Rugby World Cup qualifying: UAE claim Sri Lanka scalp to move closer to Asia-Africa play-off

Jack Stapley scores two tries as national team all but clinch second place in Asia Rugby Championship with win in Colombo

Sakiusa Naisau, seen here in training with the UAE, scored a try in the national team's narrow win over Sri Lanka. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The UAE have done their bit, and in some style, too, with a 29-21 victory in Sri Lanka. Now they need Hong Kong to do them a favour on Saturday, and their Rugby World Cup qualification adventure will continue.

Jack Stapley scored two tries, and Sakiusa Naisau and Brad Janes one apiece, as the national team claimed a bonus-point win in Colombo.

It means that South Korea need to upset the formbook and beat the five-time defending champions Hong Kong to deprive the UAE of second place in the 2025 Asia Rugby Championship.

If the UAE do finish runners-up, they will head to Uganda later this month for a play-off against the second-best side in the equivalent competition in Africa.

The Africa Cup starts this weekend in Kampala. Namibia are favourites to win the competition, which also involves Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Morocco and Senegal.

The winners of the play-off will advance to the four-team event in November which will decide the final qualifier for the 2027 World Cup.

Andrew Semple, the UAE captain, said his side are glad to still be in with a shot.

“We started very well, but let things slip as the game went on, and it ebbed and flowed,” he said after the win in Colombo.

“We are not very happy with our overall performance. It was a bit under par but we are just happy that we came away with a win and can move on in the tournament.”

The UAE were giving away three places in the World Rugby rankings to their host, but travelled to Sri Lanka full of confidence.

Jacques Benade, the UAE coach, had said the national team would look to put their hosts under pressure via their extra power in the forward pack.

The UAE’s tight-five combined weighed more than the entire eight-man pack of Sri Lanka, and they made advantage of it from the start.

Stapley got his first after some irresistible mauling by the UAE pack, before Janes went over to send the tourists into a 12-3 lead.

It seemed as if the home side were powerless to hold back the UAE forwards, but Sri Lanka had suggested they had a plan.

“They seem to be big, but we have come up with a gameplan which we hope can counter them,"Tharinda Ratwatte, Sri Lanka’s captain, said in an interview ahead of kick-off.

Ratwatte – and in particular his unerring boot – was at the centre of their fightback. They scored tries, either side of a third for the UAE by Naisau, to reduce the arrears to 22-21.

At that point, the home side were in the ascendancy, and they had two kickable penalties to take the lead.

For the second time in two matches, though, the UAE profited from their opposition’s reticence at kicking for the posts.

Ratwatte had been having an outstanding game till that point, but passed up two chances to kick for three points in quick succession. It felt similar to the closing throes of the UAE’s comeback win in Incheon two weeks earlier.

The UAE defended their line, and when Stapley later went through for their fourth try, victory – and likely second place – was theirs.

“We lost a bit of focus and lost a bit at the set piece,” Semple said.

“It was a case of resetting and doing what we knew we are good at: carrying ball, getting back to the scrum, and winning lineout ball.

“Sri Lanka stayed in the game, even though we got a little bit ahead. They fought back, credit to them, but we just managed to come away with it in the end.”