Age no barrier for Clark

The experience of captain David Clark, front, will be priceless in mentoring the likes of the rookie wing Khalid Helal, back, in the Arabian Gulf Five Nation's campaign, which starts today with a matcShow more

At 34, the captain David Clark is precisely twice the age of the youngest member of the Arabian Gulf side who will begin their bid for promotion back to Asian rugby's top table this evening. The squad selected to represent the region in their Asian Five Nations Division One opener against Thailand has a distinctly younger feel to it than ever before.

Jonny MacDonald, 20, and Taif al Delamie, 22, the exciting back-line duo who were key components of the Gulf's IRB World Cup Sevens side, will be making their first appearances at 15s level. Yet even they seem like relative veterans when set against Khalid Helal, the 17-year-old English College student who will be making his debut on the wing. All of which should make Clark, who played the last of his five Heineken Cup matches 12 years ago, when Helal was just five years old, start to feel his age.

Not so, according to the former Edinburgh loose-forward. He says he has been given a new lease of life thanks to the arrival of the Gulf's new, full-time fitness guru, Charlie Keenan, ahead of last month's sevens showpiece. "I used to say that my body was older than the mind, but actually it is the other way round now," said Clark, the Dubai Exiles No 8, who works for Ernst & Young in Bahrain. "I am in top physical condition for the first time in the 10 years that I have been in the Middle East. I am very happy with my condition.

"Once you have that carrot [last month's World Cup Sevens] in front of you, you really put in the effort, and once you do that the training becomes easier." The encounter with Thailand at The Sevens carries with it great significance, as it is essentially the start of the qualifying process for the 2011 IRB World Cup in New Zealand. With the 2010 Asian Five Nations tournament serving as the qualifiers for the World Cup, only promotion - via top spot in Division One - will be good enough.

"These are must win games, nothing less will do, because we belong up in that Five Nations group. That is what we want to get back to," added Clark, who was part of the side relegated from the top tier last season. "We had a poor spell last year, in terms of having a lack of strength in depth. The guys who were there last year are responsible for us being where we are now. "We are looking for those guys from last year, as well as the new guys who have come in, to really move it up a gear."

If the Gulf do advance past Thailand, who are ranked 13 places below them in the global standings, they will meet the winners of Sri Lanka versus Chinese Taipei on Saturday afternoon. Clark believes the power of the Gulf's pack could be the decisive factor in the tournament, as he said: "We have to make sure we can muscle it up front, because that is where the game is going to be won." The Arabian Gulf team to play Thailand: Beard; Sherrin; Smith; Delamie; Helal; Sinclair; MacDonald; Masters, Heal, Gathercole, Cox-Hill, Stevens, Huber, Nicholas, Clark (captain).

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