Doha edge Jebel Ali Dragons in West Asia Premiership game amid referees drama

Day overshadowed by effects of conflict involving leading clubs, UAE Rugby Federation and UAE Rugby Referees society, writes Paul Radley.

Ryno Fourie of the Jebel Ali Dragons, seen here getting tackled by Matt Hutchings of the Abu Dhabi Saracens, was among the tries against Doha on Friday. Victor Besa for The National

Jebel Ali Dragons 22

Tries: Hamilton, Hayes, Fourie, Naisau; Cons: Samson

Doha 25

Tries: Tuilagi 2, Rakubu; Cons: Tremayne 2; Pens: Tremayne 2

Man of the match Pita Tuilagi (Doha)

DUBAI // Doha maintained the pursuit of Abu Dhabi Harlequins at the top of the West Asia Premiership, on a day that was overshadowed by the effects of a conflict involving leading clubs, the UAE Rugby Federation and the UAE Rugby Referees society.

The dispute is understood to relate to the amount of notice clubs are required to give the federation, and in turn the match officials, when they intend to reschedule fixtures.

The issue has been ongoing for some time now, and led to one long-serving senior official from the referees’ society recently offering his resignation.

It reached the point where the group of volunteers who officiate matches in this region collectively signalled their unavailability for service for some matches this weekend.​

The federation contacted UAE Conference teams midway through last week to inform them that their Friday matches had been postponed, to be played instead on March 10.

It also appeared doubtful the West Asia Premiership match at The Sevens between Jebel Ali Dragons and Doha would go ahead.

It eventually did, with Chris Bath, an UAERF employee and experienced referee, filling the breach in the middle, while each club nominated a volunteer to be his assistants on the touchline.

“It was a case of there being Dh25,000 down the drain if there wasn’t a match, so frankly it had to be done,” Bath said.

“There were a couple of other guys available, but quite literally, rugby had to win for me. I understand everyone else wanted to make a point of order.

“But at the end of the day there were two sets of guys who wanted a game of rugby, and Doha had flown in for it.”

Bath’s monetary calculation was probably an underestimate. Hosting the fixture cost the Dragons in excess of Dh5,000.​

And according to Alex Natera, the Doha coach, visas, flights and international travel to the game will have cost his club approximately 30,000 riyals.

“We definitely found out on Thursday morning that the game was on,” Natera said.

“At Wednesday night’s training session, the management kept it quiet and wouldn’t let the players know, but were thinking [the game] probably wasn’t going to happen.

“We were deciding whether we would still come out for a training session, because all that flight money would have been gone.”

The Dragons themselves had their own most recent fixture, against Dubai Hurricanes, postponed because of the same issue. Had they not played here, it would have meant a month between matches for them.

Their lack of match practice showed, as they were edged out by a Doha side who were indebted to the brilliant finishing of Pita Tuilagi and Iliesa Rakubu for their 25-22 win.

“With the cancellation of our last game, there has been a couple of weeks without playing, and training has not been ideal,” said Henry Paul, the Dragons coach.

“But there are no excuses. We had opportunities galore in that game. We had a superior line-out, a superior scrum, but you have to take your opportunities when they come and we didn’t.”

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