them coming back home to where they know so many people.

Blommaert in particular has her work cut out staying focused on the job at hand. Her mother is playing for Dubai Hurricanes in the Gulf Women’s tournament, her twin brothers are playing for DESC in the Gulf Under-19 Boys, and her younger sister is also involved.

And the Dubai duo have an example to set now, too. The Belgium squad for this tournament contains nine new players, meaning Blommaert and Soens are senior players, despite only making their debuts last season.

“We are two of the more experienced players this year,” Blommaert said. “We both have a leadership role this year, which is surreal seeing as last season we were getting our first caps.”