AL AIN // A Fijian schoolboy could be set to debut in senior men’s rugby at age 16, so long as he can persuade his mother to let him.
Jerry Kilicanasau is already part of the plans of the Al Ain Amblers first XV, who are well aware of his “exceptional skills” from his time growing up in their age-group sides.
It is just a matter of time before his senior team debut, either when he turns 17 on December 20 or if he can get his mother, Aditau, to succumb – whichever happens soonest.
Aditau is understandably cautious. She works as an operating-theatre nurse at Twam Hospital, which neighbours the Amblers home games, and she does not want to be treating her son there on game day.
But she knows he will have a more than adequate minder close at hand. The teenager could form part of the same backline as his father, Jerry Sr, in the Amblers side.
“I’m always ready; I’m an islander,” Jerry Jr says. “All islanders are ready to play men’s rugby straight away.”
He hopes he can play before his 17th birthday. “I want to see if I can this weekend”, when Al Ain’s two teams face each other on the opening day of the UAE Conference campaign.
Given that he idolises two greats of the Dubai Sevens, Waisale Serevi and William Ryder, the schoolboy’s fearlessness might be well-placed.
If he plays anything like those two Flying Fijians – and his game is based on their fleet-footed, side-stepping style – the senior men of domestic rugby will not be able to lay a finger on him, anyway.
“He is fast. I haven’t been able to catch him for a while,” says Jerry Sr, who works as a driver having moved to the Garden City from Suva 10 years ago.
“He has been training with us, with the men, and he can take the tackles. I’m not worried, but my wife is worried.”
The father-son combination are part of an Amblers side looking to go one better than last year’s runners-up finish in the Conference.
“Jerry Jr has exceptional skills, and his father also made the first team after selections from more than 55 players in preseason training,” said Jody Haddow, the Amblers’ club captain.
pradley@thenational.ae
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