In Dubai, a pipeline from the city’s oldest rugby club to global honours

Paul Radley details the ongoing worldwide success of players like Will Wilson, Thomas Papke and Gerard Pieterse, who got their start in the game at Dubai Exiles.

Former Dubai Exiles youth player Will Wilson shown with the England Sevens side at the Commonwealth Youth Games this year. Photo Courtesy / Mike Wolff

DUBAI // The city’s oldest club, the Exiles, might start as underdogs when they kick off their UAE Premiership campaign against Jebel Ali Dragons on Friday.

If they were to recall all the players from around the world who they set on the path to the top in rugby, though, they would likely be an irresistible force in Arabian Gulf rugby.

For example, three members of the same mini and youth team at Dubai Exiles are currently pursuing rugby honours at various points of the globe.

Will Wilson, who started out at Exiles aged five, captained England’s sevens side at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa this month.

Sevens is the national sport on the Pacific island, meaning Wilson and his teammates were suddenly celebrities for a week.

“There are only 180,000 people who live in Samoa, which is the size of a big town in England,” said Wilson, 18, who is studying law at Oxford University.

“Everybody knew what was going on, it was absolutely enormous to be part of for someone who had never done anything like that before.

“Driving around, people would lean out of their windows, blow horns, wave flags, and the results would be read out on the local radio.

“It was incredible. We were famous for a week. As sevens players, the attention was more on us than other athletes.”

A back-row forward who has an association with the Wasps academy, Wilson’s time with the students team meant the chance to train alongside the full England sevens team.

If he maintained his current rate of progress, it is possible he could return to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the future.

“I am not letting myself look that far ahead, but if that day was ever to come around, that would be quite an achievement,” said Wilson.

Two of Wilson’s colleagues from age-group rugby at the Exiles are also making their way to notable milestones in rugby.

Gerard Pieterse has had a noted career in schoolboy rugby since leaving Dubai for South Africa, and is now invested in a prolific development programme in Western Province.

Thomas Papka, who played on the wing in the same junior team, hopes to play some matches for Exiles this season, while on a gap year which he hopes might end in an appearance at the Olympics.

He has a contract with Germany rugby, who are competing with the likes of Ireland, Russia and Canada for a place at the first Olympic sevens tournament in Rio 2016.

“My first rugby training session was at Jebel Ali Primary school in Year 5,” said Papka, whose family recently returned to Dubai, having lived in Germany for two years.

“With Germany, we are hoping to qualify for the World Series, and then the Olympics.”

Exiles in exile

Jordan Onojaife - Part of England’s World Under 20 winning squad, the former Exile made a Premiership debut for Northampton Saints in England earlier this year.

Will Wilson - Oxford University student who captained England at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Samoa this month, started out in rugby at the Exiles.

Thomas Papke - A colleague of Wilson’s both in the Exiles age-group side, as well as the school first XV in the UK, he is eying an Olympic sevens place with Germany.

Gerard Pieterse - A Dubai College alumnus who moved to South Africa specifically for rugby. The full back is part of the Western Province development programme.

Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE